MIG welder

[Clifford SteinParticipant @cliffordstein20493]

I'm looking to buy a new welder here in Thailand, I'm nt a welder but a fitter and turner. This what I was looking at which is MMA, MIG and TIG.

[Clifford SteinParticipant @cliffordstein20493]

new welder

[martin haysomParticipant @martinhaysom48469]

might be worth asking on the MIG welding forum

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

Similar item on eBay in UK does not mention MMA or TIG and no accessories supplied to indicate that these are possible. Input current is stated at 22A so would not work off UK mains, don't know what Thailand power supply is like. I think the best you could expect is very light work. Doesn't do gas MIG so wire is expensive.

Link to UK available model for comparison

John

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Yes bought one last week fo £90 on Ebay. Bog standard gasless welder. No tig function etc. I bought it just as a gasless mig. Works ok on m/s & s/s. No frills but servisable. Needed something I could chuck in the car for odd jobs and not bother about gas bottles. Works fine off 13a plug.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 14/01/2023 10:04:59

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Oldiron on 14/01/2023 10:01:12:

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Yes bought one last week fo £90 on Ebay. […] Works fine off 13a plug.

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Me being completely naive in such matters … a ‘review’ would be appreciated

… I am bewildered by the input current requirements

Are you using it on a ‘low power’ setting, or is the specification a fairy-tale ?

MichaelG.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

So from Journeyman's link it could be 10A to 140 or maybe 35A to 145. This is how the specs get screwed up with cut and paste and how your Thai advert mentions TIG when it clearly isn't.

Oldiron has clearly used his so we know the design works.

Just make sure you can get the copper tips for the gun where you are as it doesn't have a Euro plug in gun. You will get a burn-back that wont come out of the tip at some time.

Don't buy the cheapest wire you can find it won't work very well.

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

It depends. Gassless 'mig' of that size has limited use-cases.

If you want to weld biggish bits of metal together then Stick is cheap and works on dirty metal.

Gas MIG … proper welding gas really makes life a lot easier. If you want nice looking welds then try and get gas. Co2 works, but proper welding gas is much nicer. That can be a problem to source. MIG beats stick on thinner material.

TIG – stick or MIG welders pressed into service as a TIG will be much more difficult to use than a proper TIG welder (which the example is not). Not a nice introduction for beginners. A beginner friendly TIG will have lots of knobs on it to control parameters.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I'm not a pro, more an enthusiastic amateur

Gasless mig is fine for thinner work up to 140A 8mm

Over 140A – 10mm plus I use arc/MMA because stick penetrates solid steel far better

It's very good for sheet work, get a more expensive unit if you're doing quite a lot of work, £200+ a pop units have a far better more stable arc for tack welding thin work

If you find yourself doing a lot of work and enjoying it you will quickly move up from a base unit to a better mid range intermediate unit

Get a decent mask like a parweld trucolour

Gasless mig produces a harder more brittle weld which is harder to machine than softer MMA welds but it grinds down fine

Edited By Ady1 on 14/01/2023 10:55:44

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Posted by Dave Halford on 14/01/2023 10:40:42:

So from Journeyman's link it could be 10A to 140 or maybe 35A to 145. This is how the specs get screwed up with cut and paste and how your Thai advert mentions TIG when it clearly isn't.

Oldiron has clearly used his so we know the design works.

Just make sure you can get the copper tips for the gun where you are as it doesn't have a Euro plug in gun. You will get a burn-back that wont come out of the tip at some time.

Don't buy the cheapest wire you can find it won't work very well.

Only a dial for setting power which increases or decreases the wire feed to suit. So easy for beginners.

The gun has the standard replacable euro tip holder/spring assembly so parts readily available. I have tried spares I hold for my big mig welder & they fit ok.

It is ideal for little jobs & tinwork. I have tried 6mm plate & 1mm sheet. The sheet was a doddle but the thicker plate was a bit slower going. The 140amp might be a bit on the hopeful side. But slowly slowly catchee monkey.

Was actually surprised by the lack of "spatter" around the weld.

I welded a 13mm bandsaw blade today and that appears to be fine. Need to run it for a while to test.

Also welded a couple of pieces of galvanized sheet. A bit smokey but it did the job although I only did a 50mm run.

