Aldi Arc Welder

FX Meister

Looking at this Aldi Arc Welder, http://www.aldi.ie/special_buys/productnl_387.html

Anyone have any ideas whether it is any good. I don't really need it but figure it may be handy for something in the future and it's only €60 anyway. So any thoughts on this thing?

Do-more

Don't know about the arc welder, but I bought the 18v cordless drill a few months back and now need to return it! Went at screwing down some sheets of ply at the week end and low speed gear gave out on it!

FX Meister

I've bought some stuff from both them and lidl before. Namely a mitre saw, circular saw, two sanders and a wall chaser. Wall chaser yet to see use. Both sanders have more than paid for themselves. Used circ saw and mitre saw a bit and they haven't been too bad.

JohnBoy

my personal view on them is the corded stuff is good, but i'd avoid the cordless, it's just not possible to do good cordless tools that cheap, good batteries cost, plain and simple.

as to the welder.... for light use i'd say it should be just fine. especially at that price

people always talk about duty cycles on welders. the duty cylce is how long you can constantly weld for basically, but the reality is for most hobby uses you'll not have a problem except for on the highest setting, and if that unit actually puts out 145 amps you wont need the highest setting too often.

I'd buy it (were it not for the fact that i have 2 welders already)

99nsr125

Bought the Aldi Arc Welder, works well with good rods.
My Sealey DC Inverter is off being repaired.

Have welded up some box section, gates and 3mm plate.

Good bits, basic AC buzz box should be as reliable as a stone
Okay gloves, good cables. Works well with proper rods (Electroweld etc)

Bad bits, Included shield is bad if not terrible, chipping hammer brush
combi is fairly basic but useable, electrode holder is that crap (to use but 100% functional) old style one
but can be changed to proper modern one real easy.
Included rods are terrible, they're damp and even when dried out they don't start well and drop the arc.

All-in-all, very good value for money and a much better purchase than a cheap chinese DC arc which
will fail and end up being used as a door stop
because no bits are available and the warranty turns out to be rubbish.

mickdw

I have one of these bought in Lidl or aldi. €56 last year I think I paid. Now Im no welder but it works fine for the odd bits that I do. Best to get a dedicated plug set up for any welder. I got one in the shed with a strong core cable straight from the fuse board and fitted it with the proper plug.

99nsr125

99nsr125 wrote: »

Bought the Aldi Arc Welder, works well with good rods.
My Sealey DC Inverter is off being repaired.

Have welded up some box section, gates and 3mm plate.

Good bits, basic AC buzz box should be as reliable as a stone
Okay gloves, good cables. Works well with proper rods (Electroweld etc)

Bad bits, Included shield is bad if not terrible, chipping hammer brush
combi is fairly basic but useable, electrode holder is that crap (to use but 100% functional) old style one
but can be changed to proper modern one real easy.
Included rods are terrible, they're damp and even when dried out they don't start well and drop the arc.

All-in-all, very good value for money and a much better purchase than a cheap chinese DC arc which
will fail and end up being used as a door stop
because no bits are available and the warranty turns out to be rubbish.

This offer has come around again,

Should've included in the above post the first time I acually put it on a 16 amp
round plug and it's connected back to a 25amp MCB (Circuit breaker)
in the Consumer Unit (This is normally the dedicated line for the compressor),
that's good enough for a 3.2mm rod at 120 amps or thereabouts. Trips out sometimes.

If you've put a 13 amp plug on it, turn it on at low amps and let it warm up and it'll run 2.5mm
rods at 90 amps or thereabouts with occasional trips.

I still have it, I still think it's very good value for money,
it still works and I still like it.

Buford T Justice

Change your MCB for a C rated one. Should help a bit with the tripping

99nsr125

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Change your MCB for a C rated one. Should help a bit with the tripping

The MCB is C rated for motor/inductive loads.

The welder really should have a 32 amp plug and a 40 amp C/D MCB but that'd only be neccesary
if you turned it on at max amps and weld from cold with a 4mm rod
and very few people ever weld with a 4 mm rod and even a 3.2 is strictly not
neccesary most of the time.

I use the Arc as a back up/loaner and normally use a DC Inverter which has a 13 amp plug, pulls
about 3kw and will weld from a 50m extension cable connected back to a ring main.

martinpe

found it fantastic, made a gate using this welder with boxed steel.