Hi,

I have spent hours searching the web and still have no idea...

I'm looking for a Mig Welder. Around the £200-£250 max mark.

I have been looking at Clarke MIG 145 No-Gas/Gas MIG Welder as its closer to what I would like to spend.

I'm very new to welding. Will be using it to build my chassis and other bits for my Locost.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received!

Thanks in advance.

I had a Sealey mig welder for about 26 years until it died. It was excellent for a home user. I replaced it with a cheap Wolf Mig and at first regretted it as the wire feed didn't seem as good as the Sealey one. Now, however, after using it quite a bit recently, I find it works perfectly. For a cheap welder , it is great value and produces some good welds. Forget no-gas - horrible messy welds. I only weld mild steel and I always use Argon/CO2 mix - far better results than using plain CO2. With any new welder, they take a bit of time to get used to the settings - this was the trouble I had between the Sealey and Wolf - I had got the Sealey worked out and could set it up quickly to weld different thickness steel, but it took a while to get the hang of the settings on the Wolf.

I have been very happy with teh 2 clarke migs I have owned, not so happy with the SIP......

130-140 amp should do all you want, I got the 151 gasless. I like gasless as it is easier to use outside and is less fussy on difficult to clean metal (ie my old cars) but gas mig will be a little tidier. And no flux residue to clean off. Big bottles a must though......

For that kind of budget I would keep an eye out for a proper welder. Clarke/SIP hobby welders are pretty pants..

I had a clarke 151en for a while.. I tried running it gassless which was just poop... I converted it to use gas but it wasnt much better. The wire feed mechanism was just terrible.

I now have a cebora welder which I bought from someone on here second hand... Will happily push the wire through a 4 meter torch and provides really nice welds....

Have a look at the migwelding forum , loads of info on there

before buying look at the consumables side of things, sip machines use sip parts, sealey use industry standard consumables available anywhere.
i had a sip 130 and hated it, replace with 185 sealey machine which is now around 15 years old and just made a full chassis with it no probs, a friend has just purchased a sealy 130 for £240 which i have just used to weld his mini and i was very impressed with it.
also factor in proper gas none of this disposable bottle crap, something like argoshield 5 or 15

I had a Clarke 150 fannyed on with it and poo welding..

Bought a portamig 185 and wow! Dead easy to use and had it for about 4 years now and still on the original tip and shroud.

https://www.weldequip.com/portamig-mig-welders.htm

But not in OP's budget!

Ideally you want to have a go with a few migs to see how they weld. Especially if you have not tried before, a few lessons would be very handy.

And worth understanding the difference between gas and gasless migs, and what they do, I am always surprised that so many people struggle with gasless, I can produce decent welds with them, and often in places where a gas mig would just have a fit! Agreed not as neat as gas, but not an issue for 95% of welding jobs.

I have a Clarke 135te, seems to be great for me. You need to bin the disposable bottle and regulator, so budget for replacing those and get an auto darkening helmet.

I've had a Clarke 151t for 7 years now, used regularly. I wouldn't recommend one to be honest, I think they're frequently overhyped on car forums. I regularly have to replace parts and the wire feed can be a pain. On the plus side all parts are easy to get for it and it's fine for learning on, but I'll definitely be upgrading when funds allow.

I bought a second hand 150amp cheapy for 80quid and its been fine. If I were you I'd look to buy a second hand one.