Hi….

I’ve been welding for a bit now but i’m no electrician.

I was wanting to start welding at home and wondered if there are any welders (or electricians) on here than can recommend me some gear to use.

I was thinking MMA.

I’ve seen this ….

http://www.weldinggear.co.uk/Mma-Welders/SWP/SWP-ARC-120-PACKAGE_864.htm

would something like this work of my domestic supply ok?

And what would be the maximum (or biggest, beefiest) bit of kit I could safely get away with ( i don’t want to be at my fusebox every 2 minutes)

I used to weld at home fine with an Oxford Bantam set – oil cooled, excellent gear, you can find them on ebay. That is what I would go for if I was looking to get another arc set.

What do you want to weld?

Those little inverter welders are great. I spent a couple of weeks welding heavy machinery in the local sawmills last summer with one as all the Migs were in use on other jobs. Nothing has fallen apart yet! I would only really contemplate an Arc type welder if everything I was going to weld was 4mm or thicker. For thinner than that I would go with a MIG welder. Something around the 220 Amp mark will still work on a normal 13amp supply> As we all tools, go for the best quality and the best spec you can afford. Buying cheap or low power is always a false economy. Better a good secondhand unit than a cheap chinese Ebay special

Anything with up to a 13a fused 3 pin plug will be fine. If you are running it in an out building or detached garage there is a chance the lights will dim a bit if the supply cable isn’t up to it.

What do you want to weld?

I concur.

I wouldnt look at MMA unless I was welding heavy duty stuff outdoors a lot. Mig (or tig if youre feeling flush) will give a much nicer finish on thin section stuff.

You should be fine with 13 amp for thin stuff. I run a portamig 235 through 32A single phase, but it works fine for automotive type work through 13A.

You only need a beefy supply when you crank it up for thicker stuff.

I use a 40-210A MIG welder. In my last house I had it wired through a 30A RCD and it worked fine. In my current house I am using a temporary 16A supply and it will trip if used on power settings 4 or 5 out of 5. The spec for mine was 28A at max power I think, which seems to be about right.

SWP stuffs a bit hit and miss, I’d have a look at R-Tech.

Great, sound advice that… thanks.

I did a night class and mig, tig and stick welded plate steel 3-6mm thick, so it will really just be an extension of that really.

I was thinking mig maybe the best to go compromising between initial set up cost and flexibility…

Anymore models/ brands to look at chaps?

I’d just wrote a long post on the pros and cons of each setup…I’ve just deleted it though, as I think you should go for stick!

As you’ll know, the only consumable is the rods themselves. Anything else and you’ll have to fight on with gas, reels of wire, tips or tungstens. I’d only recommend MIG if you’re working on cars or doing big jobs. TIG if you’re doing finicky stuff or want to weld stainless or aluminium.

I can’t recommend any particular equipment, as I was trained (many moons ago) on industrial stuff. I’d like an invertor, if only for them being handy for outdoor jobs, expensive though.

Almost all my welding is stick using unitor machines. Really good quality, however I have no idea of their cost. Normally 3mm + thickness

Tig I have used for 2mm stainless steel only, again it was a unitor machine, if I was going to be welding thin stuff I’d probably go for this. Gives a really nice finish with practice.

Mig just gave me grey hairs.