Sip Migmate 150N

[WillyInBris]

Hi peoples,

Anyone got any info on the above MIG, I brought a 3month old one from a guy at a garage sale for $250 with receipt but didn't come with a manual.

Really had no choice as I scratched it whilst looking at it lol :doh:.

He paid $600 for it new so I thought $250 was steal as he has only used it for a few jobs and hasn't done over 30mins of work all up so he says, he hasn't even used the gas that came with it he said the wire on the spool doesn't require it?

I gave it a go at his place, I couldn't believe how well it worked and should do for what I need it for :).

I don't have any Idea on MIG welding I was looking at getting a cheap gmc arc from bunnies but had herd the MIG was a lot easier to use thats why I decided to grab this one as well as the scratch incident, so any info that anyone has on this MIG would be very helpful settings etc, he said what he did was trial and error and that he pushed it to 6mm with preheating the metal first? I didn't think this was possible with 150amps but then again I have no idea about welding.

I have found a few negative comments on the web but have also found fixes for them and also some good comments but none on this board so I see this as a good thing.

Once again any info would be appreciated the limits etc and what to expect.

Sean

[Grahame Collins]

G day Willyin Bris
The Sip has spartan controls

The rocker switches control the voltage and the rotary dial for the wire feed /amperage.

Keep the gun cable straight and don't let the shroud get bogged up with spatter.

The lowest setting on the rocker combination will be suitable for real thin stuff say 1.6. Set the voltage control first and then dial up the wire until it starts to tune itself (ie run properly)

I had a SIP mig given to me but found it was unsuitable for my purposes.The gas cylinder by my calcs is good for about 8 mins of welding. Sip is a known brand in Europe but sorry,I hate to burst your bubble, but this unit is bottom of the market and may suit light hobby car panel work with gas cover.Without gas maybe 4 or 5mm is the max you can weld.Ask yourself why the man sold after only a few months.
Putit up for sale at $300. so they can knock you back to $275 and spend the money on the GMC stick, honestly it is a better machine.

Basically its the same as any other activity in life ,work out the details of what you might do and buy a machine capable of doing it.One that is value for money, that has a brand name supplier,gives a warranty and can supply parts if needed.

Grahame

[DJ’s Timber]

I agree with Grahame, knew someone who had a bigger one which was 200amps or so and it struggled to weld 3mm square tubing when I used it.

I suspect that it had been worked hard and it just didn't have any guts left. I have heard this a bit, they work good to start with but slowly degrade with use, especially when set on high all the time

[WillyInBris]

G day Willyin Bris
The Sip has spartan controls

The rocker switches control the voltage and the rotary dial for the wire feed /amperage.

Keep the gun cable straight and don't let the shroud get bogged up with spatter.

The lowest setting on the rocker combination will be suitable for real thin stuff say 1.6. Set the voltage control first and then dial up the wire until it starts to tune itself (ie run properly)

I had a SIP mig given to me but found it was unsuitable for my purposes.The gas cylinder by my calcs is good for about 8 mins of welding. Sip is a known brand in Europe but sorry,I hate to burst your bubble, but this unit is bottom of the market and may suit light hobby car panel work with gas cover.Without gas maybe 4 or 5mm is the max you can weld.Ask yourself why the man sold after only a few months.
Putit up for sale at $300. so they can knock you back to $275 and spend the money on the GMC stick, honestly it is a better machine.

Basically its the same as any other activity in life ,work out the details of what you might do and buy a machine capable of doing it.One that is value for money, that has a brand name supplier,gives a warranty and can supply parts if needed.

Grahame

Hi Graham,

The reason for the guy selling is was he is off overseas for work his house was up for sale as well and everything in it nad everything was being sold cheap.

Well if it only does up to 5 mm thats fine with me as I said I found it really easy to use and I will only be using it for light work, Ill play with it a bit more before I get rid of it and see how it plays out over Xmas with what I try to make.

Warranty isn't a problem as I have the receipt cash sale and it and he got it local so all good on that front 2 years warranty all up stated on the documentation.

[Schtoo]

Sounds like the same Mig I have back in Oz.

I loved the thing, and it served me very, very well. It's still going great guns now with a mate who is looking after it for me.

Couple of things though...

It needs a proper gas bottle attached to it. The little bottles are next to worthless, aside from being handy for specific gas mixes for the odd strange job like ally or stainless (if your standard big gas bottle won't do them).

Don't expect it to be anywhere near as good a proper, big unit since it just isn't.

Do know the wire is dead until you pull the trigger, and with a little trigger control, you have pre and post gas flow. This is a very good thing, but you need to know why before it's useful to have. ;)

If the welder is struggling to weld the bit of metal, put it away and find a bigger unit somewhere to do the job.


It is a good little unit, doesn't need much juice and I would give body parts to have it here right now.

Just know that it is not now and never will be a match for the bigger $$$ units. That's ok, since they are cheap and cheerful. Much better than cheap and crap, like much stuff is these days. At the time, I also had access to a 3 phase Hobart machine, so I never had to lean on it very hard. An old buzz box would be a great compliment to one of these for the bigger stuff you will eventually want to weld.

Oh yeah, make sure you can get spare tips, liners, drive bits, etc. That might be the biggest failing, the parts backup might be poor, but I don't know.


Sell it on if you want to, but I wouldn't sell mine. :2tsup:

[Metal Head]

WillyinBris,

I had one at work and even the welding experts agreed it was more use as a door opener - I wouldn't touch that make with a barge pole.

I hope your newer version has improved on their previous models.

MH

[Pulpo]

I also used one a couple years ago, I think that exact model.

Hmm I guess for some odd jobs around the place, it will work, but if I was doing a particular task I would really consider if it was up to the job.

I had quite some trouble with mine, even when I changed the gas over to Argon shield, along with regulators and hoses the tip melted for the welding was just a bit too hot for the task, as I went to replace the tip the bloke suggested replace the entire gun.

If it was still sitting in the shed I would think twice about setting it up to use prefer the stick, would love one of those inverters, even a decent mig but only once a year it would get a work out.

Keep it for 6 months, and see how you go, I have to agree I love using mig compared to stick but not SIP.

Good Luck

Pulpo

[bsrlee]

If he claims that it does not need gas with the wire in the machine, it may be flux cored wire - basically inside out stick electrode. Avoid using it, some of the stuff contains very unhealthy additives and you have no way of finding out if the wire you have is 'safe' to use.

If you decide to keep it, do as Schtoo suggests, get a gas regulator & a real bottle of gas - most of the places that can supply the bottles havve regulators to suit, or go to Hare & Forbes, Gasweld or one of the other trade suppliers for one.

[falcon]

Hi Willy
I have the same / similar welder, mine is a 150N turbo, probably the same. When i bought mine i thought it was a good buy at around $600 for what id use it for (car body and general hobby stuff). Once you fine tune it and learn a good technique, it does the job. For $250, you've done well. Next level up is going to cost $1000+

I agree with comments above and that is get a full size bottle of gas to use. There is a place in Moss St - Peel's - that sell all you need in welding.

A good place to learn more in www.mig-welding.co.uk (http://www.mig-welding.co.uk) . You'll find the manual in there , not that it tells you much, instructions on changing liners, how to videos and a great forum.