welders

adamhughes

looking for a welder to do odd jobs around the farm like gates and welding tractor doors, have an inverter stick welder but not good for thin material

is this one any use

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=4337

emaherx

adamhughes wrote: »

looking for a welder to do odd jobs around the farm like gates and welding tractor doors, have an inverter stick welder but not good for thin material

is this one any use

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=4337

It should be OK for thin material, but I'd stick with your inverter welder for the heavier jobs.

But what a bad picture to use to advertise a welder to the impulse buyer DIY'er.


Anyone who might think that's the way to hold a welding shield is going to have a real bad headache.

patsy_mccabe

On a similar note, have you seen the guy forging the rose on the angelus clip. Safety glasses?????

maidhc

I can't claim to have ever used flux core with a mig, but it is supposed to be rubbish.

SuperTortoise

Never heard of that brand and at that price point it couldn't be much cop.

emaherx

SuperTortoise wrote: »

Never heard of that brand and at that price point it couldn't be much cop.

It's Lidls own brand of tools. I don't think the OP is expecting it to perform like a premium brand.

larthehar

adamhughes wrote: »

looking for a welder to do odd jobs around the farm like gates and welding tractor doors, have an inverter stick welder but not good for thin material

is this one any use

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=4337

What thickness stuff are you welding?! I.ve welded up half rotten exhausts with an inverter welder and light rods with no issues..

9935452

emaherx wrote: »

It's Lidls own brand of tools. I don't think the OP is expecting it to perform like a premium brand.

I bought an arc welder there a lng time back for 60 euros saying to myself , how bad can it be .
She would burn 3 3.2mm rods and overheat . Then would overhear after every rod .
If the mig welder was anything like that i would avoid like the plague.

kay 9

Switch the inverter to dc- and it'll make it easier weld lighter material. Still not ideal, so if you're doing a lot of body panels etc I'd recommend a good mig or tig machine.
By any chance is your inverter capable of switching to tig?

st1979

On ebay you will find welder brand called tig might. It's Chinese made sold by Italian company. It's surprisingly decent stuff for the price. My mechanic who knows his welders got one and it can use flux core wire or gas. He just uses it with flux as he has many other more premium brand welders. It would be a little more expensive but worth it. I got one of there plasma cutters for 220 euro and for the money you wouldn't be without

SuperTortoise

As they say cry once when you buy it or cry every time you use it!

gctest50

A nice TIG would be more use around a farm (if you already have a stick welder )

You can get the gas bottles rent-free now

kowtow

Cheap MIG welders are worse than useless, flux core or not, because the wire feed in them is always a disaster, and decent wire feeds cannot be made ultra cheaply because they are ultimately mechanical. Ironically the less good you are at welding the more you need a decent reliable feed, IMO, to make up for your own inexperience.

I threw my cheap MIG in a skip and bought a JASIC inverter & MIG combination which works very well for my limited purposes. Actually the inverter on it is so smooth that you barely need the MIG but when you do it is reliable enough, to my inexperienced eye, to do the job properly. If it has a drawback it is that it isn't quite so portable as a pure inverter, because of the wire feed - but it's a good deal less heavy than the old non-inverter MIGS.

Zr105

If your welding thin stuff use light rods but also check the box as a lot of rods recommend being run electrode negative when being used on dc voltage

cuculainn

Hi,

sorry for reviving an old thread, but i have been looking for a Gasless mig to play around with.

picked this up yesterday against everyones recommendations!!

i spent about an hour last night setting up and did a bit of welding on 2-3 mm steel.

i have to say i was getting decent welds.......much better than what i get on my fathers stick welder......

goin to try some light gauge steel tonight,


could it be possible that these are not as bad as suggested.

for 100 bucks and a 3 year warranty??

one thing i am going to do is get some decent wire

SuperTortoise

cuculainn wrote: »

Hi,

sorry for reviving an old thread, but i have been looking for a Gasless mig to play around with.

picked this up yesterday against everyones recommendations!!

i spent about an hour last night setting up and did a bit of welding on 2-3 mm steel.

i have to say i was getting decent welds.......much better than what i get on my fathers stick welder......

goin to try some light gauge steel tonight,


could it be possible that these are not as bad as suggested.

for 100 bucks and a 3 year warranty??

one thing i am going to do is get some decent wire

which welder did you buy??

cuculainn

SuperTortoise wrote: »

which welder did you buy??

The yoke in lidl this week

SuperTortoise

From what i've been told, gasless flux core is not great, however dual shield i.e wire and gas is the cat's meow, I've only spent a couple of days welding with fluxcore entirely and the machine i was on would be about the price of a new car so not really a fair comparison.

