Hi I stupidly placed the following message in the Welcome Page and was kindly directed here So here goes I am looking to purchase a Mig Welder and would be grateful for any information regarding this, I am looking for one that can function off 240v and weld up to mabye 5ml with a good duty cycle,i had a suggestion to go for a gas no gas but again im not sure therefore if someone out there in welding land can give me a wee bit of advice i will be truly grateful.
Last time i welded was 30yrs ago with an old arker now retired just want a wee hobby.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Biggest thing to consider is probably the budget.
I wouldn't even consider going down the gasless route, you ideally need to take into account a small cylinder of gas, (possibly rent free, just deposit on the cylinder, and pay for the gas.)
If you are running from a 13a plug, theres not much point in going above about 150-160a
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Portamig, I run 190amp on a 13amp plug at home, ocasionally blow a fuse if you do long runs on a high setting.
Portamig have a decent wire feed, most small hobby migs don't, and are very sporadic. Try to get a lance with a euro fitting, so you can swap lances etc easily.
Like said, don't go gasless unless you are to be welding only outside etc, and look up key gas for rent free cylinders, I payed £100 deposit on a cylinder, full refund if you take it back, and £60 or £70 for a fill of argon cougar 5, that is a industrial size bottle. Do not go down the route of disposible bottles, they do all of about 2 meters worth of run of weld and cost about £10 -£20 dependant on where you go.
The other thing I recomend is a good auto darkening mask, you can get them cheap now on ebay etc, I used to do that, buy a new one every 12 months, worked out fairly good, for the last few years I have had a Speedglass one, highly recomend them, some cheaper ones, some more advanced are dearer etc.
Hope it helps, any questions message me, I am a agricultural engineer by trade, and do quite alot of fabrication work.
and was kindly directed here So here goes 
I am looking to purchase a Mig Welder and would be grateful for any information regarding this, I am looking for one that can function off 240v and weld up to mabye 5ml with a good duty cycle,i had a suggestion to go for a gas no gas but again im not sure therefore if someone out there in welding land can give me a wee bit of advice i will be truly grateful. 