Hi John, just bought my first mig welder, Viper 185, and found this video. I've been an oxy-acet welder and I'm wanting to teach myself mig, so I found your info on setting up very helpful, not knowing anything about migs. Really appreciate this video and keep up the good work.
I’ve used some bigger unimig welders in the past and always had a good run with them. I bought this same kit a while back and it was great straight out of the box. Excellent unit for the money!
Yes mine is going good when I got it I had a big job on and I had it going every day for 3 months probably more work than a home handy man would do in ten years. John
unimigs are pretty good welders, back in the day they were great migs for panel beaters they could be turned down really low and still weld great really good for car panels used one for years gave up after being used everyday for over 20 years
Yeah I havn't had mine for that long but it gets a work out on a regular basis. With the wet coming up it will pretty much go every day in the first few months of 2022. John
Bought unimig 210 a while back but havent used it yet. This video is a great introduction and gives me a bit more confidence to have a go at it. Thanks very much
Great review. I bought this welder a while back, good to see that you give it a good rap. Looking forward to doing a few jobs with it. Will see how the change from stick welding goes. Thanks for the review.
Awesome walk through of this welder! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I’ve just bought this one and your intro was helpful 👍 And yes, the trolley is a tedious job and if you’re doing lots of welding between gas refills, the medium bottle carrying capacity of the trolley is a bit of a pain. But it’s ok for us small job welders.
Just had my 15y old MIG start blowing smoke, its more than I paid to buy replacement parts so decided to see if I could find a reasonable 3 in 1. This was top of my list. Thank you for a really great review and confirmed my decision. Cheers.
I'm in my 60's and have recently moved from city life in Sydney to rural Sunshine Coast, QLD. My previous welding experience was ARC when I was a teenager! I've got a bunch of things I want to do from rudimentary brackets to a possible little fire fighting trailer for the property and things beyond. The welder in this review is the one I've ordered and I'm looking forward to it being both my learning welder and my "welder to the job" welder. Maybe one day I'll get good enough at the art to justify something more sophisticated but I'm hoping this'll see me through for a bit. Thanks for the review, it gives me confidence that even a klutz like me has hope of knocking up a bracket or two with this welder ;)
Thought it was a very honest review with solid advice. I am interested in this machine for general purpose welding. I have an Uninimig stick welder over 10 years old and can not fault.
Gday mate, bought this machine recently as my first MIG. Currently practicing and messing with settings, enjoyed your video rundown of the unit, particularly welding tests on different materials and thicknesses.
I have the same welder and I love it. Been using 0.8 gasless wire and it's fantastic. At some stage I'll buy an Argon / CO2 bottle and a spoolgun for Aluminium. I also have a Unimig Razor 200 AC/DC TIG machine and Viper 30 Plasma cutter from Unimig. Awesome products
Im a panel beater and for some reason mate ill take a farmers opinion over everyone else.. not sure if its the fact you irriadiate aussie energy or just the chill attitude but its all appreciated bud keep it up :)
Thank you for posting this John, I'm wanting to learn welding and I'm looking to buy a welder like this one. I'm a bit on the fence as to buy this or a cigweld product but after seeing your review, I think I'm swinging to the Unimig welder. Thanks again for your review!
