Note - I do work with electronics as part of my business – don't start digging around inside your MIG if you aren't experience with this sort of thing. My disregard for warranty isn't something you have to emulate. On the previous page I bitch about the speed control problems. They had to be fixed. Re-capping what I said there.
The SIP migmate series of welders are/were an affordable mig but they suffered from a terrible wire feed.- Mig 3f pcb's 2201240v mk2 pcb 2201240v australian pcb 2201240v mig 3f pcb parts lists appendix 'l safety 10 13 19 20 21 introduction the equipment specifications setting up indicator charts (settings) gasless (settings) starting to weld. Gasless welder 35-100.
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A friend of mine owns one and as I was bored and he wasn't using it he brought it over for some lookin.
There are a few documented mods that they are treated to as can be found on mig-welding.co.uk forum mig-welding.co.uk/forum
To Robs mig i added a 1.5A 24dc power supply as a dedicated wire feed. this would stop the feed stepping up with the welding voltage and varying under load.
| lifted from mig-welding.co.uk |
Also a relay to trigger it was connected to operate simultaneously with the welding current transformer. This is also arranged in such a way to short out the motor to stop it dead, over-running being oner of the little migs issues.I zip tied it to the heat sink on the card.
Robs SIP has a metal feeder liner not the plastic one so that doesnt need upgrading. I would like to change the gas hose to accept a normal gas regulator and brace the wire feed rollers together as they do spread slightly when tensioning but Rob wants his mig back!
until the next one
Chewie
These two MIG welders are ideal hobby welders and can weld using gas or in gasless mode. The SIP Migmate T166 can weld from 0.7 to 6.2mm. For many welding jobs, gasless is fine but for jobs where the weld will be highly visible or where you need to weld very thin, welding with gas is superior.
What you get with the MIG Welder
Both welders come with the following:
- 0.45 kg roll of flux cored wire for gasless welding.
- a 0.6 & a 0.8mm tips
- 0.6 & a 0.8mm Serrated Guide Roller
- Starter Welding Mask
- Wire Brush with Chipping Hammer
- Mobility Wheel Kit
- Integral 3.0m MIG Torch
- 3.0m Earth Clamp
Setting Up a SIP Migmate Gasless MIG Welder
The welders come pretty much ready to go out of the box in gasless mode.
- There is already a roll of flux cored wire in the welder. Tighten the tension nut so that it offers a small amount of turning friction. Not so tight so as to overload the wire feed motor when it needs to starts feeding the wire.
- Remove the protective plastic wrapper from the roll of wire already in the welder. Use your 3 hands so it dose not unravel.
- Press the roller release lever up and swing it out and let the lower roller fall away downwards.
- Pull the welding wire and feed it into the wire guide tube passing it under the top roller.
- With a little upward pressure from your finger guide the wire into wire feed tube into the MIG torch.
- You may feed it by hand all the way through and out through the torch head.
- Swing the lower roller back into place.
- Pressing and holding the MIG torch trigger should feed the wire continuously.
- On the roller release lever there is a screw for adjusting the roller pressure on the wire.
- Tighten it so as the wire feeds continuously and consistently.
Making Your First Weld
If you have welded before, you know what to do. If you have not, here is a short guide to get you going. Just enough to give you a taste. We are not going to weld anything together, just do some spot welds and run a few beads on a piece of scrap metal. Once you can do these reasonably you will be comfortable attempting more difficult projects.
- Get a piece of scrap metal about 3 to 4 mm thick.
- For MIG welding you need to clean the metal to welded quite thoroughly. Use a flap sander or a wire brush to clean it up to bare metal.
- For metal with oil on it use a cloth and thinners to clean it if the sanding has done a good job.
- Shiny metal is good, rusty and oily metal is bad for MIG welding.
- Attach the earth clamp to the object that is to be welded. (clean bare metal again)
- Set the weld on power setting 3 and the wire speed half way.
- With a side nip pliers nip the flux cored wire off flush with shroud of the MG torch.
- Get your welding gloves on make sure your arms are covered.
Now for a little welding. We are going to do a spot weld first. Position the tip of your MIG welding torch about 2 to 3 mm above the metal and at about 45 degrees. With the mask shield held in place and no one else around press the trigger on your torch. Once you hear the weld start count “one thousand and one, one thousand and two” and release the trigger.
This gives about a two second weld which is the proper length for a spot weld. It allows the weld to get hot enough to weld properly to the metal. If you burnt a hole in the metal the power was to high. You should see a ring of discoloration around the spot weld in the metal. If you do not get the discoloration ring then raise the power setting and go again.
That cut in the picture was put in after with a band saw so that the strength of this small weld could be demonstrated. Continue to practice these until you consistently get a nice spot weld. Try some very close to the edge. Does it burn through? Lower the power a little. Try it on a thicker piece of metal. Don’t forget to clean it properly. Have you to raise the power much? Again, do some spot welds along the edge. Now try to run a 2 centimeter long bead.
Sip Migmate 100 Mig Welder Wire
Will a little practice you will get the speed that you move the torch right. Are you getting the discoloration all along the weld? If you do not have the discoloration you will not have a strong penetrating weld.
What is MIG Welding?
Sip Migmate 100 Manual
We have another article in which we explain how MIG welding works which might add a little light to you progression. If you would like to contribute an article to this blog please submit it to us through the contact link. We would love to hear from you!