I'm going to buy a stand alone MIG machine in the coming weeks, not going to spend huge money on one it's hard work trawling through hundreds of machines on DD etc to try and find a gem.
Let us know how you get on with that machine, as i said i've never used it but i'm interested to know if it's any good at all.

st1979

cuculainn wrote:

The yoke in lidl this week

I had one and was impressed at first. Then later on it got bad. The wire feed would be erratic. It was the plastic tube that the wire runs through going to the handle. I would say I only used it for 20kg of wire.
Flux core has its place outside of the workshop.
Fairly decent migs can be got for about 600 upwards. But then you need to get a bottle. As well

cuculainn

st1979 wrote: »

I had one and was impressed at first. Then later on it got bad. The wire feed would be erratic. It was the plastic tube that the wire runs through going to the handle. I would say I only used it for 20kg of wire.
Flux core has its place outside of the workshop.
Fairly decent migs can be got for about 600 upwards. But then you need to get a bottle. As well

Can the plastic tube be replaced?

the portability is useful, and i find it easier to use than a stick welder because the torch is closer to the weld.

a sure with the 3 year warranty you cant go wrong, right?;)

also dont know how long a 450g roll of wire lasts, but if it lasts for 40 rolls i think i will have got good use out of it!

st1979

cuculainn wrote:

also dont know how long a 450g roll of wire lasts, but if it lasts for 40 rolls i think i will have got good use out of it!

Yes had a polish lad welding for me at the time and he was quiet happy with welder and he spotted the problem with the plastic tube. He went looking for tube and posted me back some. Unfortunately I was too lazy to bother replacing it. And that was that. If you are doing the very small amounts you say. Then it will do the grandest. The older I get the more welding I am doing and find I enjoy it. Hated it in my 20's
The new inverter welders are very cheap and easy to weld with. And so far mine have been reliable.
I suppose it's like woodwork some find that enjoyable.

cuculainn

st1979 wrote: »

Yes had a polish lad welding for me at the time and he was quiet happy with welder and he spotted the problem with the plastic tube. He went looking for tube and posted me back some. .

I'll be in touch to buy that tubing off you so!!;)

SuperTortoise

cuculainn wrote: »

I'll be in touch to buy that tubing off you so!!;)

It's called a liner!

cycle4fun

st1979 wrote: »

Yes had a polish lad welding for me at the time and he was quiet happy with welder and he spotted the problem with the plastic tube. He went looking for tube and posted me back some. Unfortunately I was too lazy to bother replacing it. And that was that. If you are doing the very small amounts you say. Then it will do the grandest. The older I get the more welding I am doing and find I enjoy it. Hated it in my 20's
The new inverter welders are very cheap and easy to weld with. And so far mine have been reliable.
I suppose it's like woodwork some find that enjoyable.

I find that when things turn out well and everything goes well, its easy to enjoy it.

cuculainn

So after doing some further messing around with this machine some observations

1. welding thin (exhaust thickness) metal is tricky.....but doable as long as there are no rusted areas where it burns through quickly

2. when on low power any inconsistency in the wire feed is really noticeable and annoying!

3. 450g roll of wire doesnt do that much welding!

where do people get their wire......the small rolls (450g) seem to be about 20 quid which is pricey. i wonder would the machine take a 0.9kg roll as they work out cheaper??

anyway it is possible to get decent welds with it, it just takes alot of setting up. i'd say you would always need a practice piece of similar material to start on if you were doing something that needed a good weld first go........with heavy gauge steel it is easier to get the set up right first time

st1979

cuculainn wrote:

where do people get their wire......the small rolls (450g) seem to be about 20 quid which is pricey. i wonder would the machine take a 0.9kg roll as they work out cheaper??

20 quid is very dear. I taught it was a fiver back in lidl when I had mine.

It sounds to me that your getting the welding bug. Be careful now. Next thing you will be getting 3 phase in and 500 amp welder. Oh then a plasma is next. Then a lathe. Then your broke

Reggie.

st1979 wrote: »

20 quid is very dear. I taught it was a fiver back in lidl when I had mine.

It sounds to me that your getting the welding bug. Be careful now. Next thing you will be getting 3 phase in and 500 amp welder. Oh then a plasma is next. Then a lathe. Then your broke

You forgot the overhead crane and steel racks

cuculainn

st1979 wrote: »

20 quid is very dear. I taught it was a fiver back in lidl when I had mine.

It sounds to me that your getting the welding bug. Be careful now. Next thing you will be getting 3 phase in and 500 amp welder. Oh then a plasma is next. Then a lathe. Then your broke

Yeah i have got the bug alright! Wire was 20 quid in halfords and caulfield Ind. Found the wire in a local place for 6 quid. That's more like it......

I have a few small projects that I am going to do that involve welding frames out of box/angle iron....that will test my bug....if I still have the bug I will definitely be looking at upgrading......

delaney001

st1979 wrote: »

20 quid is very dear. I taught it was a fiver back in lidl when I had mine.

It sounds to me that your getting the welding bug. Be careful now. Next thing you will be getting 3 phase in and 500 amp welder. Oh then a plasma is next. Then a lathe. Then your broke

Keeping an eye on lathes here to pick up a decent one. They are shocking money compared to what one can be picked up for in the UK.

cycle4fun

SuperTortoise wrote: »

As they say cry once when you buy it or cry every time you use it!

