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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Coonabarabran
    Posts
    2

    Default Cigweld Weldskill 135

    Hi all. I'm looking to purchase a welder for general work around the farm including minor repair jobs (no dozer blades) and mostly welding stay tubing to strainer posts. The posts are gal 4mm thick and the stays to be welded onto them are I think 3mm thick.
    I have looked at the Cigweld Weldskill 135 gasless mig and was after some opinion as to whether this is big enough. Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    1,656

    Default

    I am no expert although I would choose a stick welder for that task such as Cigweld Weldskill 170 inverter

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia.
    Posts
    8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ziff44 View Post
    Hi all. I'm looking to purchase a welder for general work around the farm including minor repair jobs (no dozer blades) and mostly welding stay tubing to strainer posts. The posts are gal 4mm thick and the stays to be welded onto them are I think 3mm thick.
    I have looked at the Cigweld Weldskill 135 gasless mig and was after some opinion as to whether this is big enough. Thanks.
    Yep, not a problem, they will weld 6mm plate quite satisfactorily. These new inverter welders are great.
    I've got an old CIG Transmig 130 twin (non-inverter) that I picked up for $150 about 3 or 4 years ago, and it works very well for the smaller jobs (it's identical to the one in this blokes blog below).

    Bodger's Paradise: Cigweld Transmig 130 twin- Repair

    Be aware that duty cycle is an important word in the welders lexicon. The duty cycle of the smaller and the cheaper welders is often only around 25% to 30%. That means you can't weld non-stop for half an hour.
    They heat up pretty rapidly with heavy work, and they need frequent rests to cool down. Having said that, the inverter welders seem to have a better duty cycle than the old transformer style welders.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
    Age
    59
    Posts
    6,542

    Default

    You might struggle - the rule of thumb that is generally quoted for stick & TIG is 40A per mm. Not sure how that translates to MIG (which is constant current not constant voltage) but a 135 machine sounds like it might run out of puff. I'm assuming here that a 135 MIG and a 135 stick machine would have roughly the same capacity - happy to be corrected if wrong. The other thing to remember with outside work is the wind. More heat is going to be needed to counteract the cooling effect of the wind - so if you live in a place where there is usually a bit of breeze around, a larger unit may be a better move so you have some reserve capacity.

    Michael

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    Hi,
    As a farmer, you will know that all welding can't be performed in the shed. Consequently, that means at least some of your welding will be away from the grid power and run off a generator. Be careful of running what ever you buy from a generator that is not suitable for your welding machine. Its quite possible to burn up one or both units.

    Secondly, MIchael is correct in that the machine is too small. The machine is ok for a shed but not big or robust enough to run outside. When it eventually blows up it is not cost efficient to repair. It is cheaper to bin it and buy another.

    Your original choice of the flux core unit will find you tearing your hair out when the wire drive system plays up. They are good idea in their industrial heavy use format - big machines driving 2.4 and 3.2mm wires- but a stupid marketing gimmick in .9mm mm wire driven by a toy - for the unfortunate eventual buyer. The wire drive assembly is made from a plastic and in my opinion does not hold up well to the rigors of use.
    Old Cigwelds were not bad machines but anything in the last decade will likely be a re badged something else- not made by Cigweld or Miller as many of the oldies were.

    A 170 amp DC machine will be more suited in the long as there will be always something bigger to weld.

    Grahame

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Coonabarabran
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Thanks very much for the help guys. I definitely don't want to waste money on something that won't do the job. Much appreciated.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    1,322

    Default

    If you're willing to consider stick, in my opinion, having done plenty of farm welding both in the shed and on the end of 100m of extension cords, a 130A lunchbox inverter is a great option (I've used a BOC Smootharc 130 for donkey's years).

    If you prefer MIG, I used a UniMIG 165 MIG/Stick combo machine with 0.8mm gasless wire to weld up all the brackets and fixtures for a 4m high netting structure that covers about a hectare of apple trees. That had 1.6mm wall gal SHS connections to 5mm plate, 4mm chain loops to both thin and thick section and bunch of other joints that would have been a real challenge with stick (particularly given my skill level). Welder and wire performed great, welds just required a swipe with a wire brush to clean off the powdery slag and a quick squirt of cold gal and it was done.

    That structure, built, apparently, with a "toy" has held up to high winds and hail storms just fine, without a single failed weld.

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