It may be new welder time, esab, kemppi, ewm, fronius

[Radar 3]

This is the toss up. I would go for the Kempii or Esab, The most important thing is the back up.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Didn't think the Pico had double pulse, I stand corrected.

The pico doesn't have double pulse.

 

[Dexy]

I find Jim at HIS in Inverness is better for discount than Macgregor’s have bought Kemppi kit from Macgregors in the past tend to deal with HIS now they are GYS agents and I find GYS kit pretty good if you stay away from the yellow boxed kit if you are going to be using it a lot. I got as good a deal on GYS kit from HIS
A lot of quality kit available For reasonable money if you investigate all options

 

[Robbie260]

Pico maxes out at 180.
Check the actual specs of the others, the esab rebel for example claims (I think) 230a but won't actually let you run that in any of the mig modes. That might be the max on tig/stick maybe?

Personally I would say multifunction is a waste of time due to the hassle of changing torches etc.
There was a review of a paraweld(maybe) on here yesterday and that sounded like you could connect 2 gas lines and have both mig/tig torches connected at the same time. Something like that might actually be useful but probably not so portable

Thanks it is still a serious contender then, thought it seemed to be a machine best treated as a mig only, but would do in an emergency.

Had a look at a parweld 211xdm I 4 in 1 got offered a good deal on one too. But I'm not so sure would have to give up the sherman if I was going to get it and have heard thier have been a few cases of issues within a week or two or 6months though the owners have been impressed with parwelds warranty and service on those occasions so maybe not too big a deal, still think if esab cant get a 4in1 right and miller charge a small fortune for thiers it's a non starter.

HIS deal with Kemppi or at least Steve (the Dundee HIS welding guy does/has)
Afraid I don't have any experience of any of the particular models you have listed. I do have an EWM but it is a Phoenix rather than a Pico. I love it but it is much more spendy than the ones you list but I imagine the quality is the same for the Pico. Bad things about the Pico from my perspective is as far as I am aware there is no hot start or crater fill and no double pulse. I could have lived without the latter but hot start and crater fill are not something I would want to do without on Aluminium nowadays.

Thanks Hood that's good to know as if they do them inverness should too. They usually only have esab/parweld and the occasional fronious stick inverter in stock up here. Would love a big ewm or other machine but don't have access to 3 phase.

 

[hotponyshoes]

The ewm does require a yearly service to keep the warranty up.
No idea about any of the others?

 

[Hood]

The pico doesn't have double pulse.

Sorry must be getting confused, thought it was a Pico you had.

..... unfortunately there is no local supplier and would be looking much further afield for one like I had to with my lorch. Something I am willing to do for the right welder. I think @Jim Davey sells them down in Southampton, which may be a bit far for me but went to college there so not the end of the world from where I am.
...

There is a Scottish agent now for EWM although I got mine from @Jim Davey, can't remember who they are but WB Alloys rings a bell, will post back once I check through some emails.

 

[Robbie260]

I find Jim at HIS in Inverness is better for discount than Macgregor’s have bought Kemppi kit from Macgregors in the past tend to deal with HIS now they are GYS agents and I find GYS kit pretty good if you stay away from the yellow boxed kit if you are going to be using it a lot. I got as good a deal on GYS kit from HIS
A lot of quality kit available For reasonable money if you investigate all options

Yeah Jim is great thats who I usually deal with in HIS and is always good far a discount. Yeah macgregors just lack of people is what puts me off them to be honest.

 

[Hood]

Just checked and it is WB Alloys that are the EWM agents in Scotland, they were just getting set up with EWM at around the time I bought the new Phoenix in 2018. Not sure if their Aberdeen place does EWM as it was Sean Noble in Glasgow I was in contact with.

 

[Robbie260]

Just checked and it is WB Alloys that are the EWM agents in Scotland, they were just getting set up with EWM at around the time I bought the new Phoenix in 2018. Not sure if their Aberdeen place does EWM as it was Sean Noble in Glasgow I was in contact with.

Cheers I'll check them out.

 

[Robbie260]

What do folk think about the IFL brand?
UK made. That 'Urchfab' guy uses one: https://www.inverterfusion.co.uk/Nuovo-Fusion-MP200-Welding-Machine-p/if123500.htm

Didn't now they did migs May take a look know they do decent tig machines.

 

[Hood]

Didn't now they did migs May take a look know they do decent tig machines.

I think they may be rebadged Italian welders, seem to recall seeing one that looked identical but can't recall the name at the moment.

 

[Hood]

Aye, here you go, it is a Helvi.

Helvi TP 220

Microprocessor-controlled welding inverter suitable for DC controlled MIG/MAG, TIG and STICK WELDING, which guarantees excellent stability of the welding arc and no welding spatters. In STICK mode, the microprocessor controls the Hot Start, Arc Force and Anti-sticking functions. In TIG mode, it...

helvi.com

 

[Robbie260]

Aye, here you go, it is a Helvi.

Helvi TP 220

Microprocessor-controlled welding inverter suitable for DC controlled MIG/MAG, TIG and STICK WELDING, which guarantees excellent stability of the welding arc and no welding spatters. In STICK mode, the microprocessor controls the Hot Start, Arc Force and Anti-sticking functions. In TIG mode, it...

helvi.com

Seems decent enough don't know of anyone that's got one other than urchfab.

 

[Hood]

I think Helvi are well regarded.

 

[Tangledfeet]

Edit another option is the bholer Uranus, how you finding it @Tangledfeet. Don't know much about it or the specs unfortunately.

It'll always be a far better machine than I am welder! Being fully synergic it makes everything so easy; doesn't have pulse on MIG - only on the DC lift TIG but I've no need to explore that as we both have the same arsenal of machines to cover TIG bases. Did think it had pulse on the MIG before buying but no great loss as I have no need for it.

Still playing around with the settings; the synergic mode does put it into spray transfer mode in anything thicker than a few millimetres - that has a habit of pulling more than 16A and tripping the RCD!

 

[Hitch]

We had a couple of FastMigs and a couple of the Kempacts an R and an A. Nice machines, one of the kempacts gave up just out of warranty, having only ran a few reels of wire in its life. The local Kemppi repair centre said it was uneconomic to repair! Someone else looked at it and repaired it for not much money.

 

[finyuk2005]

If you fancy a shot of a kemppi 200 amp mig sometime I stay in fort william.
I couldnt be more chuffed with it!

 

[Robbie260]

If you fancy a shot of a kemppi 200 amp mig sometime I stay in fort william.
I couldnt be more chuffed with it!

Cheers I'll send you over a pm as I may take you up on that offer at somepoint.

 

[Robbie260]

We had a couple of FastMigs and a couple of the Kempacts an R and an A. Nice machines, one of the kempacts gave up just out of warranty, having only ran a few reels of wire in its life. The local Kemppi repair centre said it was uneconomic to repair! Someone else looked at it and repaired it for not much money.

Thanks I will have to have a look into that if swp can't fix my digi mig, though I'm sure if I could get the part I could fix it my self if swp are less than successful.

 

[matt1978]

There are some new machines coming out later this year, some of which will be inverter based 1ph multi process. But they won’t be available until around the end of the latter stages of this year