(22-11-2014, 01:49 PM)Janne L Wrote: I would really recommend that you get yourself a used professional model rather than a cheap new one, everything about them is usually better :-) if possible aim for a 3 phase one, it easier to weld well with them, especially if you are going to learn to weld on this machine :-)
I'm running a 400A beast I got cheap a few years ago, and it produces great welds, far from portable though :-P

(22-11-2014, 01:49 PM)Janne L Wrote: I would really recommend that you get yourself a used professional model rather than a cheap new one, everything about them is usually better :-) if possible aim for a 3 phase one, it easier to weld well with them, especially if you are going to learn to weld on this machine :-)
I'm running a 400A beast I got cheap a few years ago, and it produces great welds, far from portable though :-P

(22-11-2014, 06:11 PM)Janne L Wrote: Kemppi and Esab are good, other than that I don't know :-)
Just make sure it can use shield gas and not only flux-core wire.

I guess 3 phase is more common here. I have it at home, could install a socket and go crazy :-P

(25-11-2014, 10:14 AM)fatlapit Wrote: ive got a clarke en 151 gas/gasless its spot on plenty of adjustability good enough for what u need bud

(09-12-2014, 01:14 PM)darrenjlobb Wrote: Trouble with cheap welders is well, there cheap...

You never get a euro torch lance, so when its f*cked, its f*cked, the tips are always some stupid thread / cant use normal ones...The duty cycle is always shite, so 2 minutes into a raping bead and the thing catchs fire...the wire feed roller tensioners are always plastic shite / bends out the way and has useless power... the leads / ground clamp are made of tin..there just so cheap, and make for some rough welding / endless frustration from my experience...

If you cant afford new, id look for used Lincoln / Esab / Miller / Kempi etc before settling for new Chinese shite...worth EVERY penny imo.

(09-12-2014, 05:13 PM)Grant Wrote: I think Ruan was more referring to a new or used  Lincoln etc.


For your budget, and what you're going to be using it for (I assume DIY and hobby (i.e. not welding a chassis back together every other day of the week)) then the 150A Sealey will be fine

Obviously a used professional model would be good, but remember they also tend to be bigger, a lot more powerful (likely to use 3P in some circumstances) and pricey.

(10-12-2014, 01:15 PM)Ruan Wrote: I'd sooner save for another 2 years and spend a bit more than buy a £200 hobby mig welder... They're just crap and you'll have to spend it again when inevitably it all falls to bits and nothing works anymore!

Get yourself a second hand professional job, you'll thank me when you're laying down beauty beads, not dropping pigeon shit all over the place.

OR - just get yourself an old Oxford oil filled arc welder for naff all off ebay... They're absolute monsters and will lay raping beads, which will do you for any thick stuff, a cheapy crap hobby welder will be crap on thin stuff also, so you may as well not bother, but at least the Oxford will be monstrous on the heftier stuff - it'll tack what you need to take it somewhere else and use a MIG if you must...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OXFORD-TYPE-ELECTRIC-ARC-WELDER-/161508885322?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item259aae034a

It may look like a piece of shit, but trust me, you can leave that bastard shorted out until the day you die and it'll STILL be pumping a few hundred amps into whatever you've got across the terminals and the transformer will barely be warm to the touch.