Which Arc Welder

[Ranga]

I've decided to get an arc welder, despite not picking up a welder since I got my arc certificate 25 years ago!

I think arc would suit my very infrequent needs best, but want to learn how to do this myself for many reasons. Anyway, I've been told by a boilermaker friend that cheap welders are fine, but stick to a good name brand.

Unfortunately when a MacFamily was at my place trying to do some minor welding, the 16A circuit kept tripping. I now have a 30A circuit available - would this help avoid that?

Also, would an inverter welder be a better option?

Seeing as Masters/SCA have 20% off at the moment, I reckon they probably have a decent price, and are close, so perhaps if you can point me at one of their's it would be good.

[Judo]

Regarding current, it's more about which type of power point you have available not circuit breaker capacity. Standard is 10A wall socket. Better is a 15A wall socket that a lot of people have installed in their shed. If you only have 10A sockets you're limited to about 120A-130A arc welders. 140A and above will require a 15A wall socket.

I bought my first welder not long ago and have been slowly learning with an inverter arc welder. I considered all types and brands at the time and I'm very happy with my choice of inverter arc. It is 130A (10A wall socket). I have never need more and never hit the duty cycle for occasional DIY use. I can't see any that are particularly cheap on the SCA or Masters website. I could swear you can get them for around $100 although I can't see any now I search.

I also thought I would have a go at TIG one day, so I bought this one:

Unimig 130Amp ARC130 DC Invertor Welder KUMJR130CA | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Unimig-130amp-ARC130-DC-Invertor-Welder-KUMJR130CA/191587599328?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%2 6asc%3D20140106155344%26meid%3Dedda5dfc203e4b12a62 e574d9490af9c%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26 sd%3D231569942460)

Note, this is only DC TIG, so it won't do Aluminium.

[Tombie]

Good rods matter more than the unit...

[Ranga]

I replaced our old electric oven with a gas oven, and have since hijacked the 30A circuit and put a 15A powerpoint there :D

A mate has alerted me to the 3-in-1 units, allowing MIG, Tig and stick. Probably overkill for what I need, but certainly some felixibility there. If I don;t go that way, probably an inverter stick welder is the go.

EDIT: just noticed the price on the 3-in-1 jobs... looks like I'll be getting an inverter stick welder!

[Ranga]

Any reason not to buy this one?

https://www.masters.com.au/product/902454510/cigweld-weldskill-dc-inverter-arc-welder-100-amp

[Judo]

100A seems a bit tight, particularly if you have a 15A socket. I can't see anything better at Masters. What about this one at your other favourite store. ;)

http://m.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/SCA-Welding-Arc-Inverter-140-Amp/295861

[Toxic_Avenger]

Any reason not to buy this one?

https://www.masters.com.au/product/902454510/cigweld-weldskill-dc-inverter-arc-welder-100-amp

What a cute little welder!
It would struggle with 3.2mm rods.
You've got buckley's finding a decent range of rods in 2.0mm in a reputable brand.

Inverter machines are much more efficient than the transformer based machines.

As for the circuit breaker, it's got more to do with the conductor size in your walls- as this is what is being protected by the circuit breaker. If you haven't already, seek advice from an electrician, then buy a 15A machine which will do everything you want, and you'll have room to move to a larger machine if / when the time comes.

[Rick1970]

I have a cheapish copper wound (160amp?) transformer arc unit from Gasweld years ago. Works well enough but power is an issue when using 3.2mm and over rods.....throws circuit breaker half way through second rod. Also have a very old Lincoln that a paid $20 for, some settings don't work, but its a very nice welder to use and came with new hand piece and longish very HD leads. Needs 25amp single phase tho.


Have a Fronius inverter at work, nice but $$$$$


A reasonable inverter unit, 130-160amp would be my choice.


......or pressure Toxic for a good deal on a small decent mig :p

[weeds]

Good rods matter more than the unit...


16TC's......

[weeds]

In the work truck we have three.......well the boys have three to choose from

BOC Smootharc Elite. It's a dear one and is the pick of them......15amp.

Unimig Razor 15 amp about $350, we did have a small warranty request.

Lincoln power craft 10Amp about $300.

All our welder have to have VRD, maybe all welder are fitted with VRD these days.

I can get a price though our supplier if you like......my leading hand reckon either of the bottom two would be good around the house.

[Homestar]

Any reason not to buy this one?

https://www.masters.com.au/product/902454510/cigweld-weldskill-dc-inverter-arc-welder-100-amp

As mentioned, a little on the small side. Also, Cigweld aren't what they used to be - they are made in China just like everything else now - not that matters a huge amount if the quality control in ok, but they aren't what they used to be and a bit overpriced IMO. There are better units for the money IMO. With a 15 amp outlet available to you, go for something around the 130 to 140 amp range, you will appreciate the extra grunt if you are welding something heavy at any stage.

For the same price, you can get something like this - https://www.alltools.com.au/shop/index.php/67/5424_Lincoln_PowerCraft_130_DC_Inverter_Kit_Stick-Tig_10_Amp

The Powercraft range is Lincolns base model stuff - again, made in China but under good quality control and these units still go through the same testing as the US made stuff. I've just got a Powercraft multi process machine which does a very good job.

[weeds]

Oops, I think my boys were a bit out with pricing....I should remember as I buy them.....guess that's what the sales rep is for.

