Hell to all

[adamsmitqc]

So, new to the site so a bit of an introduction....

My name is Adam, live in Durham, North East England. I am a Mechanical Technician / fitter / grease monkey currently working in the oil and gas buisness offshore in the North Sea.

Always been a mechanical sort of bloke, like all things metal. Have some experiance through work of TIG and ARC welding but have never done any MIG. Have a Triumph Spitfire in the garage crying out for restoration so have decided that MIG will be a good option, plus ive never done it so am keen to give it a go.

Dont currently have a MIG welder but will have soon, just weighing up my options before the big spend.

Really impressed with the site so far, everyone really friendly and willing t help a novice like myself!!!

Will post with my progress as it goes along, have a current thread running in the 'buying a welder' section, feel free to have a look!

Cheers, Adam

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the Forum!

Nice title Hell to all - I thought you were going to be preaching Hell and Damnation!

 

[adamsmitqc]

haha..... was supposed to read 'Hello to all'

Hope i haven't offended anyone!

Like the pic of Robert Johnson!

 

[gavuk]

Hi Adam ,and welcome to the forum, I do a similar job ,but on dry land .....with your background,look at portamigs or second hand pro gear,as i'm sure you will outgrow a smaller clarke welder far quicker than most diyer's....130amp will prob be the smallest you want to go,but 180amp + gets you to 5-6mm with little or no prep...having arc and tig experience you may decide to have a small mig for bodywork and an arc welder for thicker steel?.....would recommend using gas mig welder though,either argonmix or straight co2 ,far easier and better than gasless espescially on car work

 

[adamsmitqc]

Thanks Gav, only problem i forsee is that of blowing doestic fuses once above 150 amp!!!

is there a soloution to this?

Also, never even considered the 'no gas' route, its just not cricket!!!

 

[denisstark]

welcome

 

[adamsmitqc]

thanks denis

 

[gavuk]

I run my 180amp from a 13amp plug,and have only blown 1 fuse so far....dedicated 16 or 32 amp supply is the correct,way...most of my home projects are lightweight,and I'm happy to go arc above 6mm anyway.......for car work you will ne on low amps and will be fine on a domestic plug.
More amps on the welder will give better duty cycle times.and allow thicker matl on occasions.....20-30 amp low end is ideal for bodywork......