Best Welder to get, your opinions please

[richardmartin91]

Hi, Ill be starting a project soon and need a welder that:
1.is Welding Newbie Friendly
2.is Reliable
3.Uses regular household single phase
4.Likely to last a long(ish) time.
5.Can do anything from chassis to bodywork

I'm thinking upto £650 as I want it to fit my criterium.

If any of you have a welder thats never let you down or you think is just plain great, Please post its name on here and tell me why its so great.

Ive been talking to a local fabricator and they have recommended a portamig 185 which is around £600 and they said they start off all of their trainees on them, and They said they start at 15amps so they're body work friendly

Please Advise

Kind Regards,

Richard M

[duncancallum]

Gray, hes the best welder to get.

don't get a sip mines uber curse word, I like my mates clarke 151T its much nicer than mine

[Mystery Machine]

Take a look here: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=103486

I'd vote 100% for Portamig. I've got one, it's been used by half of Retro Rides! It's been in regular use over Area 52 'play weekends' for the past two years and has quite probably had more use (and abuse) in those two years than 99% of welders (not counting professionals)

I think pretty much everyone who has ever used it can vouch for how good they are, how reliable they are (I've not replaced a single thing other than wire, gas and the very occasional tip!) and how easy they are to use.

Buy a good welder and you'll learn to weld properly. It's an expense I've never, ever regretted.

[abacus]

Seconded, thorded etc - if I had the money and needed one (again), that's the puppy

[Al Ramone]

i've had this for 6 months and it's been a nice unit.
www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?gotonode=ViewProduct&method=mViewProduct&productid=13892&productdescription=&productcode=&category=16&catgroup=240&catmicrogroup=1289&analysiscode=&requiredresults=16

single phase, euro harness, welds bodywork 1mm and up to 5mm no probs.

[richardmartin91]

Wow I never expected a comment from an area 52 guy, I'm honoured. but anyway ive been looking at a certain website (dunno if I'm allowed to show it on here) but there's 3 portamigs available, the 185 @ £579, the 215 @ £639 and the 235 @ £689, Would you recommend stretching the extra £110 for the best model?

[captainmatt]

Jun 20, 2011 20:53:00 GMT Mystery Machine said:

I'd vote 100% for Portamig

I thought Portamig were 3 phase?

[Mystery Machine]

I've got a 215 and it'll happily weld 10mm steel (and thicker!) as well as going down to bodywork thickness. Mine currently runs 0.8mm wire which is a little on the thick side for bodywork. It manages it but you have to be very careful not to blow holes. Using 0.6mm wire is perfect for bodywork, but can't quite work with the thicker stuff as well. 0.8 was chosen as an 'all rounder' for all the things we seem to get up to at the unit.

What I am trying to say is buy the best you can then get the wire to suit what you want to use it for. Grunty on here also has a Portamig and I think his is a 235 model and he uses it for welding lots of bodywork.

I can't rate them enough and if you bought one, you'd see what I mean....especially if you get used to it then try a different welder. One of the best purchases I've ever made and that is not an exaggeration.

[Mystery Machine]

Jun 20, 2011 21:22:27 GMT captainmatt said:

Jun 20, 2011 20:53:00 GMT Mystery Machine said:

I'd vote 100% for Portamig

I thought Portamig were 3 phase?

Nope. Mine is 240v and so is Ben711200's (and I think Grunty's is too)

You can run them off a 13A socket fine as long as you don't crank the power right up. I've got mine wired into a 16A socket because we do tend to use the max power from time to time (like last play weekend making some new bottom arms). It's great when all the lights in the unit start to flicker as the welds are laid down @ 215A ;D ;D

[Good Scrap]

be careful going too big, my 185A sealy will munch through fuses when you run at full power for a while, some will need a larger supply (16A as opposed to 13A). any of those welder sizes you mention will have a good duty cycle at the powers you need, i wouldn't go much less than say 160A if you plan on chassis work

[captainmatt]

Jun 20, 2011 21:30:51 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Jun 20, 2011 21:22:27 GMT captainmatt said:

I thought Portamig were 3 phase?

Nope. Mine is 240v and so is Ben711200's (and I think Grunty's is too)

You can run them off a 13A socket fine as long as you don't crank the power right up. I've got mine wired into a 16A socket because we do tend to use the max power from time to time (like last play weekend making some new bottom arms). It's great when all the lights in the unit start to flicker as the welds are laid down @ 215A ;D ;D

Sod. Thats what put me off a Portamig 'cause I thought they were 3Phase.
Is yours plugged into the 16A, or wired directly to the board? (I.e a 16A socket etc)
Though the only reason that kept me away from such things was due to rewiring the board, despite my dad being an electrician (we have a seperate board in the garage so as not to trip the house) he decided there was far too much work changing things over just for a welder.
Which is why I've ended up with a Clarke 135TE, which for what I need for home use should be adequete anyway.

[Good Scrap]

bruce 0.8mm wire is regarded by some as better for bodywork, theory is it takes more current to melt so puts less heat into the panel and helps avoid warping, i'm not totally convinced but had good results with both sizes but now use mainly 0.8mm due to cheaper cost

[adam3442]

I just ordered an Oxford which is made by the same company who make the Portamig. Apparently the only differences are a better wire feed and better resistors.

I have high hopes for it based on the reviews of Portamig's here and on the mig welding forum.

[Mystery Machine]

Jun 20, 2011 21:37:59 GMT captainmatt said:

Is yours plugged into the 16A, or wired directly to the board? (I.e a 16A socket etc)

I've got a 16A socket on the wall so I can plug the welder straight in...and have an extension lead so it can be run much further away.

(extension lead has blue 16A plug and socket, welder has a blue 16A plug)

I've also got a 13A standard 3pin extension lead too (13A plug one end, blue 16A socket the other) so that I can use it in places where there is no 16A supply, but you can't really use it at full power without blowing the fuse as Good Scrap has already mentioned....in fact someone at the unit blew the 13A fuse a while back welding something on their car in the yard (16A lead won't reach out there) - this has reminded me to get the fuse changed

[panelbeaterpeter]

Just bought a Murex. Very good bit of kit. Can't go wrong with Portamig, they do the smaller ones which are fine on a household supply.

[10mpg]

I've run a 185 amp Sealey Pro for the last 7 years in a professional environment doing mainly bodywork restoration on clasics, it gets used most days and most weeks it will do a couple of full days welding, superb machine never had to touch it in anyway bar a new torch (eurotorch) and new tips obv...

Personally I use 0.8 mm wire for everything does thin sheet no probs, and it does thicker stuff like chassis and frames easily plus it's cheaper, a lot of it is down to personal preference, many people swear by 0.6 but i think a lot depends on your welding style,

It's the only mig i've owned as I bought it when I started the business, before that I just had a bog standard Clarke one which were fine for what they are but not a patch on a pro machine...

[Filthyjohn]

Another vote for the portamig, mine's just a 185 but it'll happily burn right through 5mm steel on a 13A supply. The duty cycle is 100% on thin bodywork so you can just concentrate on the work. It's so nice to use, every bit as nice as the murex 400 I use at work.

The only problem is the long wait after you order it!

[PandaSelecta]

Portamig 350.....

cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORTAMIG-350-AMP-MIG-WELDER-/220802570846?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3368dbda5e

[richardmartin91]

So just to clarify... does the portamig come with a blue plug? or the standard household one

[adamwatson]

I've got an ESAB OrigoMag and can't fault it, also used to use a Kemppi which was very very good. If you've got £600 don't get a DIY machine like a Sealy or SIP. Don't think you'll go wrong with ESAB, Kemppi, Miller or Murex