Looks a good unit John. 20 years ago I'd have put in an order for 1. Past it now I'm afraid. Even just the groceries were getting to be a struggle today. Them's the breaks. 😒
Well D at least you did it. Bloody groceries I don't like going in the grocery shop I leave that up to Pat me and Hector get whatever I need in town then wait in the car till its over. John
Great video John and nice to see you looking so well, it is funny with welders, I had my old mig and welded everything I wanted and it performed excellently but did a board so I got silly and went and bought a super mig and it was a piece of crap, the welding mob could never get it to run right from new, it also did a board in the first week under warranty. The Uncle who was a boilermaker came out and set it as best it could run and it was only ok, but would not hold a good arc, anyway, the story is not all expensive welders are any good at all and that is even if they are top name brands. Anyway Great Video and Cheers Matey
G'day Garry. Hope you are doing good. I have used the welder nearly every day since I got it as I have a big job on for the council and its still going good. As far as welders go I have one brand I won't touch and it is probably the biggest brand out there had a bit of gear from them and just consistently poor performance. Used one of their plasma cutters recently and just shit. So I agree with you as far as welders and gear in general goes sometimes heaps of hoopla doesn't translate to good performance. John
@@Lambycapo I havn't done any aluminium with this machine so far I would like to make a movie on aluminium and try a spool gun and wire in the machine. unfortunately I cant justify buying a spool gun just to do a review. I will contact UNIMIG and see if they will loan me one for a review. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 I’m hoping to buy one soon too mate I’ve got a tray to make for my Ute and need to fit some shelving in my canopy so would pay for itself prety quick just hope it’s welds ally alright
Thanks for putting these videos together mate really appreciate it, I’m a panel beater of 20plus years and looking at one of these and judging from your videos I think I’ll be ok buying one. Cheers
It would be a no brainer for me. I have no affiliation with either company wouldn't touch the Cigweld. I have had a few Cigweld products over the years and they work for a while but the performance is very average in my opinion. John
Good video =) For anyone considering Unimig, I highly recommend, especially for the price! As a multi process welder myself, all my machines at home are Unimig and I can't fault them. Started with the Razor 250 DC MIG, TIG, STICK and have since purchased the 30 plasma, 125 gasless for site work and the Razor 200 AC/DC TIG for aluminium. Super happy with them all, especially the TIG welder. The new T2 torch they developed is amazing and they are also soon offering adaptor kits to use regular consumables & Furik cup kits.
I was surprised at how good the quality was for the prise and also how good the welder worked. The other thing since I made that video I have been in touch with the people at Unimig and they are good to deal with. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 definitely some of the best customer support. That's how i found out about the TIG adaptor kits they are developing, i hinted that there was a market for it and they were already all over it. Had a good chat to the rep online about it all
This review prompted me to buy the 185 package deal. I had been contemplating the 120 as I'm very much a beginner but I'm looking forward to trying Tig down the track. I also mainly want it for light materials (1.6-2.0mm RHS) and have been trying with some scrap I got for free. I'm also finding the recommended settings WAY too hot and am getting burn through about 50% off the time. Trust me it's taken a few days to get that good. If I do a bead run on flat metal, flat out, I can get away with it but for anything useful I think I'm going to have to 1/2 the wire speed and then experiment with the voltage. Been watching all the youtube videos I can and that seems to be the best advice. All in all though I think I'm also going to "get on well" with this machine. Another thing I could try is small roll of thinner wire. Using solid 8mm with gas atm. All up I think Unimig should pay you a commission. Cheers.
Yeah I found that the wire speeds and voltage was on the high side I do have a video on welding thin material that has a couple of tricks you could try thanks for watching my video. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Yeah I found that video after posting. Great work and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates it. I'm knocking up some shelves from a recycled steel pallet (light weight ex fencing delivery) as a first project. Next will be a welding bench and another spend on basics such as grinder, vice, maybe cut off saw etc. Will definitely get an aluminium block then. My main hope is to get into Tig and , being a musician rather than a Farmer, custom racking for music gear. Light weight and pretty.
Hi John .. nice work you do.. I have the same welder and I am just starting mig welding.. mainly on my 4x4 doing rust repairs.. I am using 0 .6 gauge wire.. it keeps tangling up in the wire feed / rollers.. what size wire are you using on thin sheet metal? Some people say use 0.8 for less issues but uses abit more heat though.. cheers Rod
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 I would like to hear some of those stories, do you still work on aircraft or would you consider working on an aircraft project ?
