Mig welders - what to go for??

[Yumbo]

Get the biggest welder you can afford. I have had a Sip Supermig 250 for a few years and its pretty good for a budget welder, it had a 15 amp plug but i run it on 10 amp, i have welded car panels, to 10mm plate with it. I have also used a lincoln liquid arc 250 (i think), and its also a good welder but i think it would be more expensive.

fwiw: looking at the gas bottle will tell you whats in it, argoshield is mostly peacock blue, for argon, medium grey, for C02, and a tiny black ring at the top for oxygen.

Cheers
Andrew

[Gary]

ive got a cigweld 135

does alright, nothing spectacular. works good though, i've hit 1-4mm w/t RHS and its done fine. i knocked up intercooler pipes (out of MS, temp job really) with it as well, and messed about here and there for little bits. ive lent it out to mates, they've used it reattach snapped exhaust brackets for their fourbies - nice thick plate and the welder did fine I havent tried panel yet, at least not properly so i dunno how she'd go with that just yet.

ive only really used it on and off so ive gone with disposable canisters for my sheilding gas (C02/Ar), i'll be getting into it fairly heavy soon so I'm looking at hiring a nice fat tank instead of going disposable all the time. Disposables are $25-$30 each retail, the other option depends on how big a cylinder you want. you need a specific regulator for disposable bottles too ($20-$40 ive seen them for. i think i paid $30 or so for mine)