MIG Welders

MIG WELDING EQUIPMENT

MIG welders are ideal for welding from a variety of awkward positions. MIGs require less operator skill and longer welds can be made without stopping and starting. There is also minimal cleaning required afterwards.

Shielding gas makes the arc plasma and stabilizes the arc on the metal that is being welded, which heats the workpiece metal(s), causing them to melt, and join.

Along with the wire electrode, a shielding gas feeds through the welding gun, which shields the process from contaminants in the air. The process can be semi-automatic or automatic. A constant voltage, direct current power source is most commonly used , but constant current systems, as well as alternating current, can be used.

Originally developed for welding aluminum and other non-ferrous materials but can also be applied to steels because it provides faster welding time compared to other welding processes. It is the most common industrial welding process, preferred for its versatility, speed and the relative ease of adapting the process to robotic automation.

With the advent of pulsed MIG welding, smart appearing welds are now possible on aluminium metals.  If you are looking to do any amount of Aluminium MIG welding please check out the Jasic 350P and Cebora pulsed MIG welders.

CHOOSING A MIG WELDER

A few questions to ask yourself when considering purchasing a new MIG welder:

• What power supply do you have available?

If you have a 13A standard domestic 230V plug, the limitation to the amperage of the machine you can use will be due to your power supply. The higher the amperage of the machine, the bigger mains input supply it will require.
Most industrial welding power sources will ideally run from a 32A 230v power supply. Bigger machines will generally need a 3 phase 400V mains supply.  Oxford and TecArc have a large range of high amperage switched MIG sets running from single phase.  However, it is important that your 230V power supply is large enough to power these bigger machines.

• Which thickness of material will you be welding?

The thickness of material being welded will determine the amperage to be used. If in doubt, feel free to ask or check out an online weld calculator, which can be helpful for settings to start with.

• Synergic or Non Synergic

Synergic MIG welders are really easy to set up.  Tell the machine what material type you are welding, the thickness of wire and parent material and the gas you are using and the machine will set itself up.  This is mostly beneficial in the case of pulsed MIG sets where the machine is able to set the pulse parameters which may otherwise be a bit tricky to dial in.

Some welders prefer being able to set up the machine themselves.  A standard MIG set allows this.  Some even have a settings chart on the inside of the wire feeder door to give some example settings.

• Amperage Range

Its worth looking at this, especially if welding thinner material.  Thinner materials will require a lower amperage to prevent burn through and warping of the material.  Cheaper MIG welders are a good example, where the lowest amperage available is quite high.  Their voltage steps may be harsh, so dialling in the right setting can be tricky and make the welding process more difficult.

• Duty cycle:

True of any welding machine, the power source will be assigned a duty cycle. This is the percentage of time in which it will weld at a given amperage before needing to cool down. This percentage is usually out of 10 minutes. For example 120A @ 60% tells us you can weld for 6 minutes out of 10, at 120A before it would need to cool down.

NOTE: Quality of the welding machine generally has an effect on duty cycle. Cheaper welders tend to have very low duty cycles – one to watch out for!

TBWS are also able to supply a whole host of other brands not featured on the site.  Please call if you have a specific model/brand in mind.  We are also able to supply consumables, PPE etc.