Hey John, Thank you so much for your reviews on this welder, its been great to watch. I'm currently debating between the new Unimig Viper 165 which is only at Sydney tools and the Viper 185. This will be mostly for Mig and I like the idea of being able to weld up to 10mm if needed. Reality is that it wont be that often that I need to go 10mm. Most will be under 5mm thickness. The 165 Viper Multi is a Synergic welder where you can put in details as what type of welding wire, wire thickness etc then just use one dial to set the amps (going off amps in relation to sheet size guide on the inner door) and it adjusts voltage and wire speed to match. Thats great but it is up to 165 amp. Now I like the fact that the Viper 185 is 185 amp and can easily weld up to 10mm. I'm just wondering how needed the Synergic function is when you have the guide on the inner door? How accurate have you found the door settings to be? Do you just set it to the door settings to match the thickness your welding then just tweak the voltage and wire speed as needed to get the weld bead good?
No I found the door settings as a place to start only. Personally I like having the control. Machines with limited control and automatic settings may be alright for most things. I dont really know I have no experience with these machines. What I do know is the 185 has not let me down and it has heaps of guts but will also weld thin metal as well. I suspect the 165 may be for people with limited experience it makes it easier or inexperienced people perceive it that way. I would not buy the Synergic welder with out a demo. If they give you a demo and all the settings are correct and you are happy then I am sure the welder will last. Unimig build good stuff. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Thanks so much for the reply John :) I think your spot on about seeing a demo of it. Otherwise I will prob go the 185 as from what you've shown in your videos and the exceptional product reviews online it looks like a great choice :) Cheers Clint
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Hey John I ended up getting the 185 Viper :) Have to wait to Chrissy to use it as it's my Chrissy present. Cant wait to use it :) Thanks heaps for all your videos on it.
Not just machine good welding skill. I need extension cable for my welding area can I weld with this machine. Have you try to weld long distance from wall plug?
I weld with mine on a 20 metre long 15 amp cord with 10 amp plugs all the time all the demonstrations I have done with this welder are on that 20 metre cable. John
Hi John, I had plans to buy the Razzor 250amp, 3 in 1. I was devastated on the spot when I was shown it by the Totaltools owner, after he told me it was a 3 phase machine. All my dreams of future projects when down the drain right there and then. Why? Because I don't have 3 phase access. I want the versatility of being able to weld anything. I considered the 200amp, but it has a 15 amp plug. I know the shortcut to that, but I cant afford to burnout the wires in the place I am in. Therefore, I am now considering the 185 amp as you review here. One of my interests with a welder like this, is to make custom aluminum bicycles. I watched this video, in hope that I would see a demo welding aluminum, but you did all the other materials. Just wondering, if you could do an aluminum demo, even on a aluminum bike frame if its possible. I do plan to buy maybe this welder soon. Thank you.
The 250 is actually a single phase machine, but it requires a 32amp line (same looking plug as 3 phase but only 3 pins instead of 4. This cost me about a grand to have run from my meter box to my shed (60 metres of cable) If you're wanting to make Aluminium bicycles the only real option is an AC/DC TIG.
Just unboxed mine today. It has a different guide instructions on the inside of the door. Nevertheless I tried it with 0.6 wire as I have a new roll of this and it has the wheel for it but I had to purchase tips for.06mm wire. What a disaster the wire kept jamming on the feeder. It would also jam on the exit point into the gun. When we got it fed through the tube to the gun and tried to weld it would start then wrap its self around the feeder, a complete mess. I had my brother helping me to set it up and he has an older Unimig that he has used for a number of years. So it does not do 0.6mm wire. After hours of frustration we switched to 0.9mm and then it worked. Still have to give it some more testing using0.9mm wire. Have you tried 0.6mm wire and is there any special technique to stopping it jamming .
John, I am looking at buying (my first) welder before end of financial year. Mostly interested in MIG welding, hoping to build myself a trailer eventually. What mix of Argon gas should I get for thin to medium thickness materials? Gas bottles seem quite dear initially but the refills for the larger ones are economical. If I was practicing an hour each day, how long would a size E bottle keep me going?
