Mig welders (again?)

[Hoke]

Hi folks, sorry if i'm going over old ground but i'm after a mig to stick my poor old gti back together, only need it for thin stuff as we have stick for heavy metal, I'm thinking Clarke 90 or one of those Sealey 130a of ebay, so any thoughts please, also why are those sealys yellow and not red are they copies/old stock or what. thanks 

[Ben Lessani]

Depends on what metal thickness you're going to be dealing with, the Clarke 90 won't do anything thicker than 2.0mm (regardless of what the manufacturer states) without adding a root gap and a tapered edge on the joining pieces - then you'd only just breach 3.0mm.

Other than that, its rated pretty highly for entry level/hobby stuff.

You'll burn through little bottles of gas like mad though, not sure if the 90 supports a big bottle instead though.

[Hoke]

Cheers Ben, i'm only going to be doing panel work and i guess 2mm would be enough for a chassis plate. i've looked at the migwelding tutorial site but just wondered if any body had used either of the ones i asked about, so any info is a help thanks.

[Diamond Hell]

Small MIGs are generally very poor on controlling power and wire-feed, so aren't necessarily good for bodywork. My erking gurt Sealey is great on bodywork, but scales up to big stuff without batting an eyelid.

See if you can pick something considerably bigger up secondhand - they normally scale down much better than a rinky-dink little POS like that Clarke.  Also make sure it has a Euro-torch - spares like tips etc are much easier to get hold of.

*scrolls through ebay*

F*ck me, deals ain't what they used to be - how the hell's that happened?! 

[Hoke]

Cheers DH, know what you mean, i always got stuff that was over powered means it doesn't have to work so hard, trouble is i'm restricted now by having to work out side and being a 62 yr old wreck that can't move heavy kit about anymore just trying to do a bit to keep my hand in

[Diamond Hell]

It's not even that it doesn't have to work so hard, it's more that it is more consistent and controllable at low power.

I've been very impressed with my 'big' MIG's bodywork capabilities - now I just need the patience and practice to get it to look better!

[danny_p]

mig welder wise,  it want to be euro torch, and it wants to have wheels.   if it dosent it's generaly crap and will just piss you off

problem with small migs is they are never as powerfull as they claim, they have no duity cycle worth mentioning and worst of all the wire feeds are crap, and so are the tips.  small gas bottels are a waste of time. you can get a big bottel from £57 rent a tear and £26 to fill it and it will last a long time may sound expensive but it's cheeper than those silly littel bottels.

i had a 150A sip minimig  till it went in the skip cos it pissed me off to much  now have 185 A sealy at home at the moment  i picked up at auction for bugger all.  needs a few £ spending on it now tho as the liner is failing but at least its easy to replace. and it's less hasstel to move about.   useing a 350A cebora quite a lot atm  and thats in a duffrent league to all the other migs ive used it so controlable and consistent  that you can weld stupidly thin tinwork  stuff   or 1/2" plate,  tho prefer stick on anything over 1/4 " usaly becausr it's outside

[Hoke]

Thanks guys, good info i know, but i can't move a big mig and this is my last fling with an old car   
so i'm just after the most reliable small mig that will repair a few small patches on it.