Thread: Cheap Mig welder

Looking at buying a cheap Mig welder so I'm able to go some sheet welding on my camper trailer I've tried with my stick but its a basic unit without much adjustment and I keep blowing holes. I've looked at some MIG welders and don't want to spend $600+ on a welder that won't get that much usage and would prefer not to hire one as I expect to use it every couple of months

The one I've looked at is the ozito 120amp Gas Unit
Store Locator - Bunnings Warehouse

Im not expecting anything flash but will these units do the job or are they just a waste of money
im planning on only using it for thin stuff around 2mm anything thicker I will still be using a stick

G'day,

I looked at 'em a few months ago, the duty cycle on them is a bit low but if you're not going to hard on it you could get by with it. I ended up getting a decent second hand Cigweld 165 for $400. Which can still only do 10% i think, but the cheapies are worse still. Whatever you get, get a gas model. The gasless ones splatter and are hard to set up right if you're outside in a bit of a breeze.

Welcome to come past and use mine i got a serious 3ph mig

Only if you do the welding hahahaha

From what Ive heard ( Ive never had the opportunity to use one) the cheapies are rubbish and all sorts of dramas with dodgy wire feed and PC boards. Decent replacement warranty through bunnies though. I'd try to get a second hand brand name welder. Ive got a CIG transmig 250, lincoln 170i and a 30 year old stick. They cost new $ 1700, $ 1200 , $ 80 around 6 years ago so I reckon with a bit of hunting you should be able to turn up a second hand lincoln for around the $ 400 mark. Whack a new liner in it and go for it with a quality piece of gear.

Jump over to the sister forum Woodwork Forums - Powered by vBulletin and look at the Metalwork sub-forums, especially 'welding'. The guys on there have advice on all ranges of need, from the occasional use, such as what you are after, to the professional - and everything in between. Great advice on what to by, how to, tricks & tips, pitfalls etc. The welding link is here: WELDING - Woodwork Forums

I ended up getting the ozito went and had another look and after reading mostly good reviews and it having a 3year replacement warranty. It can't be that bad, I tryed it out this Arvo and even got a nice bead down with good penetration after a couple of goes. Now I'm not sure to go gas or try gas less as the welds I did today was without gas and they were fine

Its a pro's vs cons thing. The flux core wire costs heaps compared to solid but you save on gas. You can buy mini bottles of gas if you dont want to rent a bigger bottle. The flux core is a bit harder on the gun liner than solid. Solid produces much nicer welds. And the big one for me is the lack of slag with solid meaning that there is no cleaning between welds. But, you can use the flux core in a breeze without drama. For me its solid all the way and 90 % of welders will be the same. In a workshop environment fluxcore is a waste of time and money. Outside or site welding is mainly done with a inverter stick because migs are not reliable enough or suitable for site work due to weight mainly. Got any pics of the welds ?

I do but it's not a great weld the feed was a bit slow and I didn't get any more time to play around with it
but for my first weld with a mig I'm happy the metal as 2mm thickness if I remember right went I bought it and even though the weld doesn't look great its a strong weld

When I get some more time today I will give it another go and will post some more pics

Oh yeah, spatter is a ( more of) problem with flux core as well