The most economical deal at the moment is A deal of BOC $200 a year for a G size bottle one bottle per year that includes the gas and rent. As far as how much Gas you will use depends on a few things. The mix of argon depends if you are just doing Mig welding with steel or stainless I use Argoshield Universal. If you work out the E size By the time you pay the rent and about 150+ for the gas the G deal is way cheaper and I doubt that you would use more than one a year one G would easy build a trailer. John
I just rent them I dont own them. Gas got really expensive. But now BOC has a deal where you can get one G size bottle a year including the gas for the same price as the rent is if you go the other way. The scheme is for home users and unless I have a very big job on I get away with one G size a year. John
@Dave-Jill Nelson Hi, there are some useful guides available from unimig themselves, here is one for mig setup and you should be able to find others linked to this. ua-cam.com/video/F96jwE2nkbg/v-deo.html I have the NZ version (Xcel-Arc) same welder different name and I totally agree with John. Great unit easy to use and maintain. The limiting factor is the person welding, i'm not great myself, but this unit makes me look good. :-)
Hi John, just bought my first mig welder, Viper 185, and found this video. I've been an oxy-acet welder and I'm wanting to teach myself mig, so I found your info on setting up very helpful, not knowing anything about migs. Really appreciate this video and keep up the good work.
Thanks I am glad the video helped. John
No gloves at 13min! Strong man
No forgetful man until I get burned. John
Really good review mate. Down to earth and no BS. Very enjoyable to watch. Well done.
Thanks Chris Wade. Hope you got something out of it. John
Hi John. Just watched your video. Plain language and no rubbish. Love it.
Thanks for watching and the support. John
Was looking at buying one of these, cheers for the good review mate
Thanks for watching and commenting. John
I’ve used some bigger unimig welders in the past and always had a good run with them. I bought this same kit a while back and it was great straight out of the box. Excellent unit for the money!
Yes mine is going good when I got it I had a big job on and I had it going every day for 3 months probably more work than a home handy man would do in ten years. John
Just subscribed mate👍..great no BS video tutorial!!...picking up the UM 185 next week.
Thanks for watching. I have done a heap of welding every day since the review and no troubles not even a tip. John
unimigs are pretty good welders, back in the day they were great migs for panel beaters they could be turned down really low and still weld great really good for car panels used one for years gave up after being used everyday for over 20 years
Yeah I havn't had mine for that long but it gets a work out on a regular basis. With the wet coming up it will pretty much go every day in the first few months of 2022. John
Outstanding review and great demonstration of its capability , thanks so much .
No problems glad the review was ok. John
Bought unimig 210 a while back but havent used it yet. This video is a great introduction and gives me a bit more confidence to have a go at it. Thanks very much
Glad it helps. If you have a little bit of experience you will have no trouble. If you want to know anything email me or leave a comment. John
I’ve just bought one of these and I’m really pleased with it 👍
Thats good that you are happy with it. John
Thanks for your review - as a starting welder your vid relly helped being able to sort chaff from whaet
Glad I could help. Thanks for watching. John
Great review. I bought this welder a while back, good to see that you give it a good rap. Looking forward to doing a few jobs with it. Will see how the change from stick welding goes. Thanks for the review.
Thank you for watching and commenting. John
Great review mate, clear and straight to the point
Thanks for watching. John
Great vid, covered many aspects for anyone that may be in the market for something. Cheers.
Thanks for watching and commenting I have had this welder for one year now and like it more all the time. John
Awesome walk through of this welder! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I’ve just bought this one and your intro was helpful 👍 And yes, the trolley is a tedious job and if you’re doing lots of welding between gas refills, the medium bottle carrying capacity of the trolley is a bit of a pain. But it’s ok for us small job welders.
Thanks for watching and commenting. John
Great review. Bought one today with my son so we can learn to weld and already feel good about the purchase.
Mine is going strong no problems. I am doing a video about the other functions of the machine STICK TIG. John
Just had my 15y old MIG start blowing smoke, its more than I paid to buy replacement parts so decided to see if I could find a reasonable 3 in 1. This was top of my list. Thank you for a really great review and confirmed my decision.
Cheers.
Thanks for watching and commenting. John
Just brought one today cheers for the review mate. 👍
Mine is going good. John
I'm in my 60's and have recently moved from city life in Sydney to rural Sunshine Coast, QLD. My previous welding experience was ARC when I was a teenager! I've got a bunch of things I want to do from rudimentary brackets to a possible little fire fighting trailer for the property and things beyond.
