Draper Mig MW190T - new acquisition.

[Farside]

Just got one of these today...

https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/draper-71092-mw190t-230-400-v-gas-gasless-turbo-mig-welder-180-a

First impressions:
Seems to be reasonably well made (by Cebora, as fas as I know) and little things like the wheels, even though they're plastic, are quite solid-feeling and have decent bearings in them. The torch is a Binzel MB15 (or a very good copy) and has a swivel neck. A detachable earth lead is a plus, in my view, although it's only fitted with a 10/25 Dinse, and I was expecting/hoping for the next size up. No matter, that's easily fixed.
A moment of consternation when I found the mains lead was a four-core and I thought for a moment they'd sent me a 3-ph only machine, but a hurried consultation of the manual revealed the wiring is the normal Brown / Blue / Green/yellow for 230V and use the Black / Blue / Green/yellow for 415V. Both applications being single phase.
The wire drive is a metal two-roller affair, with a usual flip-off tensioner, and looks as if it will last ok - time will tell on that one, I suppose.

Of course, there's always an element of exaggeration from the makers, and the model number might lead you to expect max current somewhere up around 190A. I didn't expect that to be true, of course, but there's another wrinkle the cunning bar stewards have used in this - the max current is 180A, which doesn't seem too bad, but that's only on 440V feed. What a misleading turd that is. Max on 230V is 140A, which is ok for realistic use that I'll be putting it too, but it rankles just a little bit that those ten or more extra amps aren't available to me.

Anyway, the decision was made, the money was paid and if it works ok, I'll keep it.
Have to wire in a socket tomorrow and decide whether to bother putting a 32A plug on this or will a 16A do. I think the latter will suffice.

 

[Farside]

Can't edit that post, so here's a correction:
Brown / Blue / Yellow/green - 230V
Brown / Black / Yellow/green - 415V

 

[Farside]

I ran the fag-end of a roll of gasless wire from the Telwin through this today, just to get the feel of it.
First off, the handbook says the adapter can accomodate the mini reels - no, it can't, it only does 5kg and 15kg reels.
To fit a mini-reel of 450/750g (and perhaps the 900g one, too), put a 12mm washer on top of the wavy washer, then cut a 13mm section of thick-wall 1/2" bore HDPE pipe, and slipped it over the shaft (missus). This was followed by a 12mm washer, the spool of wire, and the original 8mm washer, spring and end nut all held the spool in place quite nicely.
Was wondering if the wire feeder had packed up, as it wouldn't move until up at position 7, and only at 9 does it get into its stride for normal use. This is madness, as 2/3 to 3/4 of the range is wasted. I'll have a tinker with the pre-set or change the pot (as necessary) once the warranty is up. I don't want to get inside and fiddle quite yet.

Anyway, some holes suitably burned careful attention to detail and some test beads were run. I'm not putting them up here. Oh, no.

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

If you are already thinking of fiddling about with it then I'd say you've bought the wrong machine. Don't mean to sound negative but personally I'd be sending it back. 140A mig isn't alot of power to play with and really limits you to probaby around 5mm realistically.

 

[Farside]

Realistically, that's all I want it for. If I have to glue anything heavier together, it's time to break out the big buzzer and dim the neighbours' lights.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Do you mind me asking if you paid the full £440 for it?

 

[Farside]

Yep, near enough. Allowing for it being a local supplier and not expecting a massive discount, plus transportation costs, etc.
We're acclimated to paying through the nose for items of plant, here.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Yep, near enough. Allowing for it being a local supplier and not expecting a massive discount, plus transportation costs, etc.
We're acclimated to paying through the nose for items of plant, here.

Fair enough, there is a big cost to transporting far up the country. Hope all goes well with it

 

[Farside]

Fair enough, there is a big cost to transporting far up the country. Hope all goes well with it

I think it will work well enough. It's definitely a step up from the Telwin (which isn't a bad little box, to be honest), being more of a semi-industrial / light fabshop unit, and while I don't expect it to set the world on fire, I'll be happy enough with not setting my workshop ablaze.
Things are now on hold until I get some decent wire, tips, shrouds and gas. Having been to Hell and back with Supercrappy6 wire, I've no wish to repeat that, and intend to only use quality wire and consumables. I see Gys 5kg spools on Amazon for £16 - just a stab in the dark, but I suppose they don't brand crap.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

GYS’ wire isn’t anything special, it’s european but just re branded stuff. If you want a quality wire I’d go for something branded from ESAB, Lincoln or SIF.
For the most part super6 wire is okay, you must’ve got something from a bad batch.

