200 - 250amp welders bang for $$

[brighty]

What type of mig welders are the best quality/usability vs $$ in the 200-250 amp range?? I know the more you spend the better quality but just wanted peoples thoughts & experiences as I know there would be plenty of ppl on here with different types.

Yes I have searched but couldn't find the right info I wanted. If someone can point me to a previous topic or post it'd be a great help.

Cheers.

[CWBYUP]

Uni Mig 240 has been good for me.

Just over $1100 with the long leads.

Nick

[familybus]

Migo-Mag 260 with remote head! mmmmmmmmmm i lurv mine, easy to use and reliable for the next 100 years!

[joeblow]

yes...mig-o-mag....x2.

[nastytroll]

we have a 260 mig o mag at work and it is gutless compared to the lincon and WIA. Seems like and OK welder, I dont know how they compare price wise.

[CWBYUP]

Migo-Mag 260 with remote head! mmmmmmmmmm i lurv mine, easy to use and reliable for the next 100 years!

But at what price ?

When i was looking at these I couldn't justify the price but that was a fair few years ago now.

What are they pulling these days ?

[bulldogy]

WIA is the best i have found wxcept an old kempi welder years ago.
Couple of workshops i know use the WIA single phase for almost all there fab work then use the lincons to to the heavy duty stuff CIG are crap mig o mag are ok but WIA seems the best. IMO

[nottie]

For a well priced home unit im for the uni-mig aswell.

[zagan]

What type of mig welders are the best quality/usability vs $$ in the 200-250 amp range??

I know the more you spend the better quality but just wanted peoples thoughts & experiences as I know there would be plenty of ppl on here with different types.

Cheers.

I wouldn't go around buying welders based on price.

Go by what you like in a welder.

You can get a uni-mig single phase for $1000 to $1500 but a Lincoln can cost around $2000 $3000+ grand.

but that doesn't mean a the Lincoln will be better than the uni-mig.

I haven't used many single phase welders myself but I have used a few 3 phase welders WIA 300amp, CIG 330amp, Liquid Arc/Lincoln 280amp to 450amp, and some other old brand welders.

I like the WIA and the CIG brand welders, nice steppings with plenty of wire feed range over a stepping.

I'm currently using a liquid arc welder all day, far too many steppings so the wire feed can't feed to the highest steeping you can set.

The other problem seem to be with the wire feed wheels, using the liquid arc wire it'll slip lol (it's too oily), but using cig or wia wire won't slip.

Also the wheel nut can be over tighten, which can push the lower wire feed wheel in too far and the wire won't line up with the wire groove on the lower wire feed wheel.

anther problem with Lincolns seem to be if your only using them at low settings all the time, you can burn out the ground nut or set up inside the welder and over time will break down and will need to be replaced which costs a bit as this part comes from the USA.

This is a common problem with the Lincoln welders, how you can around this problem is use the welder at high settings for a bit then go back to what ever the low settings are.

I've killed the CIG welder about 3 times, everything has been replaced now.

the CIG wire feed motor can burn out if your using it at very high wire feed/stepping settings, but use at a home should be fine for 99% of the time.

I still like the CIG welder heaps, because the steppings offer a wide range and you can actually get 2 sweet spots (low/high) across the whole wire feed range on the low to mid steepings.

I haven't had any problems with the WIA welders.

The UNI-MIG welders look pretty nice to me, I haven't used them yet.

[bazooked]

single phase lincon, cant go wrong. and just over 1k.

[brighty]

Ok, so I went to a few places around home that stock welders etc... here are the prices I was quoted, but was told by all of them that they could do a slightly better deal if I knew what I wanted.

Not in order of place but just some prices I was given for different units....

Cigweld 220 $1584 inc gst
Cigweld 250 $1782 inc gst
Unimig Pro 210 $1214 inc gst
Unimig Pro 240 $1353 inc gst
WIA 8mm Mig $2140 inc gst

BOC Mig 250C $2200 incl gst (comes with 1st lot of gas(E size), gloves, 15kg wire standard helmet)

Magmate Pro 250 $1750 inc gst (comes with 1st lot of gas(E size), gloves, 15kg wire & standard helmet)

Toolex/Autoplus 250 $1599 inc gst

So my questions are.....
1. What peoples thoughts on comparisons between the units for the money they want?? (I know alot is personal preference, just think that some of you will have a better idea than i would.)
2. Are the welders such as BOC & Toolex/Autoplus rebadged units of other weel known brands??(I wasn't sure if this actually happens with welders.)

Cheers

[Cossie]

Anyone heard much about the ebay cheapies? 250amp for under $700, 200amp for under $400.

They're just chinese jobbies, but are they good enough for occasional home use?

[brighty]

Ok, so I went to a few places around home that stock welders etc... here are the prices I was quoted, but was told by all of them that they could do a slightly better deal if I knew what I wanted.

Not in order of place but just some prices I was given for different units....

