MIG WELDERS ???

[SteveH]

Hi Dave I have a cig brumby 180amp . Have had it for 15 years and other than a new handpiece have never had a problem and its done heaps of work.ie used every day at work. See if you can find a slightly used cig or lincoln as the early ones had big transformers and good duty cycle as Gaz said. Also the earlier ones had better handpieces and drive systems. Make sure you get one with plenty of adjustments both in wire feed and amps. Nothing worse than needing a little more and having to put up with a lot more. Whatever you do dont buy a cheap heap or a gassless. Give me a call 0409100877 re manifold. Regards Steve.

[vmx-mxr]

Hey Scotty - I would never buy a Woofto without thoroughly researching it - they sound dodgy to me, lol!

Gaz - thanks heaps! For once a 'simple as' explaination as to what the duty cycle is. I always knew the higher the better but never bothered to look into the reason why! Good stuff.

This thread and the other links is proving to be a good one.

Chinese stuff is for the most part is total crap (note - not all the time but most of the time) and the guy I am picking up the Kemppi MIG from summed it up today when I was talking to him to arrange pay and pick up. They don't care if their stuff is crap, they only care about the dollar!

As for the MIG I bought - Kemppi Super Kempomat Model SB 200 - from
all accounts the machine is about 14 years old and nearly new as far as work goes - time will tell but I feel happy with my purchase.

If anyone has had good service from an asian made welder it would make good reading but suspect Gaz is bang on the money!

I'm with Blacky re our kids futures - as a ex toolmaker I saw the tail end of the good old days doing my apprenticeship with James N Kirby at Milperra where they made virtually every fridge compressor used in OZ for Email etc etc. Now they are made in Thailand and the guy in my year is in senior management - what a f....... joke (NOT )

Anyway - back to welders. I am sure the posts will help alot of guys out there in the same boat.

Dave Mac

[wot179]

There is not much chance you will be unhappy with a Kemppi.

Nice buy.

[vmx-mxr]

Thanks 'wot' - everyone seems pretty sold on the Kemppi and as it will be getting a run as soon as I pick it up I'll let you know.

Now to gas

Currently I get my oxy from BOC and our house gas from Supergas.

Can anyone tell us which offers the cheapest deals - I know it's a rip off and that's all. After years of having gas supplied by employers it is a big shock when you have to pay for it yourself!

Most likely I'll go for a G size as it shits me running backwards and forwards getting gas when you can have it there all the time. It will only depend on the rental difference.

Probably I'll go with Migshield mixed as I doubt I'll be doing any alloy in the near future.

Dave Mac

[FB MAD]

I've searched around for cheaper gas supplier prices and it appears there isn't enough competition in the gas supply market for them to compete against each other as the prices are very similar between the limited number of suppliers.

I'd be interested in a cheaper suplier also if anyone has found one.

Don't forget the annual "rental" charge on the bottle/s as it can be a killer on top of the gas price.

[oldnek]

Tell Me about it,

I have 4 Bottles in the shop, and thats $520 a year in rental alone.
F%$#en Rip Off. But there got you by the balls, and hold for ransom, cause you need to pay it.

I have 2 free bottles here but can't change them for refilled, or else they'll slug me for the penalty charges.

[FB MAD]

Tell Me about it,

I have 4 Bottles in the shop, and thats $520 a year in rental alone.
F%$#en Rip Off. But there got you by the balls, and hold for ransom, cause you need to pay it.

I have 2 free bottles here but can't change them for refilled, or else they'll slug me for the penalty charges.

Yep, I have 2x D size oxy/acetylene and 1x E size BOC Argoshield Light and the "rental" on them as around the $450 odd mark now.

I've tried Linde gas but they are around the same price as BOC.

The "rental" used to be reasonable under CIG but when they went and name changed to BOC then up went the "rental" skyhigh

[rosco]

I'm down to one bottle - but can only use it for TIG.... unless someone can tell me that pure Argon is fine for MIG.......?

I found BOC gas cheaper than Supagas.... but the bottle rent is higher.....

Monopolies.... I detest them.....

A parasite knows not to kill the "host"..... guess we'll all just have to suffer....

frats,
Rosco

[V8EK4us]

I'm down to one bottle - but can only use it for TIG.... unless someone can tell me that pure Argon is fine for MIG.......?
frats,
Rosco

Hi Rosco, 100% argon is not great for welding with MIG but it will work if you reduce the wire speed. Will not product the neat welds that the "mixes" do because the mixes assist in increasing surface heat (create a hotter weld) to help smooth the weld and also assists with penetration and fusion when welding mild steel.

[jennydinc]

Yes, it is just useless to buy cheap gasless. It is hard to manage perfectly, everything just seems to sputter around. Worse it will just burn and you have to start all over again. pacquiao vs clottey live

[wot179]

Tell Me about it,

I have 4 Bottles in the shop, and thats $520 a year in rental alone.
F%$#en Rip Off. But there got you by the balls, and hold for ransom, cause you need to pay it.

I have 2 free bottles here but can't change them for refilled, or else they'll slug me for the penalty charges.

You can just pop those barcode tags off from bottle to bottle if you are careful......
and its the same gas from the same supplier...
not that I would recomend this heinous dodging of bottle rental charges.....