So I'm looking for a MIG welder, I know I definately don't want a gasless unit, but I don't have a lot to spend. What units are good?, What sort of specs should I look for?, How much am I looking at paying?

It will be mostly used for body-work, tube welding, and similar stuff. I would also like to run it at 240 volts.

i bought a 170 amp mig for around $800 and this does that sort of work perfectly. there are some smaller ones for around the $600 -$700 range as well.
dont buy a gasless mig!

I'm close to buying one too. Can someone explain the difference between a MIG & a TIG? The latter seem much dearer but I think are capable of welding other metals such as aluminium.

The mig welder that Iuse in my panel shop is a WIA 150S,its done the job and some for the past 8 years.They cost around $1000 bucks to buy and are australian made,stay away from CIG nothing but trouble .
The tig I use is an ESAB 200 amp square wave,although I can weld alloy the mig does all of my panel welding as it can fill really well and with the tig you have to be an expert,a bit like gas welding very fiddly.
The price of the tig was about $2000 S/HAND.
My opinion is to buy a mig of good quality like WIA etc,at least 150 amps it will weld thin sheet metal as well as penetrate 6mm steel.
The trick with welding car panels is to take it slow ,just tack in the patch or what ever your welding joining sections etc, then walk away and let it cool then tack on the welds you just did ,don't do continuous long runs .The heat build up will warp the panel and that is not good if you don't have the skill to get it back into shape.
Hope this helps you guys out.

Go a Mig not a Tig for what you want. Make sure you get a copper cored transformer. As for gas / gasless anything over 140 ish should come with a regulator anyway then the only difference is with the wire being flux cored or not and if you have a gas bottle or not.
I would recommend something like and SIP 170 which is a copper core 240v (10amp )unit and retails for around the $800 mark. Don't go under 150 amp as the duty cycle with be crap and leave you wishing you had bought better.
With the gas / gasless argument I could go on all night, it basically becomes a function of $$$. If you are a light user then go gas less as you will nevr get the $$$ worth from the bottle hire and gas.



[Edited on 22-10-2002 by Buggy Boyz]

the best one you can afford.....

So I have to hire a bottle?, this was something I wasn't aware of. I've seen some kits come with smaller bottles.

Which is where the gasless ones become feasible.....

I have an oxy but no gas, due to the cost of bottle hire. What I can't weld using my stick welder just doesn't get done.

Although I'd prefer to have a proper gas Mig, I would find a gasless Mig extremely handy to have around.

Then again, MIG only uses one bottle, which means half the hire cost, so its probably cheaper than oxy anyway...

I was thinking of keeping my trusty old Comet3 oxy welder as well as the MIG.
Can a Mig do the real small finnicky stuff like broken linkages and brackets and such which I usually repair by brazing?
Also, what do you do when you need to heat something up to red hot so as to loosen it up? Bumper mounts hinge screws etc etc- It's nice to heat them up & hit them with an impact driver!
However the MIG would be handy for sheared bolts- even when flush. I've been told the thing to do is place a nut over the broken bolt & fill the hole in the nut with molten MIG wire, let it cool then just unscrew it.

Kruizinkombie
My father recently gave ne his oxy heads, stand and ancilaries. I have no idea how much it costs to hire/fill bottles here in VIC (originaly from NSW). In NSW it was around $300 for fill and one year higher is that similar price here?

Why do you have to hire MIG gas? I sorta understand with oxy/acet, but MIGS use argon, which you can't blow yourself up with.

All pressure vessels must be inspected yearly and comply with legislation. YOU cant own any of them as they want all you money simple as that. YOu can buy disposable mig bottles which will do the job for about 10mins and 1kg of wire. Bottle hire is about $70 a year and a fill of Argon in about $55 ( using an E bottle ) Gasless migs will weld light stuff just as well as gas, not as clean but will penetrate as well. I am talking upto a few mm. At then end of the day if you can weld then you can use a car battery and a set of jumper leads. I know heaps of people who have gaseless migs and love them. I built 3 car trailer with my SIP 150 before I upgraded to a 280 unit. I only upraded to get a better duty cycle. Still wish I had of kept the old girl as well.

I have a gasless mig, SIP 130. I have welded nearly everything on the VW with it and it is fine.

gasless is better if you use your welder outdoors as the gas cannot be blown away by the wind.

Do you get Slag with gasless MIGS?, seeing they use flux?, I can remember this can cause problems with ARC welding(slag inclusion), is this a problem with MIG?

Thanks for your advice guys, you've been really helpful.

242, I priced oxy bottles earlier this year. Knee-high bottles were going to cost me $280 for the first fill and one year's rental on the bottles. Sorry, but I can't remember what the break-down was, just the initial set-up cost.

I brought a cig 130 twin mig when I did my first bug and now I have just finished
my second one.It's still going strong after @6 years.Bottle rent is a bitch, but I get through about 12kg of wire per bottle(about 2 years) .I wouldn't bother with the gasless wire as its very messy and I don't think It does as good a job.I think it's the most usefull tool in my shed and it Beats the crap out of a stick welder! If you are going to weld pannels use .6 mm wire and take your time.I am only a
back yarder and have tought myself, I hope some of this info helps, good luck with your project.
Gary

Can anyone clarify this? I thought MIG used gas by definition (the IG part - inert gas.)

gasless wire contains a flux which produces the inert gas.

gasless does produce some slag but very little compared to arc.

you may get some inclusions in the weld, but you will get more from welding to old metal than from the gasless flux.

im lucky i get free gas bottles fills well not free for my parents. :P
cheers
rhys