Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.

Looks very similar to this one from last year

https://www.offerscheck.org/parkside...6/kw-18/285568

Doesn't come with any rods, so not been able to try it yet, but found
this video of one which looks quite similar, which seems to work rather
nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VLk49_k5F0

Of course that could be down to the skill of the user! Will report when
I have tried mine.

"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.

Looks very similar to this one from last year

https://www.offerscheck.org/parkside...6/kw-18/285568

Doesn't come with any rods, so not been able to try it yet, but found this
video of one which looks quite similar, which seems to work rather nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VLk49_k5F0

Of course that could be down to the skill of the user!

Yeah, bet it is. I taught myself with one of the 1970s
massive great transformer based stick welders in the
very early 70s and can do the slotted dexion square black
tubing that plenty of the pros claim can't be stick welded.

And then discover the roof racks that a mate of mine made
for his landrover using 25mm RHS which has much thicker
walls than the dexion tubing. What an obscene abortion.

He used to be a farmer too, very agricultural racks indeed.

Will report when I have tried mine.

I must get one, much more conveniently portable than
the massive great transformer based one I still have.
Been watching for them at the garage sales but they
dont last long and a mate of mine grabbed on just
before I noticed it.

On 26/08/2017 21:01, newshound wrote:
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.

Looks very similar to this one from last year

https://www.offerscheck.org/parkside...6/kw-18/285568

Doesn't come with any rods, so not been able to try it yet, but found
this video of one which looks quite similar, which seems to work rather
nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VLk49_k5F0

Of course that could be down to the skill of the user! Will report when
I have tried mine.

Welding rods arrived today, just had a quick play. Can confirm it is
easy to strike and hold an arc, not much problem with sticking after
playing with current settings. I'm not going to post any photos yet, but
able to form a strong butt weld between two bits of dexion without
blowing holes in it.

Cables and fittings all seem good quality and long enough for
convenience of use. Only tried 1.6 and 2 mm rods, will have to hunt
around for some heavier scrap to try the 3 mm.

If it continues to go well I will be tempted to invest in small TIG kit
(I already have "disposable" gas for the MIG).

Pretty impressed, really.

On 26/08/2017 21:01, newshound wrote:
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.


And a portable generator just in case the lights go out

On 01/09/2017 19:39, GB wrote:
On 26/08/2017 21:01, newshound wrote:
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.


And a portable generator just in case the lights go out

Already got one. They havn't had the wet suits from Japan yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7jyXCQ2Zc

On 01/09/2017 18:25, newshound wrote:
On 26/08/2017 21:01, newshound wrote:
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.

Looks very similar to this one from last year

https://www.offerscheck.org/parkside...6/kw-18/285568


Doesn't come with any rods, so not been able to try it yet, but found
this video of one which looks quite similar, which seems to work
rather nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VLk49_k5F0

Of course that could be down to the skill of the user! Will report
when I have tried mine.

Welding rods arrived today, just had a quick play. Can confirm it is
easy to strike and hold an arc, not much problem with sticking after
playing with current settings. I'm not going to post any photos yet, but
able to form a strong butt weld between two bits of dexion without
blowing holes in it.

Cables and fittings all seem good quality and long enough for
convenience of use. Only tried 1.6 and 2 mm rods, will have to hunt
around for some heavier scrap to try the 3 mm.

If it continues to go well I will be tempted to invest in small TIG kit
(I already have "disposable" gas for the MIG).

Pretty impressed, really.

That's interesting. Is this like a standard arc welder but using an
inverter rather than a socking great transformer (so much smaller and
lighter)?

On 01/09/2017 20:25, wrote:
On 01/09/2017 18:25, newshound wrote:
On 26/08/2017 21:01, newshound wrote:
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.

Looks very similar to this one from last year

https://www.offerscheck.org/parkside...6/kw-18/285568


Doesn't come with any rods, so not been able to try it yet, but found
this video of one which looks quite similar, which seems to work
rather nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VLk49_k5F0

Of course that could be down to the skill of the user! Will report
when I have tried mine.

Welding rods arrived today, just had a quick play. Can confirm it is
easy to strike and hold an arc, not much problem with sticking after
playing with current settings. I'm not going to post any photos yet,
but able to form a strong butt weld between two bits of dexion without
blowing holes in it.

