Stick welding revelation

John Rumm · 2020-07-29T01:06:31+00:00

For years I have used a very basic SIP Merlin AC Arc welder (mostly repair work, sticking the mower deck back together, and the occasional bit of crude fabrication). Its a transformer based lump, pretty crude with a ridiculously poor duty cycle (weld for 7 mins, let it cool down for half an hour - improved to weld[2] for 7 mins let it cool for 15 with the addition of a couple of large fans internally). However I put up with it on the grounds that I don't need to weld things that often. [2] In fact never mind welding, just turn it on a wait for ten mins and it will overheat and cut out all by itself. However the thought also occurred to me that one of the reasons I don't need to weld that often is because its such a PITA to use, one tends to find alternative ways of doing it! That and it might be quite nice to be able to do some proper fabrication work from time to time. So earlier in the year when an excuse was presented[1] and I finally got round to upgrading to a decent inverter based MIG setup, which has been really nice. At the time I bought it I also got an electrode holder so that I could also stick weld with it if I wanted - but had never got around to trying it out until today. [1] Daughter needed to do some welding for a college project, but could not go in due to lockdown. I wanted to weld up some bits of rebar outside, and the wind was quite strong. So, ideal time to try it in MMA mode... and wow what a difference! You can strike an arc with ease, it runs quiet and smooth with a really nice stable DC arc, and makes it almost easy to get pretty decent results with relatively little skill or practice. No buzzing, spluttering, or sticking either. So moral of the story, I wish I had gone for something like it years ago, and I now have a new found respect for IGBT inverter arc welders - they make the whole process quite civilised! (anyone got a use for a 150A Merlin?)

Jul 29, 2020 51 Replies

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John Rumm 6 years ago

Bosch pro is normally blue...

My AG looks like:

formatting link

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F Murtz 6 years ago

I got one of these and it is the most amazing thing since sliced bread,

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it is tiny, weighs almost nothing and welds up to 3.2 electrodes with ease I was in the electrical game and back in the day of transformers none of us would have believed it possible what this little inverter does,dc is easier to weld with. I also have a bigger MIG with optional stick leads.Could carry it anywhere, up a pole hanging off your belt if you wished.

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T i m 6 years ago

What sort of duty cycle OOI?

Cheers, T i m

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newshound 6 years ago

It would be interesting to know how many amps it really delivers. There are youtube videos showing that some of the Chinese stuff doesn't meet the claims.

But welding 3.2 is impressive. My Lidl cheapy (£75 or so) won't go beyond 2. Or at least, not for me :-).

I agree that they are amazing, though.

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Fredxx 6 years ago

The link contains a spec which says 60%.

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Dave Liquorice 6 years ago

transformers

inverter

60% according to the page... and less than £40 from China (+ shipping, tax?). Only comes with matching connectors, no cables/clamps etc.

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T i m 6 years ago

(Still) works fine here Jimmy, best ask a grown-up to help you?

Cheers, T i m

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T i m 6 years ago

Yeah, I saw that ... and where it was from so I was interested in the real world value. ;-)

Also, does '60%', even if valid, give you any idea of how long you can weld for before it might thermally trip? 6 minutes on, 4 minutes off ... 60 seconds on, 40 seconds off?

And if it's 60 seconds at 20A ... ? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

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F Murtz 6 years ago

I use 2.4 rods and it seems to go forever,I don't build ships with continuous long welds and I do not suppose it would be suitable,but workshop or field work of weld a bit get another bit of metal and weld a bit more it works easily.

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F Murtz 6 years ago

I used the stick lead from my bigger MIG And made an earth from an old jumper lead I had,but you can buy a set of small light leads from bangood fairly cheap.

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F Murtz 6 years ago

I still use CO2 as I can fill cylinder with dry ice pellets for AU$5.00 per kilo

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F Murtz 6 years ago

You can get rods here called satincraft which are easy for beginners

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