Talk to me about welders

[Husky65]

I would like to purchase a welder in the near future and start my process of learning to weld and doing some small tasks on the car.
I have never welded before and all the info I know about welding comes from tutorials online and other forums. While I don't want to spend 10g on a welder, I am happy to spend some money and not go for the cheapest. It will need to be single phase with a 10amp plug however.
From what I've gathered, MIG welding seems to be a pretty good for a DIY type of application. I would like to practice with stick welding however to get the hang of it.
Also, what are your thoughts in gas and gasles MIG welding

I have seen this welder and it has some recomendations from a few forums, but happy to hear your opinions and where I should start. It's about 1200ish i think

https://www.cigweld.com.au/product/transmig-185-ultra/

The thickest things I'd be welding would probably be things like the 4 link brackets on a diff housing, however I'd like something that is good at exhaust welding also.

[nassi]

That machine looks very handy. I have an old Transmig 165 that I got 2nd hand about 20 years ago and it is doing fine and has been all I have needed. I still can't weld for shit though. I really would not bother with gasless.

[Nuts]

I recommend you checkout your local TAFE and see if you can do a Mig/Tig course. Usually 2 to 3 weeks it'll give you the basics.

[Dwayne]

Or have powerpoint end 10amp and welder end 15amp.


Also check with your engineer about structural welding for 4-link brackets etc. Mine told me to have a qualified boilermaker do mine.

[Shaunp]

You want a 180 invertor at least, you can buy them now with a combined TIG function . Thats what I would look at.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W1785

[ozbilt]

Come visit me and have some lessons

[Husky65]

Thanks fellas, I have looked at the Tafe thing before, but I do have a mate that's an ex welder so I was going to try and get him around.
Kerry thanks for the offer, I will definitely take you up on that. I'd like to buy a welder first so I can practice at home once you give me some of your hot tips.

[Husky65]

You want a 180 invertor at least, you can buy them now with a combined TIG function . Thats what I would look at.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W1785

Yeah that looks pretty good. Not a bad price either

[Husky65]

Or have powerpoint end 10amp and welder end 15amp.


Also check with your engineer about structural welding for 4-link brackets etc. Mine told me to have a qualified boilermaker do mine.

Is the adaptor just a big fuse?

Yeah I will check prior. That's a future plan anyway. Maybe my welds will be good by then and I can just tell him I had it professionally done.

[ozbilt]

You are only using big amps when it is screwed up for heavy work.

My MIG runs fine in a normal 240v circuit.

[Dwayne]

My brothers welder that I'm using is a big sucker, and i've only got 10amp points so dodgied it up as a solution. It works perfectly but I wouldn't use it on a big worksite with OH&S audits.

[unilec5544]

I have a Lincoln and I had never used one before only stick welders, but after a bit of practice from heaver gauge down to lighter gauge its not that had. Once you get to know the wire speeds and amp settings for different metal thickness, it a lot better than the old stick welding and I cannot remember that last time I used mine.

https://www.cltoolcentre.com.au/lincoln ... lding.html

[smh00n]

I have a Unimig 165 inverter and it was crap; welds started good then turned to bird shit.

Turns out the house wiring could not deliver the volts needed (it was dropping down to around 200V) and I had to upgrade. So I now have 6mm wire on its own circuit into the shed and no issues. The welder machine is actually not crap but the welder operator probably still is.

Maybe have a sparky check the wiring can deliver the power needed. Sure had me going for a while trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Even the shop didn't offer up this gem.

[Edz66Vert]

I have a Unimig 165 inverter and it was crap; welds started good then turned to bird shit.

Turns out the house wiring could not deliver the volts needed (it was dropping down to around 200V) and I had to upgrade. So I now have 6mm wire on its own circuit into the shed and no issues. The welder machine is actually not crap but the welder operator probably still is.

Maybe have a sparky check the wiring can deliver the power needed. Sure had me going for a while trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Even the shop didn't offer up this gem.

That's a good point, doint blame the welder if your wiring is poor.

Like anything, you get what you pay for. Don't buy ebay welders, a waste of money and will drive you mad trying to lay a good weld.

The cigweld 185 is a good welder but I found Sydney tools have better prices and free delivery. I bought this one for $600 and they offer free delivery, for an extra $150 you can buy a tig torch but be aware most machines are dc scratch start which can be very frustrating to learn and use however with practice you can achieve some good welds (on mild steel).

What I have found is they get a bit eratic at the lower settings with 0.9 mm wire on light material. Any decent mig welder can weld exhausts and sheet metal, the easiet way is to throw in a roll of 0.6 mm wire (they come standard setup for 0.8/0.9). Thinner wire drops the voltage stopping you blowing through as much (thicker wire has less resistance so less voltage drop). To do this I had to pay an extra $60 for the 0.6 mm roller which hurt a bit.

The 185 handle welding a 4-link, depends on your garage wiring. The key to good welding is to practice laying welds on scrap material. Make sure anything you weld is clean and grease free.

There are heaps of good youtube videos on mig welding. Miller weld also have great help info.

One of the simplest tricks with using a mig is listen to it as you practice weld. You are after a very fast crackling sound. If the the sound is slow and eratic and the torch is pushing back to you your wire speed is too high/current too low. If it burns back too quickly you need to increase the wire speed.

You can push or pull the torch, it doesn't seem to make a difference to the strength of the weld. Pushing is better for gas coverage as you weld but some people find pulling lets them see better what the weld looks like as you go along (and the gas shield covers the weld as it cools).

If you want to Tig weld easily buy one with High Frequency as the spark jumps across without scratch starting. They are usually AC as well which means you can weld alumium too but are a lot dearer than the basic dc inverter models.

[Chux]

i like my unimig 250 but the secret as everyone says is good power. Get a sparky to run a dedicated circuit just for the welder so you have zero other load. That’s what I did...I have sockets on both sides of the shed that run direct off the circuit board and it works really well. I can take it to full volts and line speed on 1.5” steel and it won’t trip anything.