I love SIPs

[johnrev]

Yes I am a bit barmy but I really do like the old big SIPs-Topmig, Autoplus etc. Not because they are great welders or well made or high performance - they are none of these things. I like them because they are simple and cheap to buy when they are a few years old and being SIPs are probably playing up. The cases are huge and the innards are not so there's lots of room inside for adding 'improvements' and most of the improvements are a DIY type job if you have a bit of time and you take the trouble to read these forums and gain the knowledge you need.

I bought an Autoplus 150 a while ago and did the seperate wire feed PSU and pulse width modulation motor controller mods. It now performs very well and is my go-to machine.
I recently bought a Topmig 150 and did the same again and it did work OKish but the wirefeeder is a joke on these things. The Autoplus has the nice big wiper motor type feed with strong and accurate roller system and is a rock steady feed system. The Topmig has a thoroughly ridiculous toy motor with plastic gears in a floppy plastic casing with no bearings so everything is sloppy and feeding the wire in any useable way seems to happen purely by chance. Sure the 'Migwelding brace' does help and makes the unuseable slightly better but it's still a dogs dinner of a system and inspires no confidence at all.

So I decided that while I am in forced isolation at the moment I'd have a go at making a new feeder. I'm a bit of a collector and have accumulated a few different motor/gearbox combinations since I started playing with SIPs a few years ago 'just in case'. One of them looked to be a good candidate and so the feeder in the pics was put together.
Built on an industrial kitchen cutting board (shenion idea I think) and using a spare feed roller which just happened to fit the output shaft it isn't pretty but it works very well indeed. Smooth and powerful and glitch-free. I am pleased as punch.
A quick coat of black as it was a gaudy bright red board and also

gave the machine a coat of my favourite turquoise gloss and it's all good.

I had intended to keep the Autoplus and sell the Topmig but now I'm thinking I may change my plans.

 

[Sean]

"TURBO"
I actually really enjoyed using my 105. probably because id done so much time on it it just felt right.

 

[pedrobedro]

I had an Autoplus 130 for about 15 years,was still good enough when I sold it. I did plenty of car repairs with it.

 

[tom2207]

one of the places I weld has a 240 , it went funny and went for repair , and I think they have put some sort of universal board in it ,, as now it just welds horrid , it seems to have power ,, but leaves cold lap too ,, very odd , and nasty I dont think the guy who fixes things actually welds ,, its a shame as it was a reliable old dog of a welder ,,, now its junk.
new Oxford bought to do its job , and it does , very well indeed.

 

[johnrev]

I never even tried the Autoplus before I hacked it. The feed system is certainly really nice but I assumed it would have a similar problem with the wire speed varying with weld voltage as you weld. Still it is really good now and I've never been bothered about the speed adjusting automatically with voltage setting as I reckon you soon get to know where to set the speed dial for each setting and make adjustments depending on what you're doing.
It does seem the transformer side of the SIPs is quite good as very few ever get reported as burnt out on this site and the rectifier seems pretty adequate too so with wire feed sorted they are a pretty good hobby welder I reckon.

 

[a111r]

I like the turquoise, very neat.

What you've created there is very much like what SIP used on the first (red and silver) Migmate (circa 1985?).
Worm and wheel wiper motor, metal tensioner housing, fat bushed roller.
The photos here show those bits, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIP-MIG-...509190?hash=item1f11ac9506:g:h7wAAOSwAX9e59bf

 

[Shedendman]

I had an Autoplus 130 for about 15 years,was still good enough when I sold it. I did plenty of car repairs with it.

I had an old Autoplus 120,it earned me money
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/sip-120-autoplus.15671/

 

[arther dailey]

I know a guy who likes Sips, strangley he sold me a super Eland mig, welds absolutely superb , Ime certainly glad he likes sips !!! cheers and thankyou

 

[johnrev]

Hi ArtherD, Glad you're enjoying the Eland. Have to admit it was better than the SIPs even after they've been hacked but it's a heavy old thing. I can lift either of the SIPs onto my bench or into my van no problem. Think we'd be talking hernia with the Eland and for the welding I do I'm quite happy with a SIP. I also have a Britweld 195 if I need it but don't heave it out very often.
A111r yes I know the old migmate had a nice feed too. Same one as the Autoplus I think. Wonder how much SIP saved by changing to the toy feeder which ruined their name with anyone who had the slightest interest in what welder they were buying. I bet they lost a fair few sales to people who took the time to read reports about their machines. The bad reputation would have stuck and lost them sales of all their stuff I suspect. I certainly wouldn't shortlist any SIP product to buy if I was after a new bit of kit unless there was several years worth of good reviews from owners.
Unfortunately for me those looking for a secondhand welder still don't seem to take the time to research first judging by the prices some fetch on auction sites described as 'fully working'-yeah right. Your ad showing the innards is a good idea as it does give an impression of what a well built machine these old ones were.

