Has anyone got any sources for a new MIG welder, other than the obvious Ebay or Gumtree? It has to have a definite locost vibe to it, a bottom end
Clarke would work well as long as it was a gas unit. Even a Wolf would do for the right price! It also doesn't matter whether it was new or
second hand.
Most places I can find only do the gasless ones.
I suggest you get a portamig from weldequip?
I got one from him ages ago and its till going on the original tip and shroud..
https://www.weldequip.com/portamig-mig-welders.htm
I know they seem quite expensive but having it I've found its the best thing I've bought! After going on with a Clarke 150 and not been
able to weld anything the portamig 185 I got was fantastic! Chassis welding, trailer made, engine crane, body welding on my 106 and toms of other
bits still solid...
have a look back the posts in the tools section this question gets posted every other week
I am possibly asking the wrong question, it's more where to get one from rather than what brand to get. Ebay and Gumtree are full of gasless ones
or very optimistic people wanting RRP for second hand stuff. Shpock had a couple but by the time I'd put petrol on to fetch it the price would
have been higher new.
Has internet trading pretty much dissolved down to Ebay and Amazon? I vaguely remember ebuyer selling welders many moons ago!
Machine Mart have served me well with MIG. My father bought me a blue 130 in the late 80's and it was
well used for 20 years before it started to lose power on high settings. By this time I was fixing cars for a
living and replaced it with a 160t from their "red" range and that is still going strong, used several times a
week for anything from a small sill patch to Land Rover chassis and all sorts of fabrication.
I've used a three snap on machines whist subbing to garages and honestly I preferred mine.
For the price you can't fault them.
Have a look on the mig welding forum , as already said this question comes up every week and it seems to come down to budget as much as anything .
Even well known makes can be rubbish, I once brought a new Murex which I along with several others couldn't get a decent weld with , the supplier
was no help at all . The welder it replaced was an old SIP which supposedly was crap but worked well for 15 years. R Tech seem to have a good
reputation for back up with their budget machines
PS I have an almost unused Clarke that I don't get on with
[Edited on 31/1/16 by rusty nuts]
Found loads on Gumtree. You don't have to pay what they ask!!
Cheers!
quote:
Originally posted by v8kid
Found loads on Gumtree. You don't have to pay what they ask!!
Cheers!
I had a clarke 150te for years, I replaced the earth lead with a commercial quality item which made it much much better to use.
It did trip out quite often so dropped in a couple of additional PC fans and once blew it's transistors so put in some heavier duty ones, lasted
20 years before I went TIG and gave it away.
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
I had a clarke 150te for years, I replaced the earth lead with a commercial quality item which made it much much better to use.
It did trip out quite often so dropped in a couple of additional PC fans and once blew it's transistors so put in some heavier duty ones, lasted 20 years before I went TIG and gave it away.
as above re the earth lead,i replace mine with a dinze plug so i could use the top quality earth lead from my arc welder,made a huge difference.
I bought a Clarke 151TE MIG welder a few years ago from ebay. Got an Argoshield gas bottle from a local welding supplier as well. It works fine, welds what I want to and wasn't expensive - IIRC I paid less than £400 all in. First job was to build a welding trolley on which the MIG and gas bottle are mounted. An easy task and fun to do as well. I believe Screwfix do Clarke stuff and are reasonably priced as well.