Inverter weldering and welder

[MikeNash]

Dear all,
I've just begun to read about inverter welding and its advantages and I wonder if anyone here knows of it's applicability to the thin materials we have on Morris Minors. And more especially what about the £69.99 machine on offer at Lidl from this Thursday the 11th of May? See here and scroll down in https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offe ... t=DIYTools
They say it goes down to 10 amps - which should be low enough to allow it to weld tin cans!

See also the auto darkening mask. I wouldn't be without one.

What do you think of this welder? Regards, MikeN.

[amgrave]

When I worked in the tool hire trade out of curiosity I tried an Inverter welder and was well impressed. If I remember correctly this one went down to 20 amps and with a 1.6 stick it welded thin sheet steel without blowing holes in it. Seems good for car bodies but you will still have the problem with slag don't forget.

[olderisbetter]

Nice price for an inverter, I know it is not a brand name but very portable.

[Nickol]

I thought it was a bit mean that this welder was available in GB but not here so I checked the Lidl Website. Sure enough the parkside welder is available from today but only online at €59,99 - seems much cheaper for some reason than in GB. roughly speaking about GBP20 - I wonder why?

[amgrave]

It's called profiteering Nickol

[irmscher]

Mike try this site www.mig-welding.co.uk great site and very informative

[olderisbetter]

Pricing across europe varies with many companies but the Uk always seems to have a higher price, I have a regular problem with Screwfix not having offer prices on items that are way cheaper on mainland EU and als Eire.

[firedrake1942]

Nope its called economics. Just wait until the import tariffs start hitting post hard brexit !

[MikeNash]

Putting aside pricing and international economics, has anyone welded the thin materials we see on cars with an inverter welder? My 20+ year old Clarke Pro-90 Mig is still working well (gasless these days) but I wonder if I should make a leap into the future. At this price I'm strongly tempted esp as my other tools bought from Lidl (and Aldi) have performed well.
Such references as Mr Irmscher give are the sort of sites I've turned to but they have little advice that I can find regarding the sort of work we do. So, is anyone using an inverter on the thinner car materials such as we see on a Mog?
Regards, and yours in anticipation, MikeN.

[Nickol]

Placed my on-line order - and especially so since it is advertised on Lidl Ireland at €99,99 !!! Danke Dieter Schwarz!

[olderisbetter]

Online order? i did not see that Lidl had an online order for the UK, That would be good as my local Lidl never has many of the offers in stock.

[amgrave]

As an experiment I have used one to weld together two thin plates to see how it fares. It does very well in that it strikes up easily with no jabbing at the work and gives a nice smooth run of weld. Nice smooth sound while it welds too. I can't remember what setting I had it on but I think it was somewhere between 12 - 15 amps. Not sure how it would fare if you did small half or quarter inch welds every two inches before filling in the gaps taking into account the slag (a welder would know what I mean )

[olderisbetter]

It seems they also have some welding masks for £30 ...

[MikeNash]

Well, I took the plunge and bought one!

It's so light! Didn't need the supermarket trolley. So far I've only opened the box (strong smell of new plastic), assembled it and switched it on. Expected the usual welder purr - but nothing happened except the power light on. Then the cooling fan cut in, so it all seems OK at the moment. I'll let you know how I get on with it.

Regarding costs, I've a Halfords arc welder bought in about 1970 for about £15 which the Bank of England inflation calculator (see here http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/educatio ... fault.aspx) says would be the equivalent of £213 today! I can't believe that! And my Clarke Pro 90 Mig which cost about £110 in 1996 works out on the same calculator as £189 in today's money which compares with the current cost of the latest (and better) Pro 90 at Machine Mart at £228. (See here https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/pro-90-mig-welder/)

So onwards and upwards, MikeN.

[kennatt]

having used arc, mig and gas ,for light car bodied use I would Now only go for mig welding. Try Welding upside down laid on your back with an arc welder ,and you will soon jump back onto the mig(even they are bad enough) when blobs of molten metal run down the stick drop onto your arm or chest ,got the track marks to remind me .

[MikeNash]

A short update.
I've used it to weld some thin "bedframe" type steel angle (for gardening purposes) that are about 2mm thick using E6013 rods of 1.6mm diameter with 40amps dialled in on the machine. Compared with my old transformer arc welder it strikes an arc very quickly, performs very well and doesn't seem to blow holes as much.
Altogether I'm pleased with it, but the I'm surprised how much I've grown to value the low weight and reduced size. At 3.3kilos (just over 7lbs) it sits with all its cables in as box that's 35cm long by 25cm high and 20cm wide (in inches that's 14x25x8) so it lives in on a shelf in the garage rather than up the garden in a shed. This low weight (and so easy access) is a delight compared with the old one which is about 7 times heavier and these days needing a trolley or wheelbarrow to get it out down to the garage to use.
Regards, MikeN.

[Monty-4]

Would this type of welder be suitable for a beginner, or should one go straight to a standard MIG?

[MikeNash]

Monty -4,
At the moment if you're wanting to weld material of car thicknesses I'd say go for the Mig. But I'm not sure how thin a material I can weld on this inverter. In a couple of weeks I hope to have time to report on it.
Regards, MikeN.

[MikeNash]

It's back again from Sunday the 14th of January. See here https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offe ... cleId=9615 I see they claim to weld from 1mm upward i.e. the thicknesses we're interested in.
Regards, MikeN.