welders

[RCMike]

Thinnest I've used it on is 1mm so far with .6mm wire. Needs to be on the lowest setting for this, there are only 4 power settings rather than an adjustable knob. I actually found this better (as a novice) as it gave me less things to fiddle with and just focus on technique. You can still fiddle with the wire speed however.

I've actually used the slightly bigger co2/argon bottles from machine mart with one of their valves.

Like i said, i'm a novice and not qualified to give anything other than my personal experience (and this is my first welder) but it seems OK to me.

 

[solarman216]

how can I rig a 30 amp socket . I have tried to find socket with 30 amps and can't even the cooker switch is only 13amp on the plug side

30 amp sockets are readily available from electrical wholesalers and you just run a 6mm cable from your consumer unit, but honestly you do not need it, my 250 amp welder demands a 30 amp socket but 150 definitely not, especially as most of the time you will be running on the lower settings for bodywork material, Rick

 

[solarman216]

problem with bigger welders is they often do not go down low enough for thin metal, my 170 has that problem and it has taken a while for me to get used to the short weld at a time technique, to avoid blowing holes, my previous 170 was infinitely variable and was a dream to use, but cost a lot more, Rick

 

[cncfabs]

Power input required depends on how efficient the set is.My mig at home is only 130 amp and will trip out 16 amp supply.We have welders at work that draw 100amps at 380 volts and only produce 350 amp welding current.We had 500 amp machine on demo that would run flat out from 16 amp 3 phase supply difference is the new machine was invertor based older machines are thyristor or plain transformer based.

 

[solarman216]

Power input required depends on how efficient the set is.My mig at home is only 130 amp and will trip out 16 amp supply.We have welders at work that draw 100amps at 380 volts and only produce 350 amp welding current.We had 500 amp machine on demo that would run flat out from 16 amp 3 phase supply difference is the new machine was invertor based older machines are thyristor or plain transformer based.

You are of course correct, but these are simple cheap machines and at the low welding amps they will be used on 13 amp supply is more than enough, Rick

 

[solarman216]

Best welder I ever used was a portable engine run set, I was welding 15 mm plate with stick, it was a dream but it did not run at 50 Hz cannot remember what it was but it made a world of difference, that was in the 70s, Rick

 

[Sweety]

All great info guy's:thumb2 would love to get a mig so I can start learning how to weld just never seem to have the funds for one so far

 

[cncfabs]

Best welder I ever used was a portable engine run set, I was welding 15 mm plate with stick, it was a dream but it did not run at 50 Hz cannot remember what it was but it made a world of difference, that was in the 70s, Rick

Would have been dc thats why they weld better