Which Hobby MIG to Buy???

[Ian1044]

Oh nice one! That's cheered me up immensely. I could get away with putting a 16A or possibly 20A MCB in the board in my garage but not a 32A.
If anyone could put my mind at rest over my choice of machine, or give alternative opinions I'd appreciate it. I need to do mainly thin stuff in mild steel, but will also on occasion need to do light agricultural repairs (all compact size stuff), I am also needing to alter the framework of a 7.5 ton lorry body which needs to be done outside. Not as drastic as it sounds, it's mainly hollow rectangular section 50x25mm and about 3mm thick. Is the choice of the Clarke 151EN or 160EN Gas/Gasless a good one?
Thanks for your reply Wozzaaah, nice to get some proper advice!

 

[malcolm]

The Clarkes are a good choice. You'll only start getting better choices with double the budget.

There's no difference in max amps between the 151EN and 160EN. The specs of the 160 look better (lower open circuit voltage should make thin welding more controllable, and there's a better duty cycle). Also a shelf on the back for bottles and nicer wheels. Worth the extra £30.

I should imagine most people will wire a 13 amp plug in. It's not the fuse that's the problem it's the plug itself and fuse holder, so decent plug and replace it every couple of years, or one of those 16 amp blue jobs gets around the problems altogether.

 

[Ian1044]

Thanks Malcolm, I'll have a look at getting hold of a 160EN in that case. I've just sent a PM to Weldequip for exactly that reason actually. Really appreciate your help, the blue 16A plug is a great idea, didn't think of that I was concentrating on the fuse!

 

[Wozzaaah]

Another good idea is to fit a 16A blue plug to the welder and make up a flylead with a 13a plug on one end and a 16a blue socket on the other, that way the welder is still portable .

 

[Ian1044]

Yeah, I must admit, when the guy in MM was telling me they had to be hard wired into a 30A outlet, I was thinking - what's the point in making a portable welder then?? Thanks guys, I'm liking this idea more and more...!

 

[minitruck]

Does anyone have experience with the chinese made MIGs? Looking at the MIG131 and MIG151 Dual machines. They seem to be repackaged under various names, but the model numbers stay the same. Are they actually worth looking at, or would I just be wasting money? Most of the ones that are recommend on the forum are either not available here or horribly overpriced and I'd like to know if anyone has used these machines with any success. Thanks.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Seeing as you asked, I'd steer clear if I was you.
The 131 appears to be only 75A and the 151 only 105A
How much do they sell for?

 

[minitruck]

Thanks, Here are the specs. Usage will be mainly be for thin panels, so I didn't think I'd need the higher amps. They go for around 3K which converted is roughly 230 pounds. Pity you can't test these things before you buy...

MIG131-Technical Data:
Main Voltage: 230V
Main Frequency: 50Hz
Absorbed Power: 2KW
Mains Fuse: 11A
Power Factor: 0.8
No Load Voltage: 28V
Adjustment Positions: 4 Steps
Current Adjusting Range: 25A / 35A / 50A / 75A
Dia. Usable Wire: Φ0.6mm / Φ0.8mm/Φ0.9mm
Duty Cycle: 20%@75A; 45%@50A; 90%@35A;
100%@25A
Insulation Class: H
Protection Degree: IP21S
Packing Dimension: 665 x 275 x 405mm
Net Weight: 26Kg (Include Acc.)
Gross Weight: 29Kg

 

[Wozzaaah]

That's still an awful lot of money for what it is .
It will be fine for thin stuff though so that won't be a problem.
What I can't understand is why it only lists one OCV rather than a range, it only says 28V whereas you'd expect it to say something like 18-28V
Might just be a mistake in the translation I suppose.

 

[Knipex]

For £230 you would get a nice Clarke unit, Good on thin stuff, easy availability of parts and decent reputation for reliability.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I'm assuming Clarke's are either "not available or horribly overpriced" in SA though Knipex .

 

[Welderwannabee]

230V 145A Gas/Gasless Turbo Mig Welder

I recently purchased a Draper! yes a Draper welding machine and i am pleased to say it was money well spent, and is not chinese rubbish as i was expecting but actually italian made by a very well known company.

