tr7triumph.com

when i finished my 7 i sold my welder that i had a aquired which was proper industrial job big 3 phase 400 amp murex setup. Saying i would NEVER do it again. However with the recent arrival there are bound to be ( i know so ) some welding to do. I am looking at the 240 gas / gasless welders that crop up on ebay for around £100 sip migmate or clarke 105e does anyone use these are they good enough for what i'd need, how do they perform without gas and the flux wire.

cheers

if you factor in the earth's rotation, we are all speeding

Well, I bought my current SIP Migmate 130 Turbo new at Halfords back in about '97 when they had a 'no deposit & 0% finance over 12 months' deal on.

I use 5kg reels of 0.6mm wire and large bottles from BOC. It's worked very hard for its living, and the only thing I've replaced (bar tips and shields) is the trigger/feed assembly a year or two ago at a cost of about £40.00...

I think if I were to need to buy a new MIG, I'd just go straight out and buy a new Migmate 150 Turbo...

Dale


Agrati Capri (x2)
Triumph TR7
Yamaha SRX-6 (x2)
Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0T FSi

I use the Clarke 135TE - not the cheapest around, but it's done me very well. I've given it a fair bit of use (and a lot more to come...) and it's not let me down yet (apart from when the nozzle jammed and the wire feed spewed half a reel of wire into the inside of the unit - really just sloppy maintenance on my part!). I don't know how well it would do on the heavier stuff, but for sheet metal it's ideal.
The only thing I wish I'd done is got the bits sorted out for using a proper gas bottle, rather than the useless (and expensive!) standard bottles. At this stage in my project, it's probably not worth converting now though.

Garry

1976 2.0 (soon to be 3.5!)FHC
http://reds-tr7.blogspot.com/

I got a PARWELD XTM171C after listening to advise of those that know.

better quality than 'cheap' ones and it certainly helps when trying to weld thin stuff as it is more controllable

Has a good resale value too.

Some of the clarkes are also highly considered


look at http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/shop/mig-welders.htm

i would suggest Tig if it's in the price range. If the welds have to be nice without having to grind half of it away after welding.

PS.

about "el cheapo" machines. In my opinion the difference is in the "user interface" cheap machines have lower quality buttons and knobs, lower quality cables and torches. But the electronics are all the same in most of the machines. Cheaper machines wont stand typical misuse of a workshop. You just need to be a bit gentler with them .
But are able to produce welds of equal quality as more expensive machines.

At the moment I am using a Clarke 160T Turbo, I bought this second hand in 2005 and it has been absolutely wonderful. It is only a single phase but has built 2 car transporter trailers, completed a few car rebuilds, well 6 in fact, and is currently excelling itself on the TR7, only one small criticism and that is the length of hose, far too short. I have been through numerous tips but only 2 shields, I run .6 wire on a huge roll ( on the second now) and use argonshield gas in a large bottle, haven't had to refill yet. As you can see the welding on the 7 is my worst to date (chassis and floor pans don't need a lovely finish), but the welder will make a need bead on the outer panels. (Still to come)
Also (as a matter of interest) I had a fairly expensive 4 1/2" angle grinder (£34.99) which burnt out after 3 weeks, it was replaced with a cheap brand £6.99, this I have been using for the last 3 years, I am on my 3rd set of brushes. This model doesn't come with replacement brushes!!! because it is a throw away job, but if you pull it to bits you can modify other brushes to fit. So I think £6.99 was well spent (Mckeller)

Best regards
Pete

The car is unable to handle my driving capabilities

I had the BOC Migmate (I think) 120 turbo....something like that. It was recommended to me by a welder that had done quite a bit few comparisons. It cost £120 15 years ago so no idea if it's still available. But so far no problems. I also rent the X size gas bottles at a cost of about £50 a year, also 5 kg reels of wire.

Best tool I ever bought...

If it isn't broken, I can still fix it

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by seven</i>
Also (as a matter of interest) I had a fairly expensive 4 1/2" angle grinder (£34.99) which burnt out after 3 weeks, it was replaced with a cheap brand £6.99, this I have been using for the last 3 years, I am on my 3rd set of brushes. This model doesn't come with replacement brushes!!! because it is a throw away job, but if you pull it to bits you can modify other brushes to fit. So I think £6.99 was well spent
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Interestingly, I had the opposite.
I bought a black & decker grinder a couple of years ago, I wanted something reasonably decent. It packed up the other day (I think I can still save it though, the button is just stuck) after 2 years of hard use, so I bought another one. I decided to go cheap (£15), bought it on the Friday, it was completely burnt out by Sunday lunchtime! [}:)]
I took it back and exchanged it for another B&D (same model as before).

Garry

1976 2.0 (soon to be 3.5!)FHC
http://reds-tr7.blogspot.com/

I guess there's a bit of info here for everybody.....

If the pieces to be welded are easilly accesible then TIG everytime for me, it's so much neater and cleaner. If however you're upside down then TIG really isn't practical and a decent fan assisted MIG will be perfect. I've also got a Clark 135TE Turbo which has done me very well over the last 5 years or so. I seem to remember the instructions saying it will weld (penetrate) 6mm mild steel, i found it could just about manage 3.5 - 4.0. Any thicker and you have to taper the edges. Still plenty good enough for any car work. this cost me £200, i've noticed they've put the prices up. It's been very reliable and has put up with a lot of abuse like being dropped. it's got wheels on it too which helps when draggin it around

My TIG set is unfortunatley scratch start, the HF version was about £650. Its one of these invert-R jobs and i got mine with TIG torch, three tungsten tips, three different size collets, regulator for a larger gas bottle, mask which i threw away, how can you hold the mask and the torch and use filler rod at the same time???. Bought a auto darkening one instead, well reccomended, earth electrode and arc rod clamp for £250. i thought that was a bargain especially as it was new. Mine drops down to about 20A and goes up to 120A if you want to switch the cables and use it for arc welding. its also small enough to wear over your shoulder which i have found to be handy for a few jobs.

Just from experience, if you do all your welding outside and are not sheltered then gasless is the way to go, i've found the welds to be less neat than with gas but a lot neater than using a gas set on a windy day! Oh and a gasless set is a lot cheaper too in the long run, having to re-do welds which have had the gas blown away can get expensive if you're using the disposable bottles.

I'm not sure i'd spend £100 on a second hand welder though, i'd rather put that towards a new one with a warrenty. but that's just me!

Appologies for the waffle[:p]

Mine's a Cosmo 130 Turbo, similar to MrT's SIP, but in yellow. I works fine, but I think if I was buying another I would go for a Clarke, as I've heard they have better wire-feed mechanisms. That's another difference between cheap and expensive MIGs - the wire feed. Industrial machines have stronger mechanisms that feed more consistently, which makes it easier to lay down good welds.

Gaswise, I use Argon-CO2 mix. I got mine through a deal I saw on http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum, where I got a Y (medium) sized bottle for £35 a year and £25 per fill, plus VAT.

Mark, Derby, UK.
'80 DHC Sprint - '95 Vauxhall Astra - '00 Vauxhall Zafira
http://www.marknotgeorge.co.uk

a TIG !
A 3-phase 180 Amp (or higher) TIG welder will give you the best welds you could ever want!

(OK, I've got a MIG welder as well - but I try to use the TIG whenever possible since the after-weld job is sooo much easier...)

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