Some Sealey's look like a Clarke red type, it a bit confusing ........
On looking around it seems that a lot of Mig welders look similar ,i.e ERP / Sealey,
Some Sealey's look like a Clarke red type, it a bit confusing ........
Dave,
what are you suggesting?
that they're all made in the same korean factory but painted different colours and have different stickers?
It's a bit tricky when your trying to get something better than a Clarke , when a Clarke can be a Sealey ,and a Sealey can be an ERP depending on the model number.
I don't think there is any crossover between clarke and sealey, certainly never used to be.
The sealey machines are EXACTLY the same as the ERP ones, but 20% more expensive! Thye both leave the same factory in Italy, but some are rebranded by
Sealey and some by ERP in Hull who make less money!!
Cebora.......don't waste good money on that sealey/clarke rubbish
I've got a proper industrial MIG welder now, wont ever go back to the mickey mouse ones available in Machine Mart, etc.
Good second hand one will cost same as a mickey mouse one. And be a lot better
Cebora make most sub £500 migs in the world! Including SIP, Clarke etc even the small 'SnapOn' ones
If I search the threads , there are lots of good things said about the Clarke migs , even though my guts say , get something more expensive , the main
gripe with my old Sip130 is the wire feed has become less and less reliable (plenty of birds nests!!) , and also it appears to have become less
powerful , but in the beginning it wasn't bad up to about 2-3mm thick.
Ideally I would like to make a good job of metal upto 6mm thick........
[Edited on 3/11/05 by Surrey Dave]
There's a test on MIG welders in the Dec issue of Practical Classics.
Had my Cebora for just over 4 years and it's been hammered but still going strong even though it's single phase, list price was £800 odd i got it for £500 along with some goodies...Buy one from a welding suppliies firm and they keep prices mega low as they expect to make it up on consumables, wire etc...again best place to buy wire as half the price and top Loyds quality .
Check out the feed mechanisms on them all, that's where most cheap welders fall flat.
Have read the reviews in Practical Classsics, I cant believe it , they gave top marks to a SIP MIGMATE!!!!.
Said that most budget machines had improved due to now using a metal liner in the torch instead of plastic.
my old SIP certainly has a plastic liner, it probably drags and causes the wire to snarl up...
repeating what I said before, my £400 ERP machine (a pretty big machine, 210 amp, not a hobby thing) is spot on. Has certainly processed over 65 kg of wire into weld without one feed jam up or any other fault.
Yeah , I've got Red Clarke , Erp 185,and Butters 180 on my wish list at the mo.
I dont do enough welding to have another BOC cylinder .which is what I had when I built the car, so it will be carry on with disposables, or Pub
bottle
can expensive migs do the things that tigs can do, ie ally and stainless etc. I remember mark saying that you can do stainless with a mig, but would
it also work with ally and AC? if not, why not?! 
They will weld stainless and aluminium with pure argon shielding gas but aluminium needs care to feed (teflon liner and pull feed on gun preferably)
otherwise it chews up in the rollers.
Sealey industrial welders are a different class to their diy range. Try here for a
decent deal on the 185 supermig.
http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/MIG_Welder/mig_welder.html
how about the Butters Spool Mig 160? Looks able, however, its only a little cheaper than a tig device.
Would a good mig welder produce results as nice as a tig?
im actually more interested in stainless than ally, as stainless is more useful a material in terms of making shiny bits
For all round versatillity Joel you can't beat TIG. (IMHO)
You use the same gas for everything (argon) so just the one cylinder to rent.
Also, it will weld a good range of thicknesses suitable for Locosters.
You'd be hard pushed to weld 1 mm sheet with a mig and get it as neat a result as tig.
I use a mag set at work with "stainshield" gas for stainless, and argon/Co2 mix for steel,
and as Pete says you need a "pull feed" gun for ally.
It all becomes too expensive for home use.
Paul G
[Edited on 5/11/05 by 907]
Sealey Migs are made by Telwin a big Italian company. You can buy the Telwin brand at Northern Tools cheaper than Sealey (I think). Agree with most of
whats said but skill and practice are what is needed in welding and if you have that you can weld with a cheaper machine too. A good machine may not
make you a good welder just as a good tennis racket...........
Alex
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
They will weld stainless and aluminium with pure argon shielding gas but aluminium needs care to feed (teflon liner and pull feed on gun preferably) otherwise it chews up in the rollers.
Sealey industrial welders are a different class to their diy range. Try here for a decent deal on the 185 supermig.
quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/MIG_Welder/mig_welder.html
how about the Butters Spool Mig 160? Looks able, however, its only a little cheaper than a tig device.
Would a good mig welder produce results as nice as a tig?
im actually more interested in stainless than ally, as stainless is more useful a material in terms of making shiny bits
cheers fella. Im going to start a thread in a few days, asking for comments on two shortlisted machines, hopefully that will sort me out. I might have read the specs wrong, but im pretty sure ive found two suitable machines for about 1000 each.