Morris Minor Owners Club

I want to start MIG welding this winter but am not sure what to buy. I know there are probably lots of brand names that people prefer.

But

Are there techinal specs I should concentrate on? e.g Amps per week or Gigga Kilo Nail clippings per ounce....you know the sort of thing!

I'd hate to bring it home and find that it was not 'man enough' for a real job (sorry ladies)

Amps per week or Gigga Kilo Nail clippings per ounce

Cam you are the nearest to a Scientist and Gareth you are a teacher at University this should be right up your steet
Being from an engineering background (non welding) this sort of technical spec is beyond me

If you get a 130 or 150 amp MIG welder it will be more than 'man enough' for the task.

A 90 amp one will do most things but if you need to weld really thick metal (clutch pedal shaft etc.) and get good penetration then you really need the extra current.

I personally use a Clarke 150TE (Turbo):



I have given it some heavy use recently and I am more than pleased with it.

oh and go for the 0.8mm wire as the 0.6mm wire does not feed very well and as you are learning you want to make life easier.

If you don't want to go for that particular model then get any 130 or 150 amp one.

Don't go for a gasless one as they don't perform as well as the normal CO2 gas type, and if you are going to be doing a fair bit of welding then go for a 'Turbo' model as these have a cooling fan which helps with the duty cycle (you can weld for longer periods without overheating the unit).

Hi mof,
I'm a fabricator welder by trade so mail me with your specific questions & maybe i can put you right.

Sound advice. One tip : if you intend to do a lot of welding , consider using the industrial bottles . The small bottles from Machine Mart etc can cost you a fortune . Oh , yes , you will need the appropriate connection for the gas bottle to the mig. If you want to push the boat out Air Products supply Ferromax , which comes complete with a pressure limiter . Not cheap , but a good product . Not sure why you should use .8 wire instead of .6 , I was told to use the thinner wire in the College of Knowledge . They
suggested that the thicker stuff caused more problems ??? Not sure about this though !! Arfron

I was also advised to use the 0.6. I got stuck once and the shop only had 0,8
I had loads of feed problems with the 0.6 but struggled on for years. The 0.8 has been a dream in comparison so I never looked back.

Yes, the 0.6 kept jamming and causing irratic operation. The 0.8 in comparison is a dream as Ray says.

just purchased a mig its a sip topmig 140dp. i dropped in at the local gas suppliers and he frightened the life out of me with his prices.

the co2 argon mix bottle is 18p a day rental £23 for the gas and £35 for a refill, come on mmoc members help me out i know i can use co2 on its own but have been advised not if i want a good weld.

does anyone know if any suppliers do a smaller bottle

BOC rental for 2003 was £35, and a refill £21.45
(Then add some Vat.. )
The rental you were quoted seems to be double what I'm paying.
However the bottle lasts a long time so if you have a lot of welding to do it is worth it. Unfortunately I've kept mine even though I hardly use it so i't not been good value for money in the last 5 years

you could buy small bottles from halfruads/machine mart/similar for a bout £7 but that works out a lot lot more expensive unless you don't have much welding to do......

vulcan72,

I have a suppler local to me in St. Helens whos prices are resonable for co2 argon mix. I will post the detail for you.

James.

I've seen in a Sealey tools catalogue, small re-useable bottles. They were listed at about £25 and contained more gas than the disposables (even the 'extra full' ones from machine mart). Trouble is, I can't find a Sealey distributor in my area, and Sealey have ignored my email.

i know i can use co2 on its own but have been advised not if i want a good weld.

Utter rubbish I'm afraid! There is nothing wrong with just using CO2 in fact it produces a stronger weld than argon/CO2 mix. It's just not as pretty, but the welds get better looking with experience.

I just use CO2 because it's what I am used to, but either will do especially for a novice. I doubt that you would notice a difference until the welds start getting good anyway.

I am in the opposite situation to Ray. I use the small bottles from Machine Mart:



If you do a lot of welding (which I am at the moment) then they work out more expensive! To be honest if you are not doing a lot then you would be better going for the small bottles. Currently £8.80 inc VAT for a 600g bottle (lasts a fair while).

Most Pubs use CO2 of some description to pump their lager, time to find a friendly landord??

Pub Co2 is not recomended as it containes impurities like Nitrogen. The impurities put the bubbles in the beer, do you want bubbles in your welding ?.

Cam, I went to an open day held by BOC. I got one of the sales men to demonstrate the difference between Co2 and Argon Shield. Argon Shield does give a better, easier, cleaner weld over Co2. I have rented a Mid size bottle ( about 3 Foot high ) for £40 and £15 if i need a refill. I have been using the first bottle for over 3 Years and have lost count of the number of jobs that I have used if for.

There is a local fire extinguisher who will do bottles of Co2 for about the same price.

James.

Currently £8.80 inc VAT for a 600g bottle (lasts a fair while).

Hi Cam - I got fed up the the halfords type small cylinders as they would never re-seal after they were opened so if you only used them every 3 months they would always be flat!
When I was welding for many hours every week, they didn't last long enough either - I could get through a couple a month quite easily.
My regulator leaked more gas than I used.
Have you had better luck with the small bottles and the regulator?

I have not had any problems with the Machine Mart types (shown previously) re-sealing although I don't think I have spent longer than 1 month without welding (unfortunately!!).

Actually it sounds like you had a duff regulator. The small ones from Clarke are not that good and mine looks a bit battered and the plastic knob has come off so I have to open and close it with pliers! But it does not seem to leak (well I have not noticed anyway!).

It would make a LOT more sense if I did what you are doing and hire a pub type bottle of CO2 from BOC or whoever. I will probably do that in the end but you know how it is I never seem to get round to it!

Pub Co2 is not recomended as it containes impurities like Nitrogen

Not strictly true, It'll have Nitrogen in it if they use mix gas which a lot of them have swapped too now.
It all used to be just CO2 until the invention of "smooth" beers & as they can use the same gas on the ordinary lager too & the mixes supposedly give a quicker pour with less waste most have swapped over I believe....

hehehe i know where i can get pub gas, CO2 and N2/CO2 but i do sorta work there....

The suppler I have used is -

Kays Welding Supplies Ltd
Unit 5 Sutton Oak Drive
St. Helens

01744 850888

No License
£40 For first bottle
£15 For Refill

You will also need a regulator.


If you want pure Co2 try a fire extinguisher company. There is one local who do bottles and refills.

James.