Bought an arc welder.

[NeilH]

well, i wasnt fussed on posting this thread after seeing the GeorgeB thread

but ive bought a arc welder from aldi. the 180amp £40 one.

i didnt want to spend a lot of money incase i didnt like it, so i could throw it in the bin and not worry about the cash. but if i like it ill get a better quality machine in the future.

it was bad news from the start im afraid. i took it out of the box and it didnt come with a plug

fitted a plug and struck an arc, 2 seconds welding later it blew the 13amp fuse in the plug. right so at least i know i cant use it at its full power then. unless i fit a higher amp fuse, but i think thats against the law? am i correct?

anyway, i wont say what i done, but i got it working, and used some thinner rods and layed a few beads of weld. and its actually a very good welder.

the people who weld for a living will turn their nose up at it but its good enough for me to learn with. and i suggest its good enough for the profesionals to use as a throw-away welder for on site welding.

the only problem is though, ive got to take it back tomorrow

i broke the knob on the front to adjust the power. im putting this down to bad luck rather than cheap and nasty quality

 

[Paul.]

anyway, i wont say what i done, but i got it working,

That wouldnt be the 1/4" bolt with the head cut off, instead of a fuse trick would it?
Very dangerous, and should not even be considered

 

[scarecrow]

That wouldnt be the 1/4" bolt with the head cut off, instead of a fuse trick would it?

Isn't that against the law Paul

 

[malcolm]

My understanding is equipment intended for something other than a normal 13 amp plug tends to be supplied without a plug. Manufacturer has no idea if you will want a 16 amp or 32 amp plug. I suspect the 180amp arc would want at least a 16 amp (nice round blue one). Could be there are instructions if you can translate them.

Bad luck on the knob breaking off. Could have happened to anyone.

 

[NeilH]

malcolm can i run it with a 16amp fuse safely and within the law? all instructions are in english mate. i didnt read them tho. ive used an arc welder before so i had an idea what i was doing. bad practise though i suppose.

TIG paul: i wrapped the blown fuse in 20amp fuse wire lengthways so it was making contact both ends. i didnt say anything incase it would make me unpopular lol. some internet users are whiter than white and never do anything dodgy haha.

 

[ben8vgte]

I've put a 16a breaker in my consumer unit with socket (round blue 16a) so i can run my compressor off it. same thing would be fine for you just make a 16a extension lead the bit's are pretty cheap.

 

[madkayaker]

any appliance above 3KW comes with out a plug as its up to the end user to connect appropriately. Raping 20A wire is a bad idea as you will over load the connection in the socket. Do as ben8vgte suggests or get a spark to do it.

 

[Paul.]

Of course we cant, and rightly so, suggest or condone anything illegal or dangerous, but some of things Ive seen over the years that have been done just to get the job finished, would give some of those whiter than white internet users sleepless nights. and not all have had good endings either.

 

[malcolm]

malcolm can i run it with a 16amp fuse safely and within the law?

Oops, sorry. The 16 amp round blue thing I meant is a whole plug rather than a fuse. Needs a round blue socket to plug into which is fused only at the consumer unit. Much more sturdy and better connections than the 13 amp plugs which will tend to smell like train sets after a little while and will need replacing often when used to the max with 13 amp fuses.

 

[madkayaker]

dont forget tgat a 16A plug needs a 16A fuse

 

[Muggins the Mug]

Dare I ask what you thought of the build quality Neil, apart from the broken knob? The ones I had, the power knobs were fine and I couldn't fault them. Aldi will swap the welder for you, no questions asked (as long as it's within 30 days of purchase).

 

[NeilH]

in my opinion its a good entry level machine. its got more than enough power for what i want it for.

heavy electrical cable and earth on it. its got a big earth clamp but i cant help thinking it looks a bit flimsy, regardless of its size.

the rod holder (is that what it called?) is cheap though. its a spring clamp type holder but the button for opening the jaws is plastic!!!! i cant see it lasting long.

but the bottom line is it was only £40 and it welds extremely well.

im taking it back tomorrow, its under 30 days old.

when i get my new one ill take some pics of the machine and some welds.

 

[Muggins the Mug]

The rod holder was a bit iffy on one of the welders and felt a little loose to hold 1.6mm and 2mm rods. I had a replacement one where the rod holder was nice and tight. I've now since learned that I could have probably replaced the holder to a screw type.

ps: I forgot to add that I kept having problems with mine tripping the MCB's on the consumer unit/panel thingy. It's an old Memera 21 consumer unit that the local council fitted way back when. Every time you turned on the main power switch on the welder, you'd have to reset the MCB. It did this with all the welders.

 

[Muggins the Mug]

Dare I ask how you got on with the exchange Neil?

 

[jef88]

I just stuck a 32amp breaker into my CU & wired the welder straight in, as I have no plans to move itin the near future.

 

[Muggins the Mug]

I don't think I'd fancy a welder wired straight into a consumer unit without having a means to separate it from the power supply, a plug and socket is a must I believe.

Regards,

Ian.

 

[madkayaker]

can hard wire as long as there is a switch rated to switch full load

 

[simon718]

ahem iv had no problems with my knob

wouldnt bother me having it permenantly wired Ian, as long as i could get to the consumer unit easily to isolate it, will see what MK has to say tho as its probably in the regs that you have to have some form of isolator, right enough all our machinery in work has isolators right beside them

 

[Muggins the Mug]

will see what MK has to say tho

He beat you to it. But I prefer having the ability to remove it if need be. A hard-wired one would probably suit something like a fixed piece of machinery or a heavy welder better than a lightweight job, like I've got.

Regards,

Ian.

 

[madkayaker]

well doe at coming second but your right if the isolator can't remain under control during maintenance it also has to be lockable