Lightweight Inverter Welders?

[Dougal]

Anyone have any recommendations for either MIG or TIG inverter welders?
I'm looking for something light & portable we can easily carry on the boat, will weld stainless, but one that's NOT going to break the bank
Inverter welders are sort of, out of their infancy, so I'm hoping there's something out there to fit the bill. Don't really know a budget yet.

 

[GHA]

I've been using a clarke AT150 for stainless & mild steel, works a treat. No need for tig or mig for stainless, plain stick is fine though think you can get a tig add on.
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/plasma-cutters-arctig-welders/

But go for it! Really handy, every passage you'll think of another little bracket or something to make. One of the first jobs was welding little Tee bars onto the cooker fiddles instead of those knurled knobs which you can never get tight.

 

[lw395]

Depends what you want to do.
TIG is the way for quality work with stainless.
I've had a few goes and it's way superior to stick welding, but I think the kit I use is about £3k worth.
I think tolerable TIG kit starts at £500 or so? or twice that if you want to do ali, needing AC.
OTOH you can get a pretty respectable stick welding inverter for £150 or so, Parweld is one of the better makes at the value end. Avoid really cheap no-name chinese things.

There is a UK mig welding forum:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/
Also covers other welding.
Very helpful.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Anyone have any recommendations for either MIG or TIG inverter welders?
I'm looking for something light & portable we can easily carry on the boat, will weld stainless, but one that's NOT going to break the bank
Inverter welders are sort of, out of their infancy, so I'm hoping there's something out there to fit the bill. Don't really know a budget yet.

I use a DC inverter welder for both TIG and stick welding of mild ans stainless steel.

For TIG you need gas, I used argon and a TIG touch. When changing from stick to TIG reverse the polarity to get TIG to work.

If you want to weld aluminum you need HF TIG or MIG. I have a friend to do Aluminum if I need any.

Great tool when fixing boats.

 

[Dougal]

Although my welding is usually not very good, its really 'silly money' for mobile welders to come out to jobs in France. I can't really imagine stick welding stainless. Surely its pretty messy?

 

[lw395]

Although my welding is usually not very good, its really 'silly money' for mobile welders to come out to jobs in France. I can't really imagine stick welding stainless. Surely its pretty messy?

Depends on your skill and having the right rods.
Also do you need a high quality structural weld or are you just sticking on something that's not really stressed.

 

[Dougal]

Depends on your skill and having the right rods.
Also do you need a high quality structural weld or are you just sticking on something that's not really stressed.

I thought i 'MIGHT' try my luck fabricating a 25mm S/S tube bridge for some solar panels. Would certainly need some practice first though. Never tried using SS rods in a stick welder before. Maybe i should have a play
Did some reasonable S/S MIG welding a few years ago with 22mm tube.

 

[Graham376]

Although my welding is usually not very good, its really 'silly money' for mobile welders to come out to jobs in France. I can't really imagine stick welding stainless. Surely its pretty messy?

My pulpit was stick welded but not by me or it would have been messy

 

[rogerthebodger]

I thought i 'MIGHT' try my luck fabricating a 25mm S/S tube bridge for some solar panels. Would certainly need some practice first though. Never tried using SS rods in a stick welder before. Maybe i should have a play
Did some reasonable S/S MIG welding a few years ago with 22mm tube.

It does depend on thickness of the base material.

25 mm dia by 1.6 mm thick tube would need lots of skill even with TIG and its too ease to blow a hole right through.

With thin material its must be a close fitting to weld and not blow through.

Thick tube like gas (schedual) tube can be welded easy with stick welding.

The higher the current the easier it is to weld without sticking the electrode when trying to strike the arc but it is also too easy to blow a hold with too much heat.

 

[Freebee]

another shout out for the clarke AT150 with TIg adaptor -its good!

 

[DownWest]

While have quite a few years of stick welding experience (first soap box racer in tube when 11) I find it quite easy to get decent results in SS. 25mm x 2 mm tube, very short runs with 2.5 rods, but keep the gaps tight. But I do now have a TIG set up as it is much tidier.
Almost any decent DC inverter will do TIG, some with HF start (helps a lot) but you need the argon gas. In UK easy to get no rental deals, here not so...

As above, loads of cheap stuff from China, you might be lucky, but not a lot of come back if it goes phutts. I have a plasma cutter, that was medium chineese, quit, but was fixed by a UK firm for not too much and is going great now.
Reality is. Nearly everthing is built there or has components from there. Question is only quality control (i-phone??) which comes out in the price.
Try R-Tech.

 

[PCUK]

Expect to take at least a year to get anywhere with TIG and any type of stainless steel welding will require skill whether it is arc of MIG although MIG is probably the best bet for a beginner with the right wire.