Thread: Recommendations for Small Stick Welder

Originally Posted by foccacia

Hi all
I know that this question has been asked before but does anyone have a recommendation for a small stick welder. It will only be welding up to 6mm. I have a small gasless MIG but it spatters. Any positive suggestions would be appreciated.

This is a bit of a price dependent question Foccacia (in other words it depends on how much bread you have ). This is what I use and can fully recommend, but you may not want to pay so much (around $1150).

Electrode Welding Machines with VRD Safety - Minarc 150 VRD

I bought a welder from Gasweld some years ago. It is good for140amps and is quite happy to lay down a heavy weld with a10 gauge rod, after rod after rod. When looking check out the duty cycle when comparing models. In the past I have used a CIG handyman welder which was great if you wanted to drink tea while you were waiitng for the thermal overload built into the machine to turn back on.
This 140amp Toolmac has done some pretty heavy welds over a long period and never got hot enough to bring in the overload. The salesman actually commented on that fact when he sold it to me. The only thing that was not good about the machine (and most "handy man" welders) is the leads are a little light and way to short. But that can easily be fixed by buying longer and heavier leads.
I would suggest you spend some time doing some home work looking at whats on offer

Originally Posted by chambezio

. . . . The only thing that was not good about the machine (and most "handy man" welders) is the leads are a little light and way to short. But that can easily be fixed by buying longer and heavier leads. . . .

Over the last 30 years I have owned/used a variety of cheap (ie $100 - $200 welders) and the length and quality of the leads, electrode holder and earth clamp have been dogs on all of them. After getting frustrated with these items, about 5 years ago I spent almost as much replacing them, on my latest cheap welder as I did on the welder itself, but nothing could fix the crappy duty cycle - 4 continuous rods and the it was cuppa coffee time.

Recently I obtained a CEA Rainbow 150 welder on a more or less permanent loan I can now see the difference between them is chalk and cheese. The Rainbow is a fantastic little machine but it does cost ~$1000, but maybe you don't quite need to spend that much.

In a thread where I asked about the Rainbow there is a link to a review of 13 welders which could help you out.

BOC 130A inverter. $360 at your local BOC gas & gear.
Second best could be a Cigweld 130A toolbox inverter with less duty cycle though.

Originally Posted by distractor

BOC 130A inverter. $360 at your local BOC gas & gear.

+1 for the BOC Smootharc 130 - I've had one for years and have never heard a bad thing about it.

Note that for 6mm section, if not welding both sides you are going to want a bevel or root gap to get full penetration.

I have cig weld skill 170 which does all I have needed it to however if I was buying it again I would probably go with the 130 simply for the fact that I has a ten amp plug rather than a 15. Finding a fifteen amp socket is not always practical. I haven't used one but they probably handle a 1/8" rod ok.
Ben

Originally Posted by 1canetoad

...for the fact that I has a ten amp plug rather than a 15. Finding a fifteen amp socket is not always practical.
Ben

Ya file the earth pin down to suit the 10amp outlet, works a treat. Thats what I did to my welder and never had an issue... but now I do have a 15amp out let and it still works a treat.

Originally Posted by rod1949

Ya file the earth pin down to suit the 10amp outlet, works a treat. Thats what I did to my welder and never had an issue... but now I do have a 15amp out let and it still works a treat.

I can't believe that there still people out there that not only does this but also admit to it in a public forum.

No more filed down pins for me:



Cheers

Justin

Originally Posted by AxelVK

I can't believe that there still people out there that not only does this but also admit to it in a public forum.

Meh. It's been shown that 15A outlets typically have the same capacity connections as 10A outlets, and that the wiring to any 10A outlet is protected against overheating by the breaker in the switchboard (a fundamental of our wiring scheme). The use of a dedicated 15A outlet seems to be more about avoiding nuisance tripping than safety as such.

That said, anyone who does this must do so realising the risks involved, the most likely being that the 10A outlet might be some dodgy Chinese version used by the sparky to save money, and you might someday be in the situation where you finish a long weld only to see the wall outlet smoking and burst into flame. There's also the risk that poor terminations behind an outlet might overheat, leading to a fire inside the wall cavity.

My conclusion? If you're going to do this, be aware of the risks and have a fire extinguisher at hand. In fact, if you're doing any kind of welding, or if you have any kind of workshop, make sure you have a dry powder or CO2 extinguisher nearby.

I don't know about the safety side of it but I know the sparky who tags my tools every 3 months wouldn't tag it with a filed down earth pin.
Ben

A 15A outlet is dedicated so you'll know that the wiring won't catch alight, that is what the breaker is for. There will be nothing but your welder on that circuit. That is if its wired properly but there are probably people out there who simply replace a 10A outlet with a 15A on a shared circuit. The same type of brainiacs who file the earth pin.
I can't be bothered arguing about it, its been explained numerous times here before and I still come across people who say "I've filed the earth pin for years and I've never burnt down any houses yet".
Oh yeah, smoking doesn't affect your health either BTW.

Originally Posted by RustyArc

Meh. It's been shown that 15A outlets typically have the same capacity connections as 10A outlets, and that the wiring to any 10A outlet is protected against overheating by the breaker in the switchboard (a fundamental of our wiring scheme). The use of a dedicated 15A outlet seems to be more about avoiding nuisance tripping than safety as such.

That said, anyone who does this must do so realising the risks involved, the most likely being that the 10A outlet might be some dodgy Chinese version used by the sparky to save money, and you might someday be in the situation where you finish a long weld only to see the wall outlet smoking and burst into flame. There's also the risk that poor terminations behind an outlet might overheat, leading to a fire inside the wall cavity.

My conclusion? If you're going to do this, be aware of the risks and have a fire extinguisher at hand. In fact, if you're doing any kind of welding, or if you have any kind of workshop, make sure you have a dry powder or CO2 extinguisher nearby.

Hi Rusty,

Spot on, I would also like to add that the issue is more of a concern when plugging into an extension cord. A 10 amp extension cord is typically made with 0.75mm^2 - 1.0mm^2 conductors. A 10A GPO has a 2.5mm^2 conductor going into it. Filing the earth pin down enables use on extension cords never designed to handle the currents drawn by a 15A plugged welder and a fire is almost certain in some circumstances.

Regards
Pete (Tokentools Welding)

Jeez a few of you got off you bikes here eh. I did this in 1987, and you know what else I ran power through a 10amp extension lead for about 30 metres (from the builder pole to the house site). Like I said nothing happened. The welder still welds and I still use the welder. Its such a beautiful unit to use.