21 replies to this topic

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

i cant remember the name of the company but its just one company thats in england and doesnt have any other smaller companys and the guy that i went to gets them in directly from the factory and its fan cooled, has one of those new euro torches and its around the same price as clarke welders but i see your point though, 170 might be a bit high lmao, il have a look around for a smaller one

[ANON]

...the 170amp welder im looking at has a range from i think it was 45amps to its maximum...

45 amps is to high. bear in mind though the higher power a welder the better the duty cycle will be at lower power settings. but you do need to check how low they will go. my 400amp set will go down to about 25amps.

best advice is go for something that has got around 8 heat settings and you adjust the power with the wire feed speed, if that makes sense. also if you plan on using it quite a bit get something that will take a 15kg roll of wire, again works out better value, last 15kg roll i bought was £10.

disposable bottles are a bit of a waste of money. it's not the best quality of gas but you can get a pub bottle for £8.00 upwards.

[Rich.]

What on earth are you welding? 170 Amps is a serious bit of kit and will happily blow holes in 6mm plus steel.

I wouldn't go that far, but yes, generally too much for car bodywork.

The 135 will happily weld far beyond anything you'll find on a car (unless you're looking to weld engine blocks together).

Totally agree, the only thing i may consider needing more for would be a weld together roll cage kit. And to be pedantic, an engine block would generally be Tigged, unless migged with a spool gun but this is very uncommon in an industrial application.

I also use disposable bottles and it really puzzles me why people say they don't last any length of time. Get the high capacity ones from Machinemart and they last many weeks of vehicle restoration use (evenings and weekends welding in patches and panels here and there). They cost around £13 from memory and I always have a spare as well as the one on the welder so that when it does run out on a Sunday evening it doesn't stop the job. I usually buy from Machinemart on a VAT free event which drops the price to under a tenner each. I suspect that the people who say this are not unscrewing the regulator from the bottle when they finsh welding for the day - the seals in the welder and the cheapo regulators they use simply aren't meant for that sort of sustained pressure and will let the gas seep away. Just spin the disposable regulator off th bottle at the end of the day the same as you would close the valve on the larger bottle and their gas would last a lot longer.

It all comes down to how much you use it, the main problem i have with disposable bottles is the flow rate, its not enough for either outside welding in anything under a perfectly un-breezy day, or for welding larger, higher current applications when your trying to cover a larger area with inert gas. For weekend use though i would be happy with disposable bottles.

Rich

[ibrooks]

the main problem i have with disposable bottles is the flow rate, its not enough for either outside welding in anything under a perfectly un-breezy day, or for welding larger, higher current applications when your trying to cover a larger area with inert gas. For weekend use though i would be happy with disposable bottles.

Again - that's not been my experience. I've never had a problem with the gas or flow rate but admittedly I don't tend to weld outside when it's windy. Fortunately cars are a hobby for me so if it's not nice weather and I can't do the job inside the garage then I have the luxury of staying in the house and watching TV. I also have a double garage to play in.

Iain

[Shifty]

I'd be questioning your welding shop..........??

If you want to do mainly car body work, why are they trying to sell you a welder with a 45 min current and a max of 170? Thats not what you need.

My own welder is 30amp to 180amps with 6 power settings and its never even been on 6 yet!! To do 6mm plate I don't go over 4.

A euro torch is nice, but on a budget machine is a gimmick, to give you the torch means something else has been skimped on.

What you need is a nice little clarke machine, something around the 130amp mark, I had one and they're nice enough to use.

To weld up a rusty mini you need a min current of 30 amps.

Yes the MTA/Portaming stuff is nice but for occasional use its way over the top.

[rosco454]

I'd be questioning your welding shop..........??

I agree,if bodywork has been mentioned they should be recommending a welder on its minimum more than its maximum.30 amps is the minimum on most hobby machines and is what you should be looking for.Anything under 130 amps is a bit underpowered for occasional thicker stuff though so the maximum does come into play even for occasional use.

I stand by my recommendation of the clarke 160,either that or buy a 130 with a refillable cylinder kit and make yourself a trolley for the welder and cylinder as your first project

Yes the MTA/Portaming stuff is nice but for occasional use its way over the top.

Even as an owner of one I cant really argue with you,it is a lovely bit of kit though



Cheers Ross.

[sebastianshaw]

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