[Benchai]

madmacca wrote:

link to manual for Transtig 275/375 http://www.murexwelding.co.uk/manuals/o ... S-375S.pdf

Thanks mate. I have looked at this before, but mine is a Cigweld. Should have added that part

[ball]

Benchai wrote:

Cool, thanks. Would this one work? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SIMADRE-HIGH ... 1c2d9d124e

Don't see why not. I have one of those as a small torch option on mine and it works quite well. I ordered a stack of collets and ceramics at the same time but still buy my tungstens from boc

Have a dig around ebay a bit more and you should be able to find one with a better postage deal than that listing.

[SierraDan]

We have a WIA Weldmatic 350 at work.
Very nice to use. Apparently expensive according to ebay..

[Daly87]

is a Welder Ozito 115amp OK for a first buy welder to learn off??

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/canning- ... 1016443345

Never welded before but i thought id give it a try, goona just weld bit of metal for a while then might give restoring an old trailer a go for a first project down the line

Opinions? or should i save out for http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/osborne- ... 1011701130


Rather you told me the $60 will be fine haha but please, shed knowledge my way. HAVE ZERO IDEA ABOUT THIS!

[missmyljdaze]

Gidday Daly,
I only have an old stick welder, and the strength of my welds relies more on the paint than anything else- but a couple of tips before our proper welders wake up.
Do you have a 15 amp power supply? As far as I know- most-if not all decent welders need more han a 10 amp supply.
get yourself an electronic helmet!
if you get a mig, there is some type of spray that you use on the tips. I have no idea what it does, but our minesite fitters started panicing when they ran low of spray cans.

stephen

[Fatzook]

Daly,

115amp is good for around 3mm steel. It is VERY low amps. It may be enough for you to learn basic tecnique, but learning on thin metals can be hard, and that welder certainly won't help.

To be honest, if welding is something you are interested in learning to do, you should be spending a little more money. Also, its worth looking at good brand used machines too.

[Daly87]

Thanks for the feedback guys.... I think ill leave it until I can do it properly then rather than buy cheap and then waste the money buying twice. Welding is something iv always wanted to have a shot at and I missed the basic classes the my University provided on my Engineering degree Would love to be as good as some of the people on here where they can just throw together a trailer for camping, just amazes me.

Maybe one day!

[Bretski]

Hi Zookers.

I've been skimming through this they'd and there's mega info overload for a novice like me.
I have an Inverter stick welder which I've had for years and I'm ok with it but it no good for the light stuff but it does mean I already have masks and welding tools etc.

Im doing up a Vitara as a bit of a BUDGET Build with my son and i'm going to lash out on a mig welder.

Did i mention im on a very Tight Budget.
I'd like to pose a question to all you experienced welders.
I will never be able to afford a $1000+ welder and any major structural jobs I'd probably go to someone like Pete anyway.
So I want to learn and I have budget of about $400 max I can spend on EvilBay or elsewhere. Second hand is an option but I don't want someone else's problems and no warranty. I also won't be welding on a weekly basis. It just for handyman home projects etc.

So if you had my budget what would you consider on ebay for sheet metal repairs basic build like boat trailer etc.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond.
Bretski

[Fatzook]

Hi Bret.

Unfortunately mate, with a budget like that you will be restricted to a stick welder. You can get some good invertor machines these days within your budget. Although you did not mention if your budget included the other things you'll need like welding helmet, gloves, slag hammer, electrodes etc.

[Bretski]

Hey Pete. I already have stick welder and gloves and mask etc so I'm only after a machine...

There's a plethora of MIGs on EvilBay up to about 200 amps within my budget ... I know they are no where near commercial quality I'm not kidding myself but it won't get used a lot so I was hoping /wondering what would be best of a bad bunch so to speak.

Cheers
Bret

[Fatzook]

You any good with the stick? reason I ask is, a shitty stick welder is usually better than an average MIG. A 200amp mig will be reasonably effective with up to 5mm thick material if you do the required prep work first.

Generally, the cheaper migs use copied parts ( copy torches and consumables, drive mechanisms and transformers.... if its not an inverter type) and there can be some pretty big quality issues, as well as compatability issues with consumables. You'll also be restricted to flux core wire (gasless) unless you spring the cash for a regulator, bottle rental and gas. This is an ongoing cost unfortunately, so it does make it a hard thing to have just sitting around for the occassional job.

But if you are a proficient MMA ( stick ) welder, then a cheap MIG will probably be of little benifit.

Thats my 2cents on the issue. I know others will have had great success with a budget machine, so hopefully they will chime in.

Pete

[31zook]

Fatzook wrote:

You any good with the stick? reason I ask is, a shitty stick welder is usually better than an average MIG. A 200amp mig will be reasonably effective with up to 5mm thick material if you do the required prep work first.

Generally, the cheaper migs use copied parts ( copy torches and consumables, drive mechanisms and transformers.... if its not an inverter type) and there can be some pretty big quality issues, as well as compatability issues with consumables. You'll also be restricted to flux core wire (gasless) unless you spring the cash for a regulator, bottle rental and gas. This is an ongoing cost unfortunately, so it does make it a hard thing to have just sitting around for the occassional job.

But if you are a proficient MMA ( stick ) welder, then a cheap MIG will probably be of little benifit.

Thats my 2cents on the issue. I know others will have had great success with a budget machine, so hopefully they will chime in.

Pete

X2
Bloody tweco hand pieces. I would rebuild an entire hand piece at the start of each shift due to awesome quality.

