Fresh welder... What to get?

[topchippyles]

Just now, Ratman said:

The cables are already in the ground oh knowledgable one! hence my comment of.... i fit the cable for this reason.
Keep up Lesbert

Sorry mr rataman 10th sherbet *stella 

[Ratman]

Sorry mr rataman 10th sherbet *stella 

[emoji850]🤫

[Justme]

With a limited 240v supply you will get more bang for your buck with a stick welder but you will need to get some practice in if you have only mig welded before.

 

 

[dumper]

Stick welder inverter and some good rods mine will run 3.2mm good for most buckets 

[Cowmop]

Can you put a 32 amp supply in? big blue plug. It a thicker cable like for a shower and a 32 amp breaker, but it will open up a lot more options.

[doobin]

13 hours ago, Justme said:

With a limited 240v supply you will get more bang for your buck with a stick welder but you will need to get some practice in if you have only mig welded before.

 

 

Given that any invertor mig welder will happily run stick then I'd have to disagree with this as a course of action for OP, especially if he's used to MIG

 

Instead, purchase an invertor MIG set of around 200-250 amps capacity. Invertors draw less current than transformer sets. I recommend R-tech. Get a stinger and lead if you want to do arc as well, and possibly even the spool gun if you fancy trying your hand at MIG ally welding.

 

Next, replace the fuse in the plug with a bolt. This will allow you to draw current to the maximum amperage of your breaker, usually 20 amps. It's not ideal, but it's a workaround. You need to check that you have a decent (2.5mm cable min if a spur) to the breaker, and if welding high be prepared have nothing on the breaker save the welder. The machine won't draw any more amps than it needs, and you'll need to be running pretty hot and long to trip a 20 amp breaker. I've just installed a mezzanine floor in my new yard, running almost full pelt on an Rtech 250 amp machine on 10mm steel. This was running off a 20 amp breaker (not got around to sorting the electrics yet) and 40m of 2.5mm artic cable (plus bolt in the fuse...)

 

It's not ideal, but 99% of the time you will not be running anywhere near full welder capacity, so for the odd loader bracket (and using multiple passes) this will see you right.

 

The other thing to read up upon is the use of a gas with more carbon dioxide in the mix- 15 or 20% as opposed to 5%:

 

Hobbyweld Product Range | Hobbyweld 15 MIG Welding Gas

HOBBYWELD.CO.UK

---

Hobbyweld 15 MIG welding gas is most popular for heavier MIG welding applications; Including structural steel work...

 

Essentially this will give you a hotter weld pool and more penetration if used correctly. You will notice this if switching to 15% from 5%- you will need less voltage and be able to run more wire feed/amps. Coupled with removing the bottleneck of the fuse, this will see you right for any tractor loader brackets. Eventually, you might get round to installing a proper 32amp supply, which as mentioned will open up a lot of options such as bigger compressors, plasma and the like.

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by doobin

[Khriss]

@swinny got a decent 200A inverter stick from Lidls, 145squids, lovely strike up, soft arc n 160A all day from mains plug.  Thicker lugs i pre heat anyway. 

[Khriss]

[Justme]

13 minutes ago, doobin said:

Given that any invertor mig welder will happily run stick then I'd have to disagree with this as a course of action for OP, especially if he's used to MIG

 

Instead, purchase an invertor MIG set of around 200-250 amps capacity. Invertors draw less current than transformer sets. I recommend R-tech. Get a stinger and lead if you want to do arc as well, and possibly even the spool gun if you fancy trying your hand at MIG ally welding.

 

Next, replace the fuse in the plug with a bolt. This will allow you to draw current to the maximum amperage of your breaker, usually 20 amps. It's not ideal, but it's a workaround. You need to check that you have a decent (2.5mm cable min if a spur) to the breaker, and if welding high be prepared have nothing on the breaker save the welder. The machine won't draw any more amps than it needs, and you'll need to be running pretty hot and long to trip a 20 amp breaker. I've just installed a mezzanine floor in my new yard, running almost full pelt on an Rtech 250 amp machine on 10mm steel. This was running off a 20 amp breaker (not got around to sorting the electrics yet) and 40m of 2.5mm artic cable (plus bolt in the fuse...)

 

It's not ideal, but 99% of the time you will not be running anywhere near full welder capacity, so for the odd loader bracket (and using multiple passes) this will see you right.

 

The other thing to read up upon is the use of a gas with more carbon dioxide in the mix- 15 or 20% as opposed to 5%:

 

Hobbyweld Product Range | Hobbyweld 15 MIG Welding Gas

HOBBYWELD.CO.UK

---

Hobbyweld 15 MIG welding gas is most popular for heavier MIG welding applications; Including structural steel work...

 

Essentially this will give you a hotter weld pool and more penetration if used correctly. You will notice this if switching to 15% from 5%- you will need less voltage and be able to run more wire feed/amps. Coupled with removing the bottleneck of the fuse, this will see you right for any tractor loader brackets. Eventually, you might get round to installing a proper 32amp supply, which as mentioned will open up a lot of options such as bigger compressors, plasma and the like.

 

 

 

 

 

And I would have to disagree with using a bolt to replace a safety device.

Wire it in properly from the start.

The stick bit of the combi machine will still out perform the mig amp for amp so my advice is still spot on.

Rtec are great machines but not everyone has £700-£1k to drop on a multi process inverter machine when an inverter stick can be had for a few hundred. 

 

[Baldbloke]

Think you’ll be best with a 16 amp + wall socket being limited to single phase as anything truly putting out on the maximum settings of a 200 + amp will eat through 13 amp fuses. Also you’ll either need to bring the work to the mig rather than the power drop of an extension cable.
Since moving house and losing 3 phase power I’ve had to resort to such a downgrade and got a 250amp with a 32 amp supply. It’s pretty good for what I paid for

Sealey Professional Gas/No-Gas MIG Welder 250Amp with Euro Torch MIGHTYMIG250

WWW.EBAY.CO.UK

---

• 250Amp Maximum current. Gas Type: CO2, Argon, CO2/Argon Mix. • Set-up in the gas welding mode but can also easily be switched to gasless. • Can be used with large, industrial CO2 gas bottles. Cooling System: Forced Air.