Cables and fittings all seem good quality and long enough for
convenience of use. Only tried 1.6 and 2 mm rods, will have to hunt
around for some heavier scrap to try the 3 mm.

If it continues to go well I will be tempted to invest in small TIG
kit (I already have "disposable" gas for the MIG).

Pretty impressed, really.

That's interesting. Is this like a standard arc welder but using an
inverter rather than a socking great transformer (so much smaller and
lighter)?

Yes. It's not much bigger than a toaster, weighs I suppose about 3 kg. I
think it goes up to 90 amps, claims to do 3 mm rod. Runs off 13A socket.

I inherited a traditional transformer one some years ago, still ran off
13A but weighed at least 20 kg. I think it came with 4 mm rods but I
could never sustain an arc, and I gave it away.

On 01/09/2017 22:28, newshound wrote:


Yes. It's not much bigger than a toaster, weighs I suppose about 3 kg. I
think it goes up to 90 amps, claims to do 3 mm rod. Runs off 13A socket.

I inherited a traditional transformer one some years ago, still ran off
13A but weighed at least 20 kg. I think it came with 4 mm rods but I
could never sustain an arc, and I gave it away.


Could it be that being an inverter that the output frequency is a lot
higher than 50Hz? I remember seeing a TV program some time back where
to weld certain materials more reliably they required 'specialised'
equipment and then went on to state that the equipment welded at a
higher frequency.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 02/09/17 09:56, alan_m wrote:
On 01/09/2017 22:28, newshound wrote:


Yes. It's not much bigger than a toaster, weighs I suppose about 3 kg.
I think it goes up to 90 amps, claims to do 3 mm rod. Runs off 13A
socket.

I inherited a traditional transformer one some years ago, still ran
off 13A but weighed at least 20 kg. I think it came with 4 mm rods but
I could never sustain an arc, and I gave it away.


Could it be that being an inverter that the output frequency is a lot
higher than 50Hz? I remember seeing a TV program some time back where
to weld certain materials more reliably they required 'specialised'
equipment and then went on to state that the equipment welded at a
higher frequency.

YIOu n3eed in practical terms some sort of step down transformer to done
coincvert te volts and upconvert te amps.

Running it at higher frequencies means its smaller.

The limitng factroir of a transformer (as I tried to explain to that
**** Clive Sincliar before he constructively dismissed me) is that the
amount of power you can get through one is the amount of energy you can
store in its magnetic field times the frequency of operation, and by
going higher in frequency you can push more power through or have a
smaller, transformer.

(In the case of Clives hallucinatory product, the core size was fixed by
his meanness, and the frequency was fixed by the TV line scan frequency,
so there was nothing to be done really. He of course was in denial that
he could be wrong about anything so that was that.)

--
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will
eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such
time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic
and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally
important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for
the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the
truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

Joseph Goebbels

On 01/09/2017 19:53, newshound wrote:
On 01/09/2017 19:39, GB wrote:
On 26/08/2017 21:01, newshound wrote:
Dropped into Lidl today for breakfast cereal and couldn't resist the
little 70 pound inverter welder.


And a portable generator just in case the lights go out

Already got one. They havn't had the wet suits from Japan yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7jyXCQ2Zc


They had those in tesco the other day. Rather cheap, too.

On 02/09/2017 09:56, alan_m wrote:
On 01/09/2017 22:28, newshound wrote:


Yes. It's not much bigger than a toaster, weighs I suppose about 3 kg.
I think it goes up to 90 amps, claims to do 3 mm rod. Runs off 13A
socket.

I inherited a traditional transformer one some years ago, still ran
off 13A but weighed at least 20 kg. I think it came with 4 mm rods but
I could never sustain an arc, and I gave it away.


Could it be that being an inverter that the output frequency is a lot
higher than 50Hz?Â* I remember seeing a TV program some time back where
to weld certain materials more reliably they required 'specialised'
equipment and then went on to state that the equipment welded at a
higher frequency.


Inverter welders, whether stick or TIG, provide DC to the arc. I guess
that inside them they have a meaty switched mode power supply, i.e. with
an oscillator running at higher than mains frequency which means that
you need less iron and copper in the transformer, and hence less weight.

Professional TIG welders have an additional high frequency supply which
helps to initiate the arc, without this you have to "scratch" to start.

Plenty on the web about AC and DC welding.