Hi all
New to welding and the forum so be gentle please. I recently spent 4 consecutive saturdays doing an introduction to welding course at my local agricultural college and thoroughly enjoyed and decided to buy myself a Mig welder. Not being able to justify the expense of one of the established brands and wanting something reasonably capable and flexible I decided to go for one of the cheap Chinese Inverter machines. I realise I was taking a gamble but having a background in electronics I figured I would be able to repair in the future, I even briefly considered building one myself but then realised the cost of the parts was more than a complete one. In the end I decided on a Blackline tools Mig200 from RallyDesign via eBay for £233, delivery was next day. I have no affiliation with this company and have never purchased anything from them before.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blackline-Tools-200-Amp-MIG-MAG-MMA-ARC-Welder-MIG200-/231668012957
Also available via their own website
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=123&products_id=22932
It also has a remarkable resemblence to the the Weldman machine from Poland also on eBay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WELDMAN-Midi-MIG-220-MMA-inverter-welding-machine-200A-/172263038343
The specification of the machine is as follows
•Voltage: 220v 50/60Hz
•No Load Voltage: 42v
•Rated Input Capacity: 8.2kva
•Wire Diameter: 0.8 - 1.0 (But see note below)
•Output Current: 50-200a
•Rated Duty Cycle: 60%
•Weight: 19kg
A few pictures of the machine.
Note it comes with a 6mm barbed connector for the gas not shown on this photo. The unit has a 230V output socket on the back, not quite sure of the use for this but it is not a fused output so I wouldn't plug your shaver/electric toothbrush into!
Everything on or supplied with is built for a price so you have to accept the quality and sturdiness of some of the items. The unit comes with a 4M euro torch and I think 3M earth and stick electode holder, I guess they are OK for the price but nothing special.
It also comes with a really cheap face shield which I won't use as I have an ESAB Warrior helmet. Also supplied are a replacement gas shroud and tips and a 32A plug and socket. The instruction book supplied is almost useless apart from the entertainment factor of reading. On the front of the machine are LED readouts of current and voltage, unfortunately both only read whilst you are actually welding when you can't see the display through your helmet when it darkens. Controls for Volts, Current and Wire speed are numbered 0-10 and with no table of what these equate to its a little difficult to get a starting point for settings. At some point I will video the displays at various settings and post the values.
Opening up the case, the front and back plastic moldings seem a little brittle, but could easily be replaced with something a bit more substantial if they do break. Inside the machine reflects the price, the wire feed mechanism is metal and supposedly according to the specifications came with 0.8mm to 1mm, however mine was supplied with a wheel with grooves for 0.6mm and 0.8mm wire which may be more useful to me anyway. Note the wire feed is strapped to the positive Dinse socket making the use gas less Mig slightly more problematic but not impossible.
A few more internal images apologies for the quality due to depth of field.
The circuit boards look OK again nothing special using a lot of surface mount components which may make diy repairs more difficult, two potentially weak areas in my opinion are the use of built up solder to boost the current carrying capacity and the plastic pillars use to mount the boards.
Down to how it actually welds, well not sure yet, awaiting to purchase the gas and have my 32A supply fitted to the garage. I had a quick go with the one and only MMA electrode I had and that was OK. Once I have it set up properly and had chance to play properley I'll report back.
Regards
Andy
New to welding and the forum so be gentle please. I recently spent 4 consecutive saturdays doing an introduction to welding course at my local agricultural college and thoroughly enjoyed and decided to buy myself a Mig welder. Not being able to justify the expense of one of the established brands and wanting something reasonably capable and flexible I decided to go for one of the cheap Chinese Inverter machines. I realise I was taking a gamble but having a background in electronics I figured I would be able to repair in the future, I even briefly considered building one myself but then realised the cost of the parts was more than a complete one. In the end I decided on a Blackline tools Mig200 from RallyDesign via eBay for £233, delivery was next day. I have no affiliation with this company and have never purchased anything from them before.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blackline-Tools-200-Amp-MIG-MAG-MMA-ARC-Welder-MIG200-/231668012957
Also available via their own website
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=123&products_id=22932
It also has a remarkable resemblence to the the Weldman machine from Poland also on eBay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WELDMAN-Midi-MIG-220-MMA-inverter-welding-machine-200A-/172263038343
The specification of the machine is as follows
•Voltage: 220v 50/60Hz
•No Load Voltage: 42v
•Rated Input Capacity: 8.2kva
•Wire Diameter: 0.8 - 1.0 (But see note below)
•Output Current: 50-200a
•Rated Duty Cycle: 60%
•Weight: 19kg
A few pictures of the machine.
Note it comes with a 6mm barbed connector for the gas not shown on this photo. The unit has a 230V output socket on the back, not quite sure of the use for this but it is not a fused output so I wouldn't plug your shaver/electric toothbrush into!
Everything on or supplied with is built for a price so you have to accept the quality and sturdiness of some of the items. The unit comes with a 4M euro torch and I think 3M earth and stick electode holder, I guess they are OK for the price but nothing special.
It also comes with a really cheap face shield which I won't use as I have an ESAB Warrior helmet. Also supplied are a replacement gas shroud and tips and a 32A plug and socket. The instruction book supplied is almost useless apart from the entertainment factor of reading. On the front of the machine are LED readouts of current and voltage, unfortunately both only read whilst you are actually welding when you can't see the display through your helmet when it darkens. Controls for Volts, Current and Wire speed are numbered 0-10 and with no table of what these equate to its a little difficult to get a starting point for settings. At some point I will video the displays at various settings and post the values.
Opening up the case, the front and back plastic moldings seem a little brittle, but could easily be replaced with something a bit more substantial if they do break. Inside the machine reflects the price, the wire feed mechanism is metal and supposedly according to the specifications came with 0.8mm to 1mm, however mine was supplied with a wheel with grooves for 0.6mm and 0.8mm wire which may be more useful to me anyway. Note the wire feed is strapped to the positive Dinse socket making the use gas less Mig slightly more problematic but not impossible.
A few more internal images apologies for the quality due to depth of field.
The circuit boards look OK again nothing special using a lot of surface mount components which may make diy repairs more difficult, two potentially weak areas in my opinion are the use of built up solder to boost the current carrying capacity and the plastic pillars use to mount the boards.
Down to how it actually welds, well not sure yet, awaiting to purchase the gas and have my 32A supply fitted to the garage. I had a quick go with the one and only MMA electrode I had and that was OK. Once I have it set up properly and had chance to play properley I'll report back.
Regards
Andy