[Fatzook]

31zook wrote:

X2
Bloody tweco hand pieces. I would rebuild an entire hand piece at the start of each shift due to awesome quality.

Were they ACTUAL Tweco's? Or Tweco copies I know plenty of guys who swear by the Tweco stuff. And the consumables are VERY well priced.

Still, I prefer my Binzel MB 36KD grip. I replaced the OEM supplied MB 24KD about 6 months ago. Loving it!

[bulladean_]

Nearly all the welders where i work have tweco guns. They dont stopped being used from the moment we start till when we leave in the afternoon and they never fail.

[Fatzook]

bulladean_ wrote:

Nearly all the welders where i work have tweco guns. They dont stopped being used from the moment we start till when we leave in the afternoon and they never fail.

Yeah most large scale fab shops run Tweco. The cost of tips/ shields/ diffusers etc is way less than Binzel. And when you've got guys under the pump, its easier/ more cost effective to just change out some worn parts than fuck around scrubbing tips and the like, just to save a little on consumables.

[shabz]

Noticed something strange with my argon gas regulator today

Was working perfectly until i got a new bottle today. The gauge that shows the tank pressure is fine, the other gauge that shows the flow ( in litres/min) seems to be playing up.

After welding, i'll put the torch down for a few minutes, and the needle will slowly but steadily creep up, all the way 360 degrees around! It'll stop once it goes back to zero due to the little stopper. As soon as i press the trigger i get a sudden burst of gas, needle drops back to where i set it and all is well. As soon as i stop, the needle slowly does a 360 again.

The only difference is that this new bottle has the tap on the top, so my reg screws into the side. This wouldn't be causing this would it? Anyone have any ideas?

[zookn3cyl]

How long was the regulator removed from the bottle for? I have had this happen and it turned out a wasp had decided to build a home in the regulator. It still flowed but experienced similar issues to what you have described.

[shabz]

The regulator was off for all of a couple of hours, so no bee hives in there

Today i laid the bottle on its side, to position the regulator the right way up. No difference, still doing the same thing

[Critical Energy]

Can anyone suggest a welder for some Aluminium projects I have coming up?
I have some brackets to make, probably from 3mm Aluminium, will MIG work or best with TIG? I've never welded with TIG before but I like a challenge.
Was going to buy the Lincoln 180 one Fatzook was recommending for steel projects, now wondering if I should look elsewhere.

I may also do some stainless brackets too, i'm guessing TIG is a definite for that?

Rich

[Fatzook]

For aluminium you will Need an AC TIG. These are more expensive that the DC TIG/MMA machines that are everywhere these days.

You CAN MIG weld ally, but you will need a teflon liner in your gun, and a welder with dual feed rollers, as the soft ally wire is usually quite troublesome in the single drive roller machines.

Pulse MIG is easier to control, but most machines with this function are over $5000.

You can MIG, or DC TIG stainless.

Both stainless and ally require the use of straight argon gas.

For 3mm ally you will need atleast a 150A AC TIG. Most AC TIG machines over 200A (5-6mm ally) will be 3 phase.

[Critical Energy]

Thanks mate,

Is there a machine out there that does everything (mild, S/S, ally)?
Can't see me needing to weld any more than 3mm ally.
Will the Lincoln mentioned earlier do the job (albeit not as well as the TIG).

Oh, the things I'm making are brackets for outdoor lights, and odd bits & bobs.

Rich

[Fatzook]

Critical Energy wrote:

Thanks mate,

Is there a machine out there that does everything (mild, S/S, ally)?

You can weld all 3 with the right MIG welder. It won't be cheap though.

How much are you wanting to spend?

Just for refernce, my $3K MIg will weld alloy, but it doesn't have a pulse function, so its much harder to use.

The machine I want to buy to do this sort of work will set me back $7K,, plus whatever the water cooling unit costs.

[Critical Energy]

Hmmmm, was thinking about a grand, just for a decent MIG, was hoping i could do ally & stainless with that otherwise I'd be best off getting someone to do it I guess

[Fatzook]

Critical Energy wrote:

otherwise I'd be best off getting someone to do it I guess

You can do stainless with a MIG. Just swap out the wire and gas for 316 and Argon, and have at it.

Although DC TIG gives a better/ neater result.

Aluminium requires more specialised machines unfortunately.

I'd farm it out if I were you.

[Critical Energy]

Sweet, thanks for the honest opinion. I guess the other option is mig, tack em up and get someone to finish it.

Thanks

[Fatzook]

Yeah you can do that with the stainless fairly easily, but for ally, you'll still need a teflon liner for your hand piece and a machine that can actually draw ally wire through the drive rollers.

The Lincoln 180 is a great little machine, but it runs a Magnum 100 torch, and consumables are a little less common/ dearer than Tweco or Binzel torches, as found on the bigger lincolns. This may make it hard for you to find a teflon liner etc.

You can upgrade them to a Tweco torch with a simple adaptor, and IMO it is WELL worth it, but it will add $300-400 onto the cost of the machine. Upside is, tips, shields, diffusers etc are FAR cheaper, and are stocked everywhere.

There is no upgrade for the Binzel torch AFAIK.

[OVERKILL ENG]

Interesting read some very good advice..

[SierraDan]

I have a sub-$1k budget for a decent mig around the 180-200amp mark. Gas.
What should I be looking at and where should I be looking?

Thanks.

[31zook]

Lincoln 180SP.

Or the MIG ajsr put up the other day.

[SierraDan]

I did look at that Lincoln. Know where I can get one locally at a good price?