Has anyone used one of these! Are they any good! wanting to get one for the hubby for his birthday but dont really know what im looking for.He has a project car he would be using it on.Thanks
brokebloke1,
Jul 15, 1:19am
these would be fine for what he wants to do ( panel work ) he would be better to use gas ( CO2 ) and 0.6 mig wire
taipan4,
Jul 15, 1:49am
depends what price they are, "the old adage you get what you pay for" IMHO I'd never buy a welder of any sort from ripco or supersheep, Best you go to a specialist supplier . Your hubby will thank you for spending a bit more, rather than curse the cheap bit of junk lying in the back of the shop. Good brands are "Lincoln" "cigweld" Ask around some tradies
kecal,
Jul 15, 2:20am
A couple of years agoI broughta mig welder from mitre 10cost about 400 bucks . I tried for ages to use it gas less but could not acheive a decent result, so i changed to gas , in hindsight i wish id spent the extra on a decent machineof some sort. aw wellyou get what you pay for i guess,spend the extra in my opinion as previous post has said.
chebry,
Jul 15, 2:24am
Make sure you get something with 100% duty cycle the cheaper machines are just crap I have a cigweld 135 and never had a problem
lotus7s3,
Jul 15, 8:35am
You definetly don't need 100% duty cycle for a hobby machine.
trogedon,
Jul 15, 9:36am
You're bound to come across a good MIG welder here secondhand. Gas is dearer (bottle rental) but better.
74nova,
Jul 15, 1:58pm
I've had a Ryobi 135E for 10 years now, never missed a beat. Have always used gas with it.
74nova,
Jul 15, 1:58pm
I've had a Ryobi 130E for 10 years now, never missed a beat. Have always used gas with it.
trader_84,
Jul 15, 2:22pm
Yep - agree. And 9 times out of 10 - unless you're in the ship building industry or similar - you don't need 100% duty, lol! OP - don't frick around, you only get what you pay for. You've seen welds and thought to yourself you'd like to be able to do ones like that. Again - 9 times out of 10, the stuff you were probably looking at was done with Argosheild providing the gas. Anything less is hit and miss. 99.9% of industry use Argosheild for general MIG welding as do most homers. You'll get the tight ones that swear by C02 and gassless . but get past most of the BS and opinions - and you'll see it is hit and miss at best. With welding so I've found - if you want to know something or what is the most effective and economical way to go about something - see how the guys who do it for money are doing it. Thats generally the bench mark.
bigmacca,
Jul 15, 2:50pm
ive also got a ryobi 135e .paid $350 for it 7yrs ago.have used it to weld everything from thin panel steel to 20mm plate steel.never had a problem.
sr2,
Jul 15, 4:04pm
I'd recomend a Ryobi Mig as well. Bought mine 2nd had some years back, had the Ryobi Service Centre fit a new liner and it's been running brilliantly ever since.
mr340,
Jul 15, 5:07pm
I run a Ryobi 135 too, 12yrs of use, never missed a beat.
trader_84,
Jul 15, 6:39pm
20mm Steel Plate with a 135A! It wasn't mission critical stuff was it! You wouldn't be let on the job with something that small on material that thick in places I've worked.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 15, 6:41pm
The Ryobi's you guy's use are likey to be re-badged Italian Deca machines and they are actually pretty good. I have a 180amp genuine Deca and its great. I bought it secondhand for $330, upgraded the torch and bought my own large re-tested argoshield bottle from supagas. My Deca is great because it has a detachable torch, good duty cycle, many fine adjustments on output including some very low settings and nice features like a spot timer. All this for supercheap budget mig money.
After much deliberation and research that's what I decided on and it works a treat for panel or any general work.
You just have to come to terms with the idea that all up including a bottle and fill you are going to part with about $1000 all up. Its well worth the investment though as the ongoing costs are tiny with no bottle hire and being a large bottle the fill is at the cheap gas rate. I don't have to re-test my bottle for 10 years.
BTW, I use all the settings low to high, even when doing panel and exhaust work. (yes I use the full 180amp on panel in some situations)
bigmacca,
Jul 15, 6:46pm
nah wasnt high stress areas.good deep v,s and wind the heat up.havent had any of the welds fail yet so cant have done to bad a job.but agree it is abit light for that thickness.didnt have a bigger welder and needed to get it fixed so just went for it lol.
sr2,
Jul 15, 6:50pm
I'll just put a plug in here for Nova Fire Safety Services Ltd in Newton Auck. They set me up with a Medium sized CO2 bottle and only charge $20 a fill.
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