My advice stay away from SIP like the plague - awful machines and after service is also non existent, Sealey not to clever. My advice stick with a Clarke or if a little more daring go for a Draper!

Moderator note> Welderwanabee is a Draper employee so his opinions should not be trusted.

 

[minitruck]

I'm assuming Clarke's are either "not available or horribly overpriced" in SA though Knipex .

Yeah, I haven't seen any Clarke's around. I was quoted on a Synergic a while back, but this was way out of my budget. (+- 1200 GBP converted from ZAR). I'll most likely end up getting one of the 'cheaper' machines, even though they still cost quite a packet here and hope it does the job.

 

[Welderwannabee]

give it a go

have a look at the draper range then, other good thing is they are are only in southampton so if the machine has any problem you can send it back - MIG machines are notoriously bad at travelling and easily damaged. I would reccommend them very good machines (for the money).

Moderator note> Welderwanabee is a Draper employee so his opinions should not be trusted.

 

[minitruck]

Southhampton is a tad far to travel for a MIG. :-)

 

[malcolm]

I recently purchased a Draper! yes a Draper welding machine and i am pleased to say it was money well spent, and is not chinese rubbish as i was expecting but actually italian made by a very well known company.

My advice stay away from SIP like the plague - awful machines and after service is also non existent, Sealey not to clever. My advice stick with a Clarke or if a little more daring go for a Draper!

I note that you work for Draper Welderwannabee. Or at least that Draper have provided you with an internet connection. Others might wish to take your advice with a pinch of salt, and I will add a note to your posts.

Manufacturers and dealers are welcome to join in with the forum, and while we have a no advertising rule it can be interesting to hear about what's going on in the world of welders and have a communication route to dealers and manufacturers. Every manaufacturer and dealer we have on the forum has benefited from their membership.

Pretending to be someone who has bought your product seems underhand. You can private message me if you want to change your username to something more appropriate.

If you would like some feedback why not start a thread where we could offer feedback on Draper products. There are some indications that some products have turned around since the dark days, and I did purchase a Draper countersinking bit recently which worked well, but generally I've avoided the products after bad expriences in the 1990s.

 

[Archie]

Haha. Caught red handed, Sir!

 

[weldequip]

My advice stay away from SIP like the plague - awful machines and after service is also non existent, Sealey not to clever. My advice stick with a Clarke or if a little more daring go for a Draper!

I'd have to agree in part about the SIP (bearing in mind they are 'at a price' & it depends on the model), it's been well documented here on the forum with users's first hand experience of them, but the after sales service part is not true, or ceratainly was not true... long time since I've dealt with them but never had any problems getting spare parts for them.
Sealey are OK and, again, spare parts should never be a problem, successful company with a large dealer network & manufactured by the largest maker in Europe.
I would argue that it's actually Draper that could present some problems with after sales service! Some of the consumable spare parts are unique to Draper & won't interchange with other makes, which means you have to buy from Draper...at suitably inflated prices no doubt. Draper are a relative new comer to the welding market & have just introduced welders as an 'add on' to their product range... another 'box-mover'; just as are SIP, Clarke & Sealey, but they have been involved with selling welders far longer than Draper
The Italian manufactuer of the machines was also recently acquired by a large French group...'bail-out' springs to mind, but could be wrong. So yes, you could be a little more daring, and go for a Draper!
weldequip

 

[Robotstar5]

I note that you work for Draper Welderwannabee. Or at least that Draper have provided you with an internet connection. Others might wish to take your advice with a pinch of salt, and I will add a note to your posts.

Malcolm, as site operator / owner? do you have to spend all your time monitoring who's doing what and where from etc. or have you got some clever software that keeps an eye on things and allows you some time to sleep / restore Renaults ?

 

[malcolm]

Hitch, rtbcomp and myself read most of the posts on the forum and might look a bit further if something seems a bit un-natural. The forum software is set up to keep out robots and help identify un-natural registrations, but it doesn't keep an eye on posts.