Mig Welder Machines, Whats Good?

[Dan_J]

after a new mig welder as the board in my historic 135a cigweld is gone and it keeps pulsing every 2 -3 seconds,

mainly after something for thin panel/ exhaust stuff although if the pricing is good wouldnt mind one capable with more amps as even my 135amp was mostly fine with thick 5mm

also after a tig so if i can bundle the mig and tig for a saving that would work

whats everyone using and who has hook ups and such?

Edited October 2, 2014 by Dan_J

[zebra]

How much do you want to spend?

[dopey]

Uni mig a good welder and you can get them as a mig,tig,arc. Mine is a 210amp one but can get them smaller

[GTR81]

Lincoln 180c is pretty good, had a few on the last job i was on and they took a bit of punishment but kept on going.

[Michael's R33]

+1 on the Lincoln 175 fig/stick I've had it for like 6 years still going strong!!

[Dan_J]

anyone else used the 180c lincoln mig before ?

http://www.lincolnelectric.com.au/products/page350/category1/category18/power-mig-180c

[Griffin]

do yourself a favour and get a cigweld transmig, or any inverter type with 5kg spool. BOC have a good one. Around $900 to $1100. Get a euro torch with flexi head.

[0zhiph0p]

Ive also been looking at welders,we have a 3 phase cig transmig 330 at work and that's great but I want one for home that will be able to weld thick plates, as I want to make a shed to house my precious gtr. Anyone know of something single phase that will be up to it?

[Griffin]

see above

[turboedsloth]

Cigweld Transmig 200i. Awesome bit of gear, can take 5 and 15kg spools. Have had mine for 2 years now and goes great with everything we use it for

[MozzMann]

OK as a retired Welder Fabricator IMHO stay Well away from ANY CIG welding units!! They were good once but are crap these days (Smaller home mechanic models at least) The GIG consumables such as Welding and Brazing rods are OK but the Units themselves are not worth having unless they are better than 20-25 years old or more.

The Uni-Mig units I have a lot of respect for, they are reliable and get the job done.

Even for the Hobbiest WIA (Welding Industries of Australia) make good units although modern ones are likely better electronic current control using switch mode transformer's which is why modern welder's are by and large significantly more compact and lighter.

I have an older CIG TransARC 250 that is over 35 years old. A WIA 185 Mig, and a recent purchase for alloy work a UniMig 245 SMAW/TIG that I can even use to power my MIG Traveler head in my humble workshop.

So at the end of the day it comes down to ,
1 Budget
2 Usage
3 Ability

Bang for buck Uni-Mig are hard to beat

http://www.bocworldofwelding.com.au/media/pdf/file/library/WOWLibrary-GMAW-FCAW-MCAW%20Welding.pdf

useful info

[Mr Wombat]

as a working welder fabricator, myself and quite a few of the crew at work have newish cigweld machines, and we havent had one problem (touch wood)

we have also had a really good run from our WIA equipment.

unimig is the one id be staying away from, especially their 'hobbiest' welders. some real cheap shit internals in them (plastic spool gears etc)