Advice on a welder with 10 amp plug

[PJG]

Hi everyone I'm thinking of buying a welder and am after a bit of info. What brand type etc. Would like a mig but budget might be a problem. Has anyone had any luck with gasless migs. Or maybe I'd be better off with an arc welder to start with.

I'm looking to use it at home to build shelves, trailers etc. And other small items.

Open to all help

 

[Ded Driver]

gasless MIG is good if you buy good wire. the cheap sh.. doesn't contain enough quality flux & can contribute to poor welds.
The 0.6-0.7mm wire is the worst for this. Using 0.8 upwards helps overcome the problem.
For small jobs & good quality welding the small 2.2L CO2 bottles are the way to go with solid wire, at around $65-70 (Bunnings, Total Tools, etc)
checkout Total Tools, they're around midfield on pricing for most stuff
https://www.totaltools.com.au/welding/welding-consumables/welding-gas?product_list_order=price
Stick electrode welders are cheap as chips these days & are a good budget entry point.
The good thing with MIG is its not hard to adapt to stainless steel or aluminium welding (using argon gas, again available in small 2.2L bottles, or bigger if you have a big job)
.
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for shelving & other small jobs I'd use flux cored 0.7 wire, for a trailer & biggish jobs I'd use a gas bottle & 0.9 wire

 

[mudgee hunter]

Firstly 15amp is no real drama to have fitted. A sparky can fit one to your shed on its own circuit like an air-con off your 240v single phase. Best way to go.
A 5kg roll of flux cored wire $80/90 .=$16 per kg
A 15kg roll of normal wire $35/40.= $3 per kg
But then you have gas on top.
Bunnings now have swap n go for migs. $200 up front, $100 back or pay again upon return.
Small migs that cant take at least a 5kg roll are expensive to run as 1kg rolls work out expensive.
Even the aldi inverter stick welders are a great buy for $100!
Crap leads, but.... $100!
Get one of these, 10amp. Light. Buying the correct rods is important.
Cig/wia/esab. Forget the asian rods. Rubbish.
A quick tafe course is well worth the knowledge.
Just sign up stick at first. MMAW. (Manual metal arc welding).
I give my mig a good work out almost daily.
So I run 15kgs on gas. Much better quality weld with gasless.
If you go a mig, make sure it can do both, gas and gassless.

 

[Smoky bandit]

Hi mate .If your just welding steel you dont need gas....Gas is more for aluminium.... S/S ect...Just buy flux core wire if your not using gas...
But I would recommend buying a Gas/ Gasless welder just incase you decide to do more complex jobs.....I got mine from bunnings 3yr warranty for $400 about 10yrs ago..I seen the other day they have some pretty good deals on welders.
You will get more use out of a mig than an arc especially if you want to weld thin steel :Y:

 

[mudgee hunter]

Not all migs and tigs can weld alloy. You will need one capable of ac/dc with hf.
Boc have a tidy ac/dc tig/stick capable of welding alloy. $1200.
But you will need to do a course at least for tig.

 

[mudgee hunter]

Gas for alloy is just pure argon in the southern hemisphere, argon mix, 5% is for steel.
The small disposable argon mix bottles are far to expensive to run. Better to just stick with the flux cored stuff by choice.
Or rent/swap n go at bunnings.
Northern hemisphere use helium as its cheaper there, and better than argon.

 

[Dihusky]

Had a 175 WIA Mig welder for many years, brilliant machine with both Gas and gasless, big spools of wire so rarely ran out.

I found that gasless was great for galvanised steel, but on general work if I could use gas I would, but once you learn to use it gasless can do some amazing things, just got to remember polarity reversal.

I've sold that machine and bought a CIG inverter, only a 10A power one, but gives me both stick and TIG and I find it really useful until it comes to heavier steel, but pre-heat can help.

One of the other problems I found with gasless is flux build on rollers, and tips, causes slippage and can drive you nuts but keep things clean and use quality wire and they work well.

Some years ago built a big chemical storage shed on a farm, C purlin shelving etc, whole thing was done gassless... worked a treat.

 

[PJG]

Thanks for the quick reply everyone. I'll look into price but a gas /gasless mig looks the way to go.
Most people I have talked to don't like the gasless but could not know about the problem with the wire.