The welder in this review is the one I've ordered and I'm looking forward to it being both my learning welder and my "welder to the job" welder. Maybe one day I'll get good enough at the art to justify something more sophisticated but I'm hoping this'll see me through for a bit.
Thanks for the review, it gives me confidence that even a klutz like me has hope of knocking up a bracket or two with this welder ;)
You will be right if you run into any problems Email me at farminglifeaustralia029@gmail.com John
Thought it was a very honest review with solid advice. I am interested in this machine for general purpose welding. I have an Uninimig stick welder over 10 years old and can not fault.
Mine is still going strong. John
Gday mate, bought this machine recently as my first MIG. Currently practicing and messing with settings, enjoyed your video rundown of the unit, particularly welding tests on different materials and thicknesses.
Hope my video's helped. Thanks for watching. John
Great review mate down to earth keep up the good work
Thanks Adam Pollard. John
Great video mate
That was a great video. I have the 182 but can take your tips to that machine. Well done, mate
Thanks 👍 Yes pretty similar machine. John
Great review thanks mate
I have the same welder and I love it. Been using 0.8 gasless wire and it's fantastic. At some stage I'll buy an Argon / CO2 bottle and a spoolgun for Aluminium. I also have a Unimig Razor 200 AC/DC TIG machine and Viper 30 Plasma cutter from Unimig. Awesome products
Thanks for watching I have done a heap of work with mine in the time I have had it and still very happy with it. John
Im a panel beater and for some reason mate ill take a farmers opinion over everyone else.. not sure if its the fact you irriadiate aussie energy or just the chill attitude but its all appreciated bud keep it up :)
Thanks for watching and commenting. John
Thank you for posting this John,
I'm wanting to learn welding and I'm looking to buy a welder like this one. I'm a bit on the fence as to buy this or a cigweld product but after seeing your review, I think I'm swinging to the Unimig welder.
Thanks again for your review!
Over the years I have had a bad run with cigweld having said that I don't know what their stuff is like today. John
Great video mate, I have the same welder, first time on mig.
Good on you. I have had mine for a couple of years and I use it a lot and not had one problem. John
Totally agree this Viper 185 is a brilliant unit . works well on all 3 formats . Have just bought a spool gun to try my hand at aluminium
I am really happy with mine. John
nice welder john .... in the market for a mig stay safe gary ..
G'day Gary It seems a good machine see what I think in a few months. John
Thank for the vid, I bought one yesterday.
Hope you get a good run out of it. John
Great review mate. Was a good watch.
Thanks Zoom and Betty. It has been getting a good work out. John
best review on the net thank you
Thanks for your support. John
Good video mate!
Thanks for the visit John
Looks a good unit John. 20 years ago I'd have put in an order for 1. Past it now I'm afraid. Even just the groceries were getting to be a struggle today. Them's the breaks. 😒
Well D at least you did it. Bloody groceries I don't like going in the grocery shop I leave that up to Pat me and Hector get whatever I need in town then wait in the car till its over. John
Great review along with some nice welds there.! I like lincoln but they are very expensive I might get one of these instead!
Thanks 👍Thanks for watching. John
Thanks mate, great vid👍👍👍👍👍
No problem 👍 thanks for watching. John
Great video John and nice to see you looking so well, it is funny with welders, I had my old mig and welded everything I wanted and it performed excellently but did a board so I got silly and went and bought a super mig and it was a piece of crap, the welding mob could never get it to run right from new, it also did a board in the first week under warranty.
The Uncle who was a boilermaker came out and set it as best it could run and it was only ok, but would not hold a good arc, anyway, the story is not all expensive welders are any good at all and that is even if they are top name brands. Anyway Great Video and Cheers Matey
G'day Garry. Hope you are doing good. I have used the welder nearly every day since I got it as I have a big job on for the council and its still going good. As far as welders go I have one brand I won't touch and it is probably the biggest brand out there had a bit of gear from them and just consistently poor performance. Used one of their plasma cutters recently and just shit. So I agree with you as far as welders and gear in general goes sometimes heaps of hoopla doesn't translate to good performance. John
I've got one and love it. Its good for aluminum as well, Good straight to point video
Thanks for watching and commenting I have used mine every day since making the video and it a handy welder on stainless steel. John
Hey mate do you use a spool gun on yours for aluminium ?
