Aldi Workzone gasless MIG welder

[land864]

What are your thoughts about the Workzone Gasless MIG in the current Aldi catalogue?

What are the benefits go a gas less MIG vs an inverter type welder?

Pete

[Toxic_Avenger]

What are the benefits go a gas less MIG vs an inverter type welder?


'Gasless' and 'Inverter' are not mutually exclusive. In actual fact, many welders are both.

MYTH:
The wire type dictates what welding polarity (and welding parameters) should be used. Changing polarity on some welders is an easy 5 second job. On others, it's rip the machine apart, change the leads inside the machine, and potentially void a warranty.

Ensure that whatever machine you buy has enough spare parts available for it so that you are not left with a lemon once the contact tip wears out...

[loanrangie]

I use my mig gasless but i have the option of using gas if i want, i would go the inverter type instead of a gasless only mig.

[Toxic_Avenger]

For the sake of my sanity, please know this:
'Inverter' technology in a welder has NOTHING to do with its ability to weld using wires that require gas or can run 'gas-less'.
The Inverter is the method thru which the power source (the business end of the welder) converts your 240V AC power out of the wall socket into a Constant Current (CC) or Constant Voltage (CV) power OUTPUT.
This is in direct comparison to a older style machine which will often be a 'Transformer rectifier' type.

Inverter machines are much more efficient on power than Transformer based machines. ~90% compared to ~65%. This is advantageous when you do a LOT of welding and need to save power costs in a production environment for example. Inverter welders are lighter and more portable than their Transformer counterparts- mainly due to the lack of windings in the transformer coil which are big heavy lumps of things.

So back to the question with these misconceptions cleared up:

Unsure about the welder in question. Post a link to it (I could not find it on their website).
If you want to run gasless, go bonkers. Ensure that the MIG can be run in DC Electrode NEGATIVE, as this is what most of the 'gasless' wires require. You will also need to ensure that your supplied welding torch can be run with a suitable liner (ideally a teflon or PTFE liner) to ensure proper wire feedability. Feed rollers should be the knurled type as flux cored welding wires are more prone to crushing and more difficult to feed than solid wires.
Also remember that the lack of gas flowing thru the torch reduces the ability of the torch to cool itself and could lead to the torch going into 'gooey-melty' mode. Welding torches are mostly air cooled, and this is another function of the shielding gas in the MIG/MAG process.
Cheap machines come with cheap torches, and oftentimes these are very difficult to replace as they are sometimes hard wired. So be warned.

Try to find a machine that has a torch that is at least a copy of a reputable brand if you really must go that way. This opens up many more options for consumable parts if you need them.

My opinion (and I'm biased, I sell these things for a living), is that a quality machine will pay for itself. I see people with a cheap mig off ebay walk in every day, and most times they leave dejected when the parts they need to keep it operating are simply not available, or the machine fails to meet their expectation.

[Homestar]

Yep, buy the best you can afford IMO, Toxic has covered off everything very well. Just been down this path and ended up spending up on a good name brand unit - because I got the dealer price as we buy hundreds through work. :). It still cost me over a grand and it wasn't the top of the line unit, but a good hobby/light trade unit with solid 3 year warranty, and readily available parts through an Australia wide dealer network.

I lashed out and bought a multi process machine, which is a bit of a compromise in a few respects, but does everything quite well. It is a 185 amp stick, MIG and TIG (DC lift TIG for steel and stainless only) machine (I need to wire in a 20 amp outlet now if I want to use it at full whack, but I doubt I'll ever need that). Doing this also allows my to retire my 25 year old AC stick welder that has served me well, and zapped me more times than I care to remember. It is nice to have a machine that runs a VRD now. As mentioned, the quality brands are easy to get parts for like liners, tips, etc. also, machines like this are easy (5 second) change between electrode negative and electrode positive if you need to depending on the type of wire and welding you are doing. Cheaper torches don't have replaceable liners, so it's a bin job once you wear them out - do a cost comparison between a new torch and a new liner...

I have both flux cored wire and normal wire for it but as mentioned make sure the feed rollers are suitable for the flux cored wire. Also, if you change wire size or type, you will need different rollers, and tip - make sure you can get these for that machine - it may be a copy of something, or it could be a one off, can't get parts machine. MIG's consume parts - it is a fact of life. If you can't get tips, liners, rollers, etc then it will be useless to you very quickly.

As for gasless versus gas, I like welding with the gas better, but I'm also happy with the flux cored stuff. I'm not a welder, just a competent home hobbiest, so I know others will have different views. Gas is also expensive so a lot of people can't justify having it at home but for the time being I have.

I saved my pennies until I could afford a machine I know will last me.

[DoubleChevron]

I reckon gasless is ****house ...... I wouldn't waste my money :angel: ...... Well you asked :) Lots of splatter and crap on thin metals (IMO) ... I can't weld very well at all though ................... :clown:

These days you can find exhange co2/argon mixes. so don't ahve to pay bottle rental. It's a brilliant concept :)

seeya,
shane L.