 

[Farside]

GYS’ wire isn’t anything special, it’s european but just re branded stuff. If you want a quality wire I’d go for something branded from ESAB, Lincoln or SIF.
For the most part super6 wire is okay, you must’ve got something from a bad batch.

It's apples and oranges to a certain extent - perhaps S6 plain wire is fine, but their fluxcore wire is terribly inconsistent, and I've gone off them for good.
The farmer's co-op stocks Futuris stuff, and their wire seems to have ok reviews. If GYS isn't anything special, that might be the way to go, just for convenience. Otoh, if I can find a local stockist of Lincoln, ESAB or SIF, I'll give them a go.
The Air Liquide gasless wire I've been using seems to have been bought over by Oerlikon, so I'll see if the engineering supplies place I've been dealing with has that in stock at a reasonable price.

 

[Farside]

Well, not quite local, but a flat rate shipping of a fiver made it worthwhile to get a 15kg reel of SIF 0.8mm and some other bits and bobs - tips, shrouds, peashooter, etc.
I thought this was a bargain price for a known brand, and since there is so much other unbranded doggy crap out there, I reckon this should be ok, to put it mildly.
https://www.everydayweldingsupplies.com/sif-mig-premium-mild-steel-wire-sg2-15kg
I'll be spending some time putting in some practice over the next couple of weeks, once I get the gas sorted out, and I'd not be surprised if I put a sizeable hole in that reel.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Looks like its coming over from Ireland too, not a clue how they're doing that without making themselves a tidy loss :P

 

[Farside]

Looks like its coming over from Ireland too, not a clue how they're doing that without making themselves a tidy loss :P

It's relatively local for me - the flat rate postage is for the whole of Ireland.
He's got reasonable prices on some stuff - I think he buys up bankrupt stock and the tail-end of production runs, etc, as well as supplying the normal range of mainstream stuff. Or simply buys in enough bulk to enable him to punt out stuff at a decent return and keep people happy.
The tips I bought are just no-name cheapies, but enough to give me spares for now. I was looking at Weldequip's stock of Parweld Premium tips and shrouds for the MB15 torch, and I'll probably get them for normal use once I get going properly.
Got the gas ordered today, and the supplier said he's quite happy to refill 8kg CO2 bottles if I get one. I'll just be using fire extinguishers to start with, and sticking with CO2 for the foreseeable future. There aren't any attractive mix-gas options available around here.

 

[Farside]

After a bit of farfing about with the CO2 regulator nut (tip, if you buy a reg from continental Europe, or find one for sale on ebahgum UK, and the seller is Hungarian, be prepared for a 1/2" BSPP fitting on it, instead of the UK and most of the rest of Europe DIN 477 nut). A ten minute job with a round file got the fire extinguisher nut a good sliding fit on the inlet tube of the reg. After that, it was all systems go, and Bobbie's yer Auntie.

Spent a bit of time farfing with the settings on scrap, but what a difference to not have the heavy fumes and smoke of the flux-cored wire hanging around.

Yes, that's a Weld of Shame. I welded on to the vice, blind buzzer me. My only excuse is I'm so used to dragging stick and gasless, it's taking me a bit of time to get to grips with pushing accurately, especially when I'm trying to get the settings right.
Speaking of settings, the 'frying pan sizzle' is qute absent so far. It's tantalisingly close, but I haven't quite got that yet.
More messing tomorrow, as my back called a halt to proceedings.

 

[Trevor Marron]

Ummm, I think CO2 fire extinguishers draw liquid CO2 from the bottom of the bottle. I am happy to be wrong though.

 

[Robotstar5]

Ummm, I think CO2 fire extinguishers draw liquid CO2 from the bottom of the bottle. I am happy to be wrong though.

They do, so you usually invert the bottle or remove the tube

 

[Farside]

Ummm, I think CO2 fire extinguishers draw liquid CO2 from the bottom of the bottle. I am happy to be wrong though.

Yep, I'll look at inverting it if it proves a problem, but previous discussions here seem to indicate that unless it's used for a long run it's not a real problem. That, and most FE dip tubes have fallen off anyway.
All that's happened so far is the reg has a coating of condensation on it.