@@Lambycapo I havn't done any aluminium with this machine so far I would like to make a movie on aluminium and try a spool gun and wire in the machine. unfortunately I cant justify buying a spool gun just to do a review. I will contact UNIMIG and see if they will loan me one for a review. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 I’m hoping to buy one soon too mate I’ve got a tray to make for my Ute and need to fit some shelving in my canopy so would pay for itself prety quick just hope it’s welds ally alright
@@Lambycapo I would be surprised if it wasn't ok. John
great video mate cheers
Thanks for the visit. John
Yeah mate make some more vid's. thanks for the info.
Ok Russell Johnston will do . John
Very good, Thank you
Thanks for watching. John
Thanks. Helped a lot
Glad you got something out of it. John
Welding is so cool
And very handy if you want to make something from metal. John
thanks, this is a genuine review
Thanks for watching Ian Wood. John
Thanks for putting these videos together mate really appreciate it, I’m a panel beater of 20plus years and looking at one of these and judging from your videos I think I’ll be ok buying one.
Cheers
Mine is still going strong. I have had no trouble. John
great video!!1
Thanks for the visit. John
Appreciate the review, I’m tossing up between the Cigweld and the unimig
It would be a no brainer for me. I have no affiliation with either company wouldn't touch the Cigweld. I have had a few Cigweld products over the years and they work for a while but the performance is very average in my opinion. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 That's great feedback, thanks John. Regards Colin
Good video =)
For anyone considering Unimig, I highly recommend, especially for the price! As a multi process welder myself, all my machines at home are Unimig and I can't fault them. Started with the Razor 250 DC MIG, TIG, STICK and have since purchased the 30 plasma, 125 gasless for site work and the Razor 200 AC/DC TIG for aluminium. Super happy with them all, especially the TIG welder. The new T2 torch they developed is amazing and they are also soon offering adaptor kits to use regular consumables & Furik cup kits.
I was surprised at how good the quality was for the prise and also how good the welder worked. The other thing since I made that video I have been in touch with the people at Unimig and they are good to deal with. John
Plasma any good?
@@mryoui3487 Yes really good I have a review of the CUT 45 If You are interested. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 definitely some of the best customer support. That's how i found out about the TIG adaptor kits they are developing, i hinted that there was a market for it and they were already all over it. Had a good chat to the rep online about it all
@@ProPotato Yeah they seem to be a go ahead group alright. John
bloody ripper of a review mate!!
Yeah its proven to be a great welder as well.John
This review prompted me to buy the 185 package deal. I had been contemplating the 120 as I'm very much a beginner but I'm looking forward to trying Tig down the track. I also mainly want it for light materials (1.6-2.0mm RHS) and have been trying with some scrap I got for free. I'm also finding the recommended settings WAY too hot and am getting burn through about 50% off the time. Trust me it's taken a few days to get that good. If I do a bead run on flat metal, flat out, I can get away with it but for anything useful I think I'm going to have to 1/2 the wire speed and then experiment with the voltage. Been watching all the youtube videos I can and that seems to be the best advice. All in all though I think I'm also going to "get on well" with this machine. Another thing I could try is small roll of thinner wire. Using solid 8mm with gas atm. All up I think Unimig should pay you a commission. Cheers.
Wire speed 2.5 and 11.5 Volts seemed more manageable for a beginner like myself. The chart quotes wire speed 5 and 15 Volts for 1mm.
Yeah I found that the wire speeds and voltage was on the high side I do have a video on welding thin material that has a couple of tricks you could try thanks for watching my video. John
I was welding 1 MM with 14 and 3.5 from memory and it was hot put a heat sink behind it and went ok. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Yeah I found that video after posting. Great work and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates it. I'm knocking up some shelves from a recycled steel pallet (light weight ex fencing delivery) as a first project. Next will be a welding bench and another spend on basics such as grinder, vice, maybe cut off saw etc. Will definitely get an aluminium block then. My main hope is to get into Tig and , being a musician rather than a Farmer, custom racking for music gear. Light weight and pretty.
