Thread: Looking for advise buying welder

I would be looking at a stick welder for a start.
Now comes the dilemma. I reckon that you want easy portability, so that would suggest a DC inverter, however you also want cheap, not a marvellous option when talking inverters. Add a box of 2.5mm E4112 electrodes and a headshield, chipping hammer and gloves and you are set.
I reckon that a minimum spend of around $300 will be required for a reasonable inverter, say 130 Amps, (you will most likely want something that can run of a 10A powerpoint and you will not need more than 130A).
An alternative would be a transformer stick welder or around the same amperage, this would be cheaper, but would sacrifice portability and would be a less versatile machine, not that you need anything too fancy for this application.
Avoid cheap Ebay and hardware store specials and try to stick to better known brands. There are 100 Amp inverters available, but the price savings aren't sufficient to balance the loss in capacity in my book.
I would avoid gasless migs for your application due to their lack of portability and added complexity.

Hi Karl,
Thank you for your reply and advise, Years ago I had a big trans arc stick welder and it was large and heavy, and what you describe is exactly what I am after, now I have some starting point to begin serious looking. Thank's again.
Regards Rod.

BOC makes (well, resells) a good one, a few of us have them. I use mine heaps and it's great for the price.

Thank's for the reply and advise Legion, could you please tell a model number or type of the BOC welder.
Regards Rod.

BOC Smootharc 130. It's got a good duty cycle and runs off a 10A plug. Only thing not to do (as I constantly have to remind myself) - don't pull the plug while it's turned on. I've tripped the main house breaker a couple of times doing so.

I was thinking about chiming in and recommending the same machine, but I thought I'd probably plugged it enough on this forum

Great little welder, and while there may be others that are just as good for the price (or less) none have the same number of endorsements from real-world users.

Cheer's Legion and RustyArc thank you for the information I will get to the BOC shop in Sunshine coast to have a look to purchase.
Regards Rod.

Sometimes they're on sale for about 10% less so you could try to haggle if they're full price.

Thanks for the advise I purchased a MMA130 from BOC yesterday and I have already glued some steel together so hopefully with some practice I will be able to do a half descent Job with it.
Regards Rod.