Looking for some gasless Ali wire to try.  BTW using 0.8 wire.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 14/01/2023 13:26:12

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Interesting, as my limited experience with gasless is that I wouldn't even consider it for sheetmetal. Which leaves it for things like gates, fences and similar where it is rarely as good or user friendly as stick.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

If you get serious about sheet then a unit that goes down to 30-35A and 17 volts makes life a lot easier

Decent tack welds that melt right through are possible

edit

I've never seen gasless alu wire so far, only the solid stuff that needs a bottle

edit2

and watch with galvanised, the zinc becomes a poisonous gas(you probbly know that)

Edited By Ady1 on 14/01/2023 13:53:00

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 14/01/2023 10:20:51:

Posted by Oldiron on 14/01/2023 10:01:12:

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Yes bought one last week fo £90 on Ebay. […] Works fine off 13a plug.

.

Me being completely naive in such matters … a ‘review’ would be appreciated

… I am bewildered by the input current requirements

Are you using it on a ‘low power’ setting, or is the specification a fairy-tale ?

MichaelG.

Probably a combination of dubious specifications, ruuning at lower current / duty cycle and the fact that a "13A" outlet, fuse and lead will carry considerably more than 13 amps for a short period.
Electrical specifications, quality and safety compliance of this sort of thing from China are very suspect in my opinion.

Robert G8RPI.

[DellParticipant @dell]

Don’t bother with a gas less mig they are a waste of time.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi well looking at the ratings plate in the second photo of Journeyman's link, it looks OK to me to use on a domestic 13 A plug top, albeit not on a continuous duty cycle at the highest setting maybe. Not that I'm a fan of gassless welders, had one years ago when that was all I could afford, and was only just a little bit better than useless.

Regards Nick.

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Posted by Dell on 14/01/2023 15:09:50:

Don’t bother with a gas less mig they are a waste of time.

In your opinion that is. Maybe you could expand on that comment with your professional views. Depends on what your needs are. Maybe not good for you but a godsend to others.

regards

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Dell and Nick sum up my feelings about gasless MIG. The feed motor and feed system are two areas that let many MIGs(cheap ones and some not so cheap)) down ! If the wire feed is not ABSOLUTELY steady poor weld and poor finish will result ! Depending on your ability to recognise a good weld may dictate how happy you are with one of these machines. For many years I used Co2, then used Argon / Co2, I found little difference apart from cost for mild steel, but it was a VERY expensive machine. One thing to remember is that ANY draft or wind WILL blow the gas away from the weld pool ! Noel

Having seen Old Irons comment I agree that gasless may get you out of a hole BUT ONLY IF THE WORK HAS NO SAFETY RELATED ISSUES Etc, not being structural. ie could break, falling on a person !  I will post a picture of a commercially produced MIG weld that failed due to poorly trained staff and caused a serious road accident. This will ( or should) worry anybody doing any type of welding that they have little or poor competancy in !. I have kept this item for many years as an illustration of HOW a weld that may to the untrained eye look OK ! Yet if the weld pool had been observed as the weld was being done it would have been seen that it was NO weld at all ! Noel.

Edited By noel shelley on 14/01/2023 16:00:30

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Here we go again !!!!!!!!!!!!

[phillip gardinerParticipant @phillipgardiner]

Oldiron where are we of to this time.?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Nicholas Farr on 14/01/2023 15:12:55:
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Hi well looking at the ratings plate in the second photo of Journeyman's link, it looks OK to me to use on a domestic 13 A plug top […]

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I must have been confused by the numbers in the description :

Rated input current (A): 22

Recommended fuse capacity(A): 40

… I plead ignorance … grateful if you could educate me.

MichaelG.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi MichaelG, open Journeyman's link and then advance the right hand arrow ( > ) in the picture to select the next view and you will see the front view top left and the back view bottom right, place your cursor over the space under the front view and to the left of the back view where is has HBM 145.

Hope I've explained it to your requirements.

Regards Nick.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

But what of the descriptive text ?

MichaelG.

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Edited By Michael Gilligan on 14/01/2023 22:23:25

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi MichaelG, well seeing the the same thing is printed on the top right hand corner of the back view and Oldiron says the one he has works fine off a 13 A plug, I took it that the descriptive text is incorrect. I have seen incorrect descriptive text on somethings that I have bought which were ordered on line, even from the likes of Currys/PC World.

Regards Nick.

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

MichaelG, No mention of a fuse rating in my instruction book. The 13a UK plug came with a 13a fuse fitted.

regards

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks, Nick

I’m not impressed, but your logic seems sound enough.

I shouldn’t have bothered asking about it. [ it’s an ebay listing after all ]

MichaelG.

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Edit: __ and thanks Oldiron

Trouble was … I read the text; and when I saw your first comment that prompted my dumb question.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 14/01/2023 22:49:15

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