[Homestar]

I reckon gasless is ****house ...... I wouldn't waste my money :angel: ...... Well you asked :) Lots of splatter and crap on thin metals (IMO) ... I can't weld very well at all though ................... :clown:

These days you can find exhange co2/argon mixes. so don't ahve to pay bottle rental. It's a brilliant concept :)

seeya,
shane L.

You tried decent flux cored, not just the cheap **** they sell at Bunnings? Lincoln and BOC both make a very good gasless wire that has low spatter and welds quite smoothly, but using gas and solid wire is a bit better.

Buy your own bottle I'm not sure about yet. For a D sized Argon or MIG mix bottle you will pay around $425 to own it, then $145 a refill, whereas renting a D sized bottle costs $12 a month and a refill is $90. You own bottle is scrap after 10 years, so call that $42.50 per year - saves you about $100 a year in rental, but the refill cost $55 more, so if you use 2 bottles a year, you're better off renting. The home handyman probably ain't going to use 2 bottles a year though,. Also, for my $12 a month, I can grab a different gas when I go in to refill if ever needed for no extra cost, whereas if you buy an Argon bottle. That's all they will stick in it.

And, let's face it - $12 a month isn't that bad IMO, and they don't charge you extra if you get it billed monthly, quarterly or yearly.

[crash]

I personally would stay away from the ALDI welder, it looks like it is only a 100amp machine and is only 25% duty cycle at 90amps. I have used good quality gas less wire and I do not like it - gas is way better. For a similar price you can buy an inverter style stick welder, which I feel in my opinion makes better welds than a gas less MIG and they are a lot smaller and more portable.
A gas MIG can be used as gasless but you can not use gas with a dedicated gasless machine.
Bacicat makes some valid points regarding owning your own bottle VS renting.
Another trick you can do if you do not use much gas is some places will give you your first bottle fill for free, and will do a deal for you to have a gas contract with them, when your bottle runs out cancel your contract and go else where.
Besides being able to weld outside in the wind, the only other advantage of a gasless setup is you do not have to worry about forgetting to shut the gas off at the end of your welding and having the bottle run out on you - it is even worse when it is a new bottle!
You can also get disposable gas bottles but they are very small in size and you need to change your reg setup.

[Homestar]

And those small bottles are $38 each, which is an expensive way of doing it.

[loanrangie]

Gasless is handy for light jobs and outside work.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using AULRO mobile app

[Toxic_Avenger]

I've commented on the gas debate in another thread a number of months back. Main point- speak to your friendly local gas supplier about the price, and see what they can do for you. Price should be the least of your worries- a botched job will oftentimes cost way more than a fistfull of dollars for the gas. On the other hand, anything you buy which you never use will be expensive... so if you are not using gas (or anything for that matter) then it really is surplus to your requirements and 'expensive' in your own eyes.
People who hold onto that oxy acetylene set for 15+ years 'just in case' and then complain about reantal, really have no argument. I saw one set get returned for the early 70's. Both cylinders went out of test in the early 80's.

Gasless (FCAW) has it's applications. Heavy earthmoving / mining / repairs love it, as it's less susceptible to contaminants - meaning you can weld on a dirty bucket or piece of machinery without having it operating theatre clean.

That welder, as nice as the price seems, is probably going to run out of legs on you.
Looks like it's just got the high/low wire speed control (very coarse adjustment) and likewise with the voltage. Things like a voltage readout would make life so much more easier when setting up your machine.

Then things like the fixed torch and fixed earth lead will prove a little more difficult to source parts for than other models.
Definately not a professional or semi professional grade machine, but OK I guess if you've just got a few runs to do and don't care about keeping it long term. But on the other hand, small one-off jobs can often be done very quickly, professionally, and cost effectively by your local job shop / fabricator, or even mobile welding contractor. Much cheaper than tooling up, getting the skill set, and making some mistakes along the way at least.

[Homestar]

Learning the skill set is half the fun. :). I can stick and MIG weld well enough for what I need. For me it's now TIG time, but I may go to a few classes to learn this as it seems to need a completely different skill set. I did learn to oxy weld back in my apprenticeship days, but a skill not used is a skill lost, so I doubt I could do that very well now.

[crash]

Learning the skill set is half the fun. :). I can stick and MIG weld well enough for what I need. For me it's now TIG time, but I may go to a few classes to learn this as it seems to need a completely different skill set. I did learn to oxy weld back in my apprenticeship days, but a skill not used is a skill lost, so I doubt I could do that very well now.
I have to agree that learning is half the fun and is really rewarding when you start making progress and feeling confident.
I first learned on a stick welder on the farm and at school, and self taught MIG and TIG. I really like the TIG, still learning though. If you have done Oxy welding in the past you should pick up TIG fairly easy. I really want to try welding stainless with TIG.

[land864]

Thanks Guys

I can borrow a Caddy or inverter whenever I want so I'll stick with it

Pete