 

[mudgee hunter]

Tip when using gassless wire is use a tip 0.1 oversize. As gasslss wire is not perfectly round like standard. And deformation occurs in production.
Gassless wire actually needs a knurled roller on the feeder. As it is softer and slips.

 

[PJG]

How about one of these? Cigweld 135Amp.
https://www.cigweld.com.au/product/weldskill-135-mig-portable-welding-machine/
Total Tools have them for $350.

 

[Smoky bandit]

If you just doing diy jobs around the shed a Gasless mig is perfectly fine for most small to medium sized jobs..If you want to weld heavy steel then get a arc..Better still buy both.

 

[Smoky bandit]

How about one of these? Cigweld 135Amp.
https://www.cigweld.com.au/product/weldskill-135-mig-portable-welding-machine/
Total Tools have them for $350.

Bargain.. Will do just about any job you need to do.

 

[Tathradj]

A year ago I bought this one below.
Got the irates with the cheap piece of crap
that I had.
15 amp plug yeah so what. Get a circuit installed for
it and away you go.
I have welded from .5mm box tubing right up to 5mm plate steel with
Gasless wire.
Just take the shield off the tip with no wind around and go for it.
Stick welding with Satin craft Rods is brilliant.
If I remember correctly, 12/20 rods are sooo good.
No Problem at all.
Am about to get a gun and gas so I can weld aluminum and such.
with 10 amp welders with aluminum wound transformers, It is not worth it.
Your choice but be warned.
There is a lot of crap out there.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W177

 

[Muk]

Gday have been a boiler maker welder for the last 35 years and have had a Lincoln 170 amp mig Ac/dc for 25years still use it all the time gasless .9mm wire is what I use for everything in steel also have welded lots of aluminium with it for home projects gasless is the way to go I got my son to buy a cheap Rossi 180mig gasless its a great machine also .9mm wire only problem with it is short earth lead and torch lead earth easy sorted very good welder for the price if you are only a casual user have just been in the process of building a camper trailer with it it hasnt missed a beat hope this helps cheers Muk.

 

[Dog Ranger]

BOC have a great deal on Argon at this time
$219 for a G cyld no rental fee :Y:

 

[Goldchaser1]

Second the Lincoln here,had an old one but upgraded to a 180c a cuppla yrs ago,all the experts recommend them,i cant argue,great little welder,it has a 15amp plug though......

 

[Dog Ranger]

Don't think you can beat a Lincoln or Miller :Y:

 

[HeadsUp]

BOC have a great deal on Argon at this time
$219 for a G cyld no rental fee :Y:

I pay $190 a month for my gas bottle rentals with BOC 8.(

G oxy x 2
G stain shield x1
F argon x 2
F argoshield universal x 2
E Co2 x 1
LPG forklift size x 1

But I save around $2500 per year by using LPG from 9 kg cylinders instead of using acetylene , LPG is safer and you can get swap n go anywhere any time of day or night.

I tried using Liquidair / Air Liquide and Supagas but they both made too many errors with accounting so they got told to go #*#@&#&* themselves.

 

[HeadsUp]

Don't think you can beat a Lincoln or Miller :Y:

Those are both good brands although Lincoln rebrand many machines these days that are made in China , Poland , Argentina etc.

Their top line pulse/ multifunction / STT / synergic / twin head feeder machines are great if you dont mind paying up to 35 grand for one with all the bells and whistles.

Millar have had a great name for decades too.

Fronius is one of the best brands in the world but overpriced in Australia , expect to pay $16,000 AUD here for a machine you could buy in Europe or USA for $5200 AUD , their top line machine could cost you $40,000.

esab have a good entry level MIG with the Esab 200i , I bought one just for the days when you cant get access to the job with a 3 phase machine like up in an apartment building or inside a boats engine room for example , $ 1550 from Silverwater Welding and it does Ali with the correct torch liner , steel and silicon bronze for car body repairers.

It sounds like the OP would be happiest with a machine that can do AC/DC TIG plus stick electrode.

 

[mudgee hunter]

Heads up, do you a cig comet, with twin mixer pipes, or the harris with 3, with the lpg?