Cigweld 220 $1584 inc gst
Cigweld 250 $1782 inc gst
Unimig Pro 210 $1214 inc gst
Unimig Pro 240 $1353 inc gst
WIA 8mm Mig $2140 inc gst

BOC Mig 250C $2200 incl gst (comes with 1st lot of gas(E size), gloves, 15kg wire standard helmet)

Magmate Pro 250 $1750 inc gst (comes with 1st lot of gas(E size), gloves, 15kg wire & standard helmet)

Toolex/Autoplus 250 $1599 inc gst

So my questions are.....
1. What peoples thoughts on comparisons between the units for the money they want?? (I know alot is personal preference, just think that some of you will have a better idea than i would.)
2. Are the welders such as BOC & Toolex/Autoplus rebadged units of other weel known brands??(I wasn't sure if this actually happens with welders.)

Cheers

Any more feedback on this???

Or what about the Magmate welders???

[jessie928]

unimig 240 is great little unit
i woudl highly recoomend it

but if you ask me, get a OLD unit, something with heaps of copper in it, not like the new style welders.
Jes

[sloshy]

I'll vouch for the 240amp uni-mig aswell

[nick bj40]

been keeping an eye on this one and most are on the right track

i am an 4th yr apprentice boilermaker/welder and for day to day use just about anything other than unimig and toolex and real cheapies

but in saying that if you want one to say hey i got a migwelder (which does make alot of the work easyer when it works properly) and its only use is going to be a little crack here or some bars or even bash plates then anythig is going to be beter than nothing BUT please if you spend the hard earned cookies research please.

ask for parts that do need replacing
if u dont know what these are in a rough order,

tips
wire
gas (industrial argoshield is what we use at work) (probly should be the same for any but make sure)
linners
copper gas shields
rollers

they are the basics most wont need these for a long time but u will still need after a while and there is no point in having a cheap mig welder and some rather expensive parts

and trust me some of these are expensive very expesive

[tuff 45]

Just bought a unimig 240 with a roll of wire for $1150 from a shop at Wetherill park NSW.

[zagan]

Ok, so I went to a few places around home that stock welders etc... here are the prices I was quoted, but was told by all of them that they could do a slightly better deal if I knew what I wanted.

Cheers

if you havn't already but simply have a think about what you want to weld then the thickness of the metals and types of metals you want to weld.

I take it would be bullbars/rear bars, maybe some tables for the garage, etc thjis would be mainly mild/stainless steels, say 3mm to 8mm thick.

think about things like that and then go back to the shop with what you come up with and they'll be able to help you out.

As for BOC I havn't seen them really at the welding shop I goto, just Uni-Mig, Liquidarc/lincoln, CIG, SIP, PECO and WIA.

For me I think of CIG and BOC being the same deal, I havn't heard of toolex welders.

240amp will be able to handle 3mm to 6mm steel easy, pushing out to 8mm maybe 10mm as long as you not going nuts on 10mm steel all the time.

[sloshy]

240amp will be able to handle 3mm to 6mm steel easy, pushing out to 8mm maybe 10mm as long as you not going nuts on 10mm steel all the time.

Maybe 10mm

My uni-mig 240 is mostly for home fab work but I do use it a little bit for work like welding 13mm thick C beams/ posts under lifted houses, welds them a piece of piss, gets heaps of good penetration, even upside down and verticals, and I have never had it cut out with too much continuous use.

[Slunnie]

Ok, so I went to a few places around home that stock welders etc... here are the prices I was quoted, but was told by all of them that they could do a slightly better deal if I knew what I wanted.

Not in order of place but just some prices I was given for different units....

Cigweld 220 $1584 inc gst
Cigweld 250 $1782 inc gst
Unimig Pro 210 $1214 inc gst
Unimig Pro 240 $1353 inc gst
WIA 8mm Mig $2140 inc gst

BOC Mig 250C $2200 incl gst (comes with 1st lot of gas(E size), gloves, 15kg wire standard helmet)

Magmate Pro 250 $1750 inc gst (comes with 1st lot of gas(E size), gloves, 15kg wire & standard helmet)

Toolex/Autoplus 250 $1599 inc gst

So my questions are.....
1. What peoples thoughts on comparisons between the units for the money they want?? (I know alot is personal preference, just think that some of you will have a better idea than i would.)
2. Are the welders such as BOC & Toolex/Autoplus rebadged units of other weel known brands??(I wasn't sure if this actually happens with welders.)

Cheers

We run 2x BOC 190 Industrials, which I assume are similar to the 250 apart from the remote feeds. I'm not partilcularly impressed by them to be honest and dont get the reliability of duty cycle out of them which is needed. I understand they are manufactured by Kempi.

We've had a look at the Magmate Pro's and we may give these a run later. They are great in the spec with Euro fittings and excellent duty cycles, but I'm not sure if they're heavy duty enough.

The other one we may give a run is the Air-Liquide for some Aluminium mig work.

[350hplux]

mate ,if you have acess to 3ph power get an old cig transpak 180 . i bought one 20 yrs ago for $300 and they are the grouse . the unimigs are sold by my brother down here and are not a bad machine except for the duty cycle but when fitted with an extra cooling fan and a heavy duty earth lead they are as good as any single phase mig. cheers darin

[bogged]

what did ya get? are ya happy with it?