[Toxic_Avenger]

In the work truck we have three.......well the boys have three to choose from

BOC Smootharc Elite. It's a dear one and is the pick of them......15amp.


Smootharc elite is a German made EWM unit. Superior quality, but does come at a cost.
I would do nasty things for the new range of EWM taurus machines...
I've played with a few of the high end machines, (Stick, pulse MIG and TIG) and they really do lay a good weld, even for a bloke like me who is a average welder to begin with.

[Blinky]

Bought one of these a few years back - great little unit.

https://weldingstore.tokentools.com.au/inverter-arc-welder-dc-lift-arc-tig-miniarc-205-stl.html

a few more to consider:

https://weldingstore.tokentools.com.au/arc-welding-equipment/arc-welding-machines/portable-inverter-arc-welders.html.

cheers

[Ranga]

Smootharc elite is a German made EWM unit. Superior quality, but does come at a cost.
I would do nasty things for the new range of EWM taurus machines...
I've played with a few of the high end machines, (Stick, pulse MIG and TIG) and they really do lay a good weld, even for a bloke like me who is a average welder to begin with.

Does this also apply to the non-Elite models? BOC Smootharc 170 MMA Welder | BOC Australia (http://www.boc.com.au/shop/en/au-boc-industrial-store/boc-smootharc-mma-170-welder)

[Toxic_Avenger]

Negative.
But at a price point 75% off the EWM units, it's to be expected.

Still plenty of punch in the MMA 170.

[Blinky]

Turns out this one - which I have used for handyman stuff - is in special and another 20% off if you opt for a 1 year warranty instead of 5 years.

https://weldingstore.tokentools.com.au/inverter-arc-welder-mma-welding-machine-arc162.html

[Hall]

Had a look at the link you had for the inverter welder. Check the duty cycle. You will only be able to do light welding for any period of time. Duty cycle drops of at 3.2 mm rod size. This is why a good old school copper coil welder is a good choice. You should be able to weld all day with 3.2 mm rods. Avoid welders with aluminum wound coils, won`t last long at all. I picked up a old Peerless copper coil welder. It has four coils and switches between them so has a continuous duty cycle. It also has dual voltage so you can weld either heavy or light gauge metal. But any old copper coil welder would be good. So look at the duty cycle, it is what separates the cheap from the good. Unless you don`t mind standing around waiting for your welder to restart.
Cheers Hall

[Toxic_Avenger]

Agree with above, but on the contrary, don't think that you need a machine with a 100% duty cycle.
Stick welding by nature is not a fast process. There is plenty of arc-off time where you are fitting up the job, chipping slag, changing electrodes, sipping a beer etc...
So while you should avoid a machine with 10% duty cycle at 50% of it's supposed 'max' output (ie 10% @ 65A on a 130A machine), keep in mind anythign around 30% duty cycle at 80% of it's rated output will be more than fine for the home gamer.

I did a torture test on a 170A red machine once. Had the dial cranked to the metaphorical '11', and proceeded to burn 4mm 7016 rods on 10mm steel plate. Could not hit duty cycle. Bent the plate like a banana due to all the heat too.

[Blinky]

If you haven't purchased a welder yet, check out this MIG package. I bought one and it is a dream to use.
https://sydneytools.com.au/uni-mig-mini-mig-180-gas-gasless-multi-function-mig-welder
on special ATM

[Toxic_Avenger]

10% Duty cycle @ 180A? She'll run out of steam when you start welding around 5mm material with your 0.9mm wire.
There are better offerings out there, although that price is tempting for the home gamer.
Stepwise voltage output would grow tiresome on some of the more tricky welding jobs.

I always get annoyed with the increasing nomenclature of 'Gas/Gasless' migs. As long as you can reverse the polarity and get a knurled roller to suit your machine, you can weld gasless. Likewise, stating machine 'Amp output' for a Constant Voltage power source like a MIG is useless- as soon as you change your electrode stickout, you've changed your effective amps at the workpiece, as the wire is your resistor!

If you haven't checked it out yet, this might be useful:
https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/weld-setting-calculators/mig-solid-core-welding-calculator

[cafe latte]

Many of the better brand invertor welders have very long duty cycles. I recently won a 140 amp boc invertor and the duty cycle is huge. I cant remember what without going to the sheds, but it is 100% at something like 100 amps and 50% for the rest. Bit annoying I won it as I was going to buy one and if I had I would have bought the 180 amp one that has an even better duty cycle. One other thing worth mentioning is I have a few large transformer welders too, first is they dont weld as nice or as cleanly as a dc invertor welder, second they are too darn heavy, if I cant take the job to them I dont want to do the job! Since I got the invertor it has been great, I was cutting the branches off a tree at one of my rentals. One of the branches landed on the rotary washing line and snapped one limb off it opps.
Before I would have had to come home and get one of my transformer welders up onto my ute with difficulty, then off it again at the other end, major pain in the butt. Now I just picked up the invertor welder which weights next to nothing and put it on the back seat of the car.
So much more convenient.
Chris

[TimNZ]

BOC were, (are still?), having some really good xmas deals. I picked up a Smootharc II 250A for the workshop just on about the 22nd Dec for $998 Incl GST.

Cheers,

Tim

[dfendr]

i have one of these It is very good

Lincoln Electric Stick Welder 130Amp in QLD | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321963379755?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)