Small welders - what's the way to go nowadays?

[Chris Green]

I currently have an ancient (Clark, I think) air cooled 'stick' welder that is essentially just a big transformer with a crude adjuster and I also have a small SIP MIG welder.

I can do most of what I need to do with these but I see that there are now small, lightweight 'inverter DC' welders and I'm wondering if I might get on even better in my amateur welding activities with one of these.

My welding is mostly in two areas:-

Fixing small (as in smallholding) garden equipment such as a Kubota lawn tractor (the deck in particular) and making gate parts etc.

Repairs to a boat, built basically of 3mm steel plate.

I tend to find the MIG welder needs more set-up and patience, I use 'gasless' because I'm often outside doing this and don't do enough to justify large gas bottles. For the heavier gate bits and such I tend to use the old 'stick' welder.

Will I find a modern DC/Inverter welder easier to use, not to mention lighter such that I can transport it on my (big) 'bike?

[newshound]

I will be interested in the answers, because I have had the same thoughts myself (apart from the need to transport on a bike).

[Mark]

I have a baby Origon inverter welder which is only about 4kg, and 90amp but still does most jobs around the farm and very handy as it will operate from a small generator I think its safe to say that any inverter welder would be easer to use then your Clark buzzbox

[T i m]

+1 (and have a bike I could potentially transport it on .. or in the trailer I tow behind it (were 'bike' could be cycle or motorbike in my case)). ;-)

I still have my SIP stick welder, a Lincoln MIG (with rent free CO2/Argon Mix bottle) and just the mini brazing set (like the Oxy-Turbo sets, after I returned my PortaPack bottles).

Cheers, T i m

[newshound]

Quite like the look of this one

but I'd love to have a go before investing.

[Bob Minchin]

There is an exceptionally helpful forum

That covers much more than just MIG. You could well find a review/opinion of your proposed machine.

hth Bob

[Mark]

A lot depends on what you want to use it for, vs mow much you want to spend that machine has HF TIG but no foot control, to me thats just stupid and a wast of money Tig welding is even more difficult to master then starting with a cheap Clark buzzbox stick welder even with foot control I have an older Lincoln AC/DC TIG welder which works great but they are not cheap.

-

[newshound]

Good point about the foot control but at least it has HF for starting. Will explore forum as other poster suggests!

[newshound]

Thanks, will give that a try. I have an iron gate to repair which would have to be done in situ on a long extension lead unless I hire a decent generator. Don't really fancy hauling out my big mig to that job. Will probably do it by bolting on fabricated brackets.

[Cursitor Doom]

I'm wondering if the OP is contemplating TIG here when he talks about DC inverters. TIG is all very nice (takes some mastering, though) but requires clinically clean preparation of the work to be joined. It has to be spotless; TIG won't just vaporise all surface contamination like arc does. It requires a lot more cleaning and prep.

[Chris Green]

OP here, no I'm not really talking about TIG. I'm basically asking if I will find one of the new 'DC/Inverter' welders used as a stick welder easier to work with than my old 'buzz box' AC stick welder.

[Mark]

short answer is yes absolutely

whether it will last as long as your old Clark is another question as most of the budget inverters are made in China. Lidl had one on sale in Ireland recently so we may get it in the England soon and it will have a 3 year guarantee

-

[Mark]

do you really need TIG ? Its great if want really neat welds on stainless or aluminium but the gas and consumables are expensive

[Cursitor Doom]

Gee, 3 years? I have an old Olympian oil-cooled 320 Amp 50/80V arc welder made in 1973 and still going strong. Will that Lidl thing last for 44 years too? ;->

[T i m]

I recently picked up a 'StedIweld SW 150' stick welder that uses a patch lead and the output lead in various combinations of socket on the front panel to select the current from 20 to 160A (120A continuous).

I think it must be wound ('double wound' it says) with copper as it (really) takes two people to lift it (Weight: 94 lbs (43kgs)).

I have the datasheet it came with and for Customer Service I should ring 'Thornton Heath 5383'. ;-)

Does that age it at all?

Cheers, T i m

[Cursitor Doom]

No, Tim. But the fact you say it takes two people to lift it really ages

*you*. ;->

[T i m]

Ah, but being a 'modern man' I try to restrict my dead lifts to 25kg. ;-)

I've not actually powered this welder up yet (it really needs some new cables as the old ones are perished) but if it is copper wound and doesn't have the airgap on a variable transformer it should make it pretty efficient and be a good welder.

Cheers, T i m

[Mark]

do a search on inverter failure seems a common occurrence both on generators and welders at the cheaper end of the market I have a oil filled Oxford that I bought second-hand in 1973 which I still use and will undoubtedly outlive me but the OP would will not be able to pick that up let alone transport it anywhere on the back of a bike so a 3 year Lidl guarantee is a lot better then any other similar priced inverter welder

-