MiG Welder for Novice

[Jonathan Kay]

(Not a swap.)

I want to do some MIG welding at home. Nothing massive, mostly little gifts and garden sculpture. I've done a one-day course and will do another.

I've tried resurrecting an old SIP and thought that I had the wire feed working, but it's just failed again. 

Recommendations and advice for a new welder, please. Is it sensible to buy Gas/Gasless? Easy/smart set-up is a high priority.

Thanks in advance.

Jonathan

[Beagler]

I used oxy acetylene welding torch a lot  in my days as a motor tech, welding, cutting, heating stubborn bolts and fitting ring gears. I always think a gas system is more versatile than electric.

[SLR No.77]

Jonathan, assuming you're thinking about investing in a new piece of equipment, a lot of amateur car restorers us the Clarke 135TE with 0.6mm or 0.8mm wire. They do occasionally come up used and well worth keeping an eye out for one, but they seem to hold their value really well so possibly better to buy new, look after it and sell when you don't need it anymore.

I'm doing a full rebuild on a Mini so a couple of years ago I invested in a R-Tech 180, it's a step up from the Clarke but has the price to suit, certainly now much more expensive than when I bought mine!

For gas most people use Hobbyweld.

Stu.

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Thankyou, Stu, that's very helpful and I'll go and study those.

They cost £360 and £534, and that's about the top of what I can afford.

(I'm finding it very hard to assess performance and features, and I'm still at the stage where I can't tell why prices vary so much.)

Thanks again.

Jonathan

[paul richards]

Stuart's recommendation of RTech is good, but I'd be surprised if you can't refurb your SIP machine. The wire feed is fairly simple. Have you renewed the liner? An alternative gas supplier is SGS. They have a lot of distributors. Bound to be one close to you. 

[SLR No.77]

Jonathan, what's failing on the wire feed on your current SIP machine?

[Drakman]

Have you considered a TIG welder, they are really good and you can weld Aluminum, stainless and steel.  They are just like the old oxy acetylene set up to use except the torch is electric.   I was taught to use oxy and arc when i did my apprenticeship as a motor mechanic 50 old years ago  but this new TIG stuff is much easier to use, no spatter.

If you have to go MIG make sure it is a gas one.

Cheers

Dave

[Jonathan Kay]

Thanks.

On the wire feed:

I was given the welder because the wire feed was dodgy. And the donor had bought a better machine in order to rebuild an XK140.

It's way out of support by the company, but one of their people went far beyond the call of duty and by chance had a similar model at home. So with enormous help, and having taken it apart perhaps ten times, it now has a new liner and other bits. The trigger also needed some fettling. But it was finally feeding reliably and smoothly.

I then had to put it one side. A very difficult production of Stoppard's Arcadia, the first two stages of the three peaks (my 70th birthday present to myself), and my birthday party. Some of the welding gear had been 60th birthday presents!

And when I got back to it yesterday.... the feed was bust again.

I need to abandon welder therapy and start welding!

Jonathan

[graearea]

second TIG. if you're doing it for fun and not profit you can take a lot of pride in some nice TIG welding. I find it amazingly therapeutic. although welding Ali is a PITA :D

[aerobod - near CYYC]

The choice overall for a budget welder will be determined by whether you will do much aluminium welding or not, Jonathan. I have an older Clarke 150EN welder that at 150A is just about the minimum current for welding up to 6mm aluminium. If you do plan to weld both steel and aluminium, you will also want a welder that allows a Teflon liner to be easily swapped, as using the same liner for both metals will end up with the small particles the wire feed rollers generates when feeding the wire contaminating the weld of the opposite metal.

Also when welding aluminium you usually want to use tips that are listed as 0.1mm larger than the specified wire size and feed the wire a bit faster than you would think, to minimise tip jams and welding them shut. Forehand welding should also be used, as backhand will just blow holes in the weld.

[Mechanical Moz]

You can buy complete generic wire feed assemblies to replace the one in your SIP set.  I looked at this for my Cebora 130 set as spares are hard to come by, although I haven't actually replaced it yet as it seemed to work OK having given everything a good clean.  Any rust on the wire spool from long term storage will soon cause trouble with the wire feed & liner.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404072369123 was the first one I found.

[Jonathan Kay]

Thanks, James. Thanks, all.

MIG rather than TIG because it's easier, and I need all the easier that I can get.

So, of course, I went back to trying fix the wire feed. I should fit quick-release fasteners on the cover panel. It won't feed for more than a few seconds, and I'm not sure whether welding makes any difference to that. If I wiggle the spool it then feeds again.

I'll have yet another look at the drag on the spool and the grip wheels.

"Any rust on the wire spool from long term storage will soon cause trouble with the wire feed & liner."

I didn't know this. The wire is old and it does free up easily with a wiggle. Thankyou.

Jonathan