I paid a bit extra than the Lidl one and got a XTI 200 MMA Inverter. Made by Paraweld. Its genny friendly too. Its grand for light repair jobs, broken fences and gates etc..

cuculainn

So just as a follow up on the old Lidl fcaw welder. I have just used up the role of wire that came with it. Just messing around mainly. I did make a bracket out fairly light pipe, exhaust pipe thickness roughly and it was not pretty. Probably too steep a learning curve for me. It is possible to get a decent bead on thin pipe but it is very easy to blow through also.

Here is a bead I got on the highest power on a jockey wheel hinge....

cuculainn

Here you go.

Second bead was where I ran out of wire

Also main point of me posting was that this machine is an A/C output welder.
Fcaw should really be DCEN which is D/C current with the electrode the negative.

D/C apparently causes much less splatter than A/C.

I think if I had checked this out before hand I would have passed on this. However as you can see from the images it is at least possible to get something that looks like a weld.

TooOldBoots

Reviving an old thread here, anyone get the Lidl Welder, they are back in on the 18th of Feb


How'd ye find em, or would I be better off spending on something else.
I'm not looking to do heavy welding like making up sheds, bit I'd like to be able to do the ad bit of welding on things like gates and light machinery.
I'm not even sure what type of welder this, is it one you can use the sheilding gas with?

cuculainn

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Reviving an old thread here, anyone get the Lidl Welder, they are back in on the 18th of Feb


How'd ye find em, or would I be better off spending on something else.
I'm not looking to do heavy welding like making up sheds, bit I'd like to be able to do the ad bit of welding on things like gates and light machinery.
I'm not even sure what type of welder this, is it one you can use the sheilding gas with?

Don't buy. .. terrible ....I'll give you mine

SuperTortoise

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Reviving an old thread here, anyone get the Lidl Welder, they are back in on the 18th of Feb


How'd ye find em, or would I be better off spending on something else.
I'm not looking to do heavy welding like making up sheds, bit I'd like to be able to do the ad bit of welding on things like gates and light machinery.
I'm not even sure what type of welder this, is it one you can use the sheilding gas with?

Do not buy.

enricoh

I bought the lidl arc welder a few years ago, it'd burn a 2.5mm rod n overheat. Serious patience required!
My shed got broken into a few years later n even the scumbags robbing the place wouldn't touch it!

Reggie.

enricoh wrote: »

I bought the lidl arc welder a few years ago, it'd burn a 2.5mm rod n overheat. Serious patience required!
My shed got broken into a few years later n even the scumbags robbing the place wouldn't touch it!

Dont know if I should laugh at that or not

enricoh

Reggie. wrote: »

Dont know if I should laugh at that or not

I got a wry smile seeing that left behind. I stuck it down on the items list for fbd anyway, so it had some use in the end!

148multi

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Reviving an old thread here, anyone get the Lidl Welder, they are back in on the 18th of Feb


How'd ye find em, or would I be better off spending on something else.
I'm not looking to do heavy welding like making up sheds, bit I'd like to be able to do the ad bit of welding on things like gates and light machinery.
I'm not even sure what type of welder this, is it one you can use the sheilding gas with?

Got the loan of one for welding floor panels in a vehicle, do anything else with your money and it will be well spent.

TooOldBoots

Thanks, I'll keep looking so. Nothing worse than wasting 100 yoyos on a yolk like that when the money could go towards a better welder.
I've enough junk around the place as is

Timmaay

cuculainn wrote: »

Don't buy. .. terrible ....I'll give you mine

One sitting in my shed also that someone gave me to try repair. By far the worst welder I've ever seen in my life. The 50e lidl arc welders are ok as a very 1st introduction to welding if you're on a serious budget, otherwise go out and spend the 200e on a proper brand 160 or 200amp arc welder, and forget about any sort of mig welders unless your planning on doing a massive amount of welding.

timple23

Just wondering is it worth getting this?

SuperTortoise

I have the Evolution version, serious bit of kit for cutting just about anything, cons are it's a pain to cut anything other than at 90°, and you'd want to have it set up with stands or a conveyor type table to take full advantage of it.

Don't know much about that brand or it it's any good, hard to see if it's a carbide blade, if it's not a carbide blade and it's an abrasive disk then forget about them, just for reference i payed about €300 for my evolution with a blade.

Timmaay

timple23 wrote: »

Just wondering is it worth getting this?

I've an Aldi bandsaw, which does a very similar job but no sparks and cleaner cut, however slightly slower cut speed. If you are regularly cutting and need a straight cut any sort of chop or bandsaw is vital in my view, alot cleaner cuts that match up much better and less chance of any sort of blowout or poor welding joints.

johnnyw20

Those Lidl welders are useless. I bought one a couple of years ago. Zero penetration and the wire feed is crap

ArraMusha

I nearly bought one of the LIDL flux cored welders earlier today but after reviewing the above I'm glad I still have the few bob in my back pocket.

I was looking at the Parweld XTS 163 MMA Inverter or the jefferson 140A a few weeks ago as both are DC stick welders and have good reviews.

I'm looking for something to do light work 3mm box iron etc and some stainless now and again. Doors for sheds, light brackets etc.

The only negatives is that for light work like 1mm sheeting I heard that the stick welder can burn holes.....are flux cored welders (good brands) the solution for this?

And the other negative is the extra vat and customs if bought on the UK sites.