 

[arther dailey]

Its a great tool, thanks , I did have a sip dual something , recent model, that was an eye opener , really good especially compared to some of the models .yes the eland is a bit heavy but I also have a kemppi miniarc mig ,thats the one that gets chucked in the truck, but wont lend that out...enjoy the migging and thanks .

 

[johnrev]

Decided to fit a euro torch adapter to the SIP so I can swap torches if needed and to bring it up to the same spec as the Autoplus which I've now decided I will sell instead of the Topmig.
The kit was pretty cheap from Amazon (£20) and looks fair quality. I hadn't noticed before but the Topmig has three dimples around the torch lead exit hole which are the perfect placing for a Euro torch fitting and the torch lead hole is the right size so just those three holes to drill through and bolt it all in. Even the length from case front to feeder assembly is perfect for the conversion kit without any need to cut down the threaded section of the kit. A euro fitting was obviously an option SIP had in mind when designing the case to make life simple for themselves. Well done SIP!

So that part took only a few minutes to sort out but I hadn't thought about a solenoid for the gas supply. In my box of 'might come in useful one day' bits I had a few solenoids but the one I really needed I had recently fitted to my plasma cutter as it's unit had burnt out. I didn't want to remove it as it had taken a bit of fiddling to get it to fit so I chose the only other one I had which would work. This one needed two male connectors with the barbed pipe fittings and I didn't have any suitable bits so had to get creative. I found one barbed fitting on a femaile 3/8 brass connector and a brass fitting the right size for the solenoid and soldered them together- output side done. Input siide needed the same but I had nothing suitable left so had to get really creative. Found a plastic barbed end and this screwed nicely into the alloy piece you see in the pic. The alloy piece screwed into the solenoid perfectly. Can anyone identify the alloy bit and where it comes from? Demonstrates perfectly that I just can't seem to throw anything away and my handy bits box is actually dozens of boxes and takes up a fair bit of my garage.

Next step was to sort out the two wires coming from the torch trigger connections. I thought it could be that one of them was set up to connect to the power lead when trigger was pressed. Tried both with a multimeter and got no continuity reading from either to power cable so figured they must go to an isolated switch in the torch and short together but that didn't work either. I knew the torch was working ok as I'd been using it on my Britweld but just i case I tried a new torch I'd bought recently and voila it showed the two wires shorted together when trigger pressed. Put the old one back on and nothing. Then tried a Binzel m25 I'd bought as 'hardly used' and that one worked worked fine. Finally took the torch off my Autoplus and again nothing.
The only thing I can think is that the older torches

had corroded/dirty contacts on the switch and my digital meter just wasn't pushing enough power through the contacts to make continuity where the new torches still had nice shiny contacts so offered no resistance and gave a good reading. Does this sound plausible?

 

[Sean]

Have you opened the torches, usually its just a Honeywell micro switch in there , nothing special and cheap enough to replace

 

[johnrev]

Hi Sean. No I haven't looked at either of them as yet. They still work fine when attached to a welder it was just that I couldn't get a continuity reading on my meter which befuddled my fuzzy old brain for a while- not difficult these days!
Everything now hooked up and working well so wire and gas swapped over and it's now my daily- till the next one :-)

 

[zeppelin builder]

i had a few years ago an sip 150 turbo the mickey mouse wire feed and the clcking of the 12v car relay and line contactor drove me mad ihad an old 4wd oerlikon motor 24vdc, and a big old rheostat
ifitted a 24 v transformer and a rectifer an fed it through a 50 amp relay to the euro torch i fitted and gas relay ,the torch switch directly interupted the motor feed
the line contacter was by passed so the torch was always live it welded super ssmooth always fired immediately and could be pulsed on and off without the arc totaly going out by pulsing the trigger it was brilliantly controlable on thin sheet and no contactor chattering, absolutely silent the arc went out before it got near the tip when stopping so was not prone to welding itself to the tip
you just had to be carefull and not arc up
on surrounding metal or flash yourself
when i got my oerlikon 308 i needed the 4wd motor for it and scrapped the sip

 

[johnrev]

Hi zb. That sounds really 'redneck' but obviously worked and that's what matters. Shame the SIP was scrapped. Seems if they even show signs of life sellers want big bucks for them and if not they just get dumped. I'm still looking for my next project but any distance means a courier to collect and after doing all the mods, euro torch conversion and replacing the bad bits it can soon end up uneconomic if you need to spend more than £25 or so buying one.
Think my next step will be adding capacitors to the Topmig. I don't really need to as it welds fine but it would be nice to get that lovely buzz I used to get from the Eland rather than the crackle I get now.
Sold my Moggy, had good news from the hospital and both wife and I work in carehomes completely free of the virus so life is good right now.
Take care all
John