40-160 Amp Arc Welder £39.99

[shenion]

I have some 3.2's, use for 5mm plate and up. Anything less and I tend to blow holes.

Definitely try some 2.4's

 

[Wozzaaah]

Like I said, turn the amps up a tad, the rods will strike a lot easier and be much less likely to stick. A 3.2 rod can be used at up to about 130A so you've got quite a bit spare if you're only running them at 115A.
You should be able to run several complete rods one after the other without any problems once you've got the hang of striking the arc and maintaining it.

Edit: maybe the 13A fuse just isn't enough by the sound of things, hopefully that's all it is.
Oh and definitely practice with 2.5mm rods until you really need to go up to 3.2mm.

 

[simon718]

Wozz, thing is, iv run plenty of 3.2's on mine at 115 and over and haven't personally blown a fuse, in saying that i did get the hang of striking the arc reasonably quickly. And 115 amp (albeit on 3mm plate) seemed to be about right. Only problem seems to be the shockingly bad duty cycle at those amps

 

[Wozzaaah]

One other thing to mention is that once the rod sticks it heats up and is more likely to stick again, if it sticks more than a couple of times, throw it away and start again with a new one. Simon, 3.2 rods will run at anything between 80 and 130A, maybe a little more so 115A should be ok. It might be also down to the brand of fuses pptom is using, other members have said they've had trouble with cheaper fuses so it might be worth trying some branded ones or better still fit a 16A industrial plug as the manual suggests.

 

[bawjaws]

THESE WELDERS SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST A 16 AMP SUPPLY!!! i manage to blow the fuses with too much 2.5mm rods going through it never mind 3.2mm, to work it as a decent welder you really should get a decent supply with the blue caravan type sockets

 

[pptom]

Well, I took the welder to work again today and got the same results, 1-2 'false' strikes and then an arc which only lasted for 2 seconds until the fuse blew. Did this a couple of times so I went back up the road to Aldi and got a replacement unit, all very smooth really, they were very helpful. However, the replacement is exactly the same, so I'm going to have to live with it, things might be a little better when my technique improves, and I'm sure 2.5mm will be plenty for what I will be doing but it would be nice to be able to use the welder to its full potential.
What gets me is that a supermarket is selling a DIY machine, aimed at the home market, but it requires an 'industrial' supply to operate correctly. There's no mention of this on the packaging and I don't really fancy forking out again to uprate my supply. Its a good, cheap little welder in the right operating range but why have they given it the capability beyond what can be supplied.
Its like buying a kettle that only heats the water to 70 degrees!

 

[simon718]

the quality of fuses in england must be crap compaired to over here then i had every intention of sticking in a 16a supply for it (already have one in work) but i just haven't had the need yet, and iv stuck down 2.5's for hours on end without blowin a fuse

 

[harriste]

bought one of these little things and there great. im only a beginner but i have been using 250 amp 3 phase welders in work and i cant notice the difference when doing small jobs.

the problem with the fuses blowing is the max current draw from the mains supply is near 40Amp so if you only have a 13Amp fuse in, even when using the welder on its 100amp settings its going to be drawing still around 20amp and this will blow the fuse everytime especially when the rod sticks. your lucky to be able to get 80amp welder setting out of it for a couple of seconds. im looking at getting a seperate supply from the consumer unit at home to my garden to run it and sticking a 16a socket on it, thats the best thing to do.

 

[simon718]

something strange is goin on here, i swear to use i can run mine on 90a all day without a problem

 

[harriste]

what size of rods were you using at that setting?

 

[simon718]

2.5s.... but when i got the welder i had only got a box of 3.2's and it still didnt blow a fuse at higher current settings

 

[harriste]

strange.........ill have to try that tomorrow i only tried 1.5s they were fine and 4.0s, they blew more or less in a couple of strikes ,nothing melted even other than the fuse lol.

ive just been looking on ebay for a set and noticed this exact same one is going £80 on ebay under a different name with a few differences

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SILVERLINE-16...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[simon718]

i never even contemplated tryin to run a 4.0 with it, i recon the duty cycle would be about 5% on full amps! 1.6 rods, don't suppose you found a place to get them cheap, or in low quantities, have been wantin to try them to see what theyre like but a 5kg pack was about 50 quid last time i saw them somewhere

hmm silverline, have to say their tape measures are the best iv ever had, one lasts me about 3 months, compared to any other brand i can wreck one in days (have a bit of a habit of dropping them for scaffolding ) most of their other stuff seems to have a reputation for self destructing

 

[harriste]

yes i got mine from aldi when i bought the welder. they done a multi plack. i think it was 25 1.5mm, 25 2.0mm, 25 2.5mm, 10 3.2mm, 5 4,0mm, they seemed to be ok quality as well when i got the hang of them. i think i got all them for £3.99. if you have one near you, they might have some in stock. i think i might go and get a few boxes. i have some welding to do on my quad bike.

 

[simon718]

na there arent any aldi's up here, think i saw one in dublin last time i was down but thats a wee bit far to go for a pack of rods! my welder came off ebay, wasnt actually aware it came from aldi till i saw the thread bout the guy who strapped a turbine to his to cool it haha

 

[harriste]

if your interested ill get some and stick them on ebay for you, you can just pay through that, ill pick a few extra boxes up when i go to get mine?

 

[simon718]

thanks for the offer mate but not much point, wouldnt really have a use for the 4mm's, have got 2.5's and 3.2's, ill have to see if i can wangle some smaller ones off one of the local welders cheers anyway!

 

[harriste]

no probs, just looking on ebay and there near £50 on there, must be the price of steel atm.

 

[simon718]

id have thought it was more along the lines of there bein a hell of a lot more 1.6 rods in a 5kg pack compared to 2.5's, my box of bohler met's was only 13 quid!

 

[SC_BK]

Yeh, it was a while ago, but I'm sure I was using 3.2rods at about 120amp on my draper arc, all through a 13amp plug. Blew the fuse once or twice when the rod stuck and blew one at the fuseboard as I used the wrong ring in our ancient wiring