Which Welders?

Hi guys,
Ive got a few bits and bobs on the mk1 that need welding so I thought it was about time to invest in a mig welder and learn some new skills to save time and money in the long run.
So my question is what welders have you guys got and what do you recommend for about ?200 quid?
cheers :wink:  
bob…

Nothing under 160amps or anything that isn't capable of taking at least a pub CO2 bottle. A fan is useful as you don't want to be sat waiting for the thermal cutout to reset during a heavy session. Plenty of adjustment on the voltage control so you can fine tune it to thin body metal and then give it some welly in the thick stuff. Big enough to take an industrial reel of wire, not the silly little spools that cost twice as much weight for weight. I'm not a huge fan of Sealeys. They never seen to work or sound right to me. I like a good buzz like a swarm of pissed off bees. I have a Migatronic, but that's a name brand which you pay extra for. SIP's sound good. I've not used any of the Clark range from Machine Mart. They probably come from the same factory in China as the Sealey's though.

I've got a 140amp Sealey and did the job nicely on my resto  :mrgreen:

Fair enough.

not saying that a bigger one wouldn't be better  :wink:

it was my first ever welding and got on with it pretty well… admittedly I got through about 10 of the small bottles you get from halfords

cheers for the replies chaps,
I'm thinking about this one from machine mart. what dya recon?
cheers,
bob.
http://www.machinemart…?p=010115161&r=2031&g=105

That is a fair welder, but tbh you could go with something smaller if its just for general car work, mine goes up to 120 I think. As for this whole gas thing, are you welding in a garage or out in the street? I don't have the luxury of a garage so all my welding is done outside my house where a gas welder would be useless because the gas gets blown away. People say its harder to weld with gasless, but I don't have any problems with it and it probably works out cheaper too altho the wire is slightly more expensive than normal wire, there isn't the cost of bottles every couple of sessions.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=010114060&r=2029&g=105

There is nothing wrong with the Clark welders, but they are not really for profesional use, however a couple of things that will make them as good as, when you first get the weilder, all nice and new it will work purfect, and you will think it is really easy.

but  what you really must look after is the sleeve do not bend and make -sure you do not step on it, try and keep it kink free and as straigt as you can.

As for the gas if you use pub gas you will lower the power of the weilder, i got an account with BOC in  the end, but if you do stick to the small bottles have the Gas as low as possible they will last quite a while.

any problem i had with mine was related to the sleeve or gun, in the gun end there is a bit of inner sleeve that is like a curtain wire this gets clogged with wire wear and needs to be changed now and again, but you will not have to worry about it for a while.

The pro ones have euro Sleeves that have a nuckle joint at the weilder and gun end, so just run & run no matter how you treat them, and the wire feed motor is much stronger than a Clark, but if you treat it really well should be ok. i bought a Butters in the end, but had years of use out of the Clark before.