just bought a lidl flux core gasless welder for occasional use ..bad idea?

[willywombat64]

Yes I know MIG welders are the way to go and i did in fact do a short course which unfortunately was pretty rubbish as there were too many students but I just fancy being able to do occasional agricultural quality repairs and small fabrications like motorcycle racks etc...nothing fancy /intricate or delicate. I'm not going to be using it much at all so thought a cheap lidl job made sense at £80 but are they really hopeless or quite useful for simple outdoor jobs? I Can always return the unit . Your advice please.
thanks
Bill

[diggermanbob]

To be honest Bill the gas less ones are pretty crap , it's worth paying a bit more and getting a decent one , you certainly won't improve your welding skills with a crap on , sorry to be negative but you do get what you pay for with welders

[AlanHolt]

I've had a gasless mig for the past 20 years, and it still works. I find it useless for thin stuff, but it loves 2mm-5mm steel.

[qcnr]

I'm married to a welder. I think if she saw me using one of those, she would divorce me
after a swift kick in the nuts....

[garyboy]

the gasless ones are, apparently, not so good as the gas ones. I had a gasless one and it was ok, but poor looking results, tho strong. The gas ones are finer.
(the one I had could have a bottle of gas fitted)
I wasn't using mine much, especially as it would overheat very quickly and would cut out after 10 minutes or less.
I sold it for peanuts (as usual) as what I needed could be done by a pro quite cheaply, and storage was awkward and bulky.

a mate had an old (30years+) one and it was HD and fab.

must admit tho that I miss having the welder ... (just-in-case sort of thing)

so .. a cheap one is not going to be very good, I believe, and you have to pay big bucks for a good one ? (several hundreds +)

[willywombat64]

that's the trouble ..is it worth paying out a fair bit for very occasional use ? I do like the idea of crude fabrication projects particularly bike related.

[diggermanbob]

Buy a good one , you won't regret it and as you learn to weld you will be able to admire your work not have to take a grinder to it

[willywombat64]

thought as much ..going to return and bite the bullet with something better . Thanks to all for the advice

[Morph]

I think a cheap arc welder is a better buy.

You can’t weld sheet with it but there isn’t much sheet metal on a bike.

I modified my pannier rack with my stick welder.

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[bond_yzf]

I have a nearly new sip mig welder with stand for sale