@@Jazman342 Good on you. John
Hi John .. nice work you do.. I have the same welder and I am just starting mig welding.. mainly on my 4x4 doing rust repairs.. I am using 0 .6 gauge wire.. it keeps tangling up in the wire feed / rollers.. what size wire are you using on thin sheet metal? Some people say use 0.8 for less issues but uses abit more heat though.. cheers Rod
I dont use thinner than.8. I have a video out about welding thin metal. Its called STOP DOING THIS. John
Great resume you got hiding behind that Farmer style
I guess if you hang around the planet long enough you pick up the odd thing. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 I would like to hear some of those stories, do you still work on aircraft or would you consider working on an aircraft project ?
Hey John, Thank you so much for your reviews on this welder, its been great to watch.
I'm currently debating between the new Unimig Viper 165 which is only at Sydney tools and the Viper 185. This will be mostly for Mig and I like the idea of being able to weld up to 10mm if needed. Reality is that it wont be that often that I need to go 10mm. Most will be under 5mm thickness.
The 165 Viper Multi is a Synergic welder where you can put in details as what type of welding wire, wire thickness etc then just use one dial to set the amps (going off amps in relation to sheet size guide on the inner door) and it adjusts voltage and wire speed to match. Thats great but it is up to 165 amp. Now I like the fact that the Viper 185 is 185 amp and can easily weld up to 10mm.
I'm just wondering how needed the Synergic function is when you have the guide on the inner door? How accurate have you found the door settings to be? Do you just set it to the door settings to match the thickness your welding then just tweak the voltage and wire speed as needed to get the weld bead good?
No I found the door settings as a place to start only. Personally I like having the control. Machines with limited control and automatic settings may be alright for most things. I dont really know I have no experience with these machines. What I do know is the 185 has not let me down and it has heaps of guts but will also weld thin metal as well. I suspect the 165 may be for people with limited experience it makes it easier or inexperienced people perceive it that way. I would not buy the Synergic welder with out a demo. If they give you a demo and all the settings are correct and you are happy then I am sure the welder will last. Unimig build good stuff. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Thanks so much for the reply John :) I think your spot on about seeing a demo of it.
Otherwise I will prob go the 185 as from what you've shown in your videos and the exceptional product reviews online it looks like a great choice :) Cheers Clint
@@clintvogel Thanks for your input. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Hey John I ended up getting the 185 Viper :) Have to wait to Chrissy to use it as it's my Chrissy present. Cant wait to use it :) Thanks heaps for all your videos on it.
@@clintvogel I know what you will be doing Christmas morning. John
Not just machine good welding skill. I need extension cable for my welding area can I weld with this machine. Have you try to weld long distance from wall plug?
I weld with mine on a 20 metre long 15 amp cord with 10 amp plugs all the time all the demonstrations I have done with this welder are on that 20 metre cable. John
Hi John, I had plans to buy the Razzor 250amp, 3 in 1. I was devastated on the spot when I was shown it by the Totaltools owner, after he told me it was a 3 phase machine. All my dreams of future projects when down the drain right there and then. Why? Because I don't have 3 phase access.
I want the versatility of being able to weld anything. I considered the 200amp, but it has a 15 amp plug. I know the shortcut to that, but I cant afford to burnout the wires in the place I am in.
Therefore, I am now considering the 185 amp as you review here. One of my interests with a welder like this, is to make custom aluminum bicycles.
I watched this video, in hope that I would see a demo welding aluminum, but you did all the other materials. Just wondering, if you could do an aluminum demo, even on a aluminum bike frame if its possible. I do plan to buy maybe this welder soon. Thank you.
You will need a ac/dc tig for thin alloy work ,mig alloy only good on 3mm and thicker
The 250 is actually a single phase machine, but it requires a 32amp line (same looking plug as 3 phase but only 3 pins instead of 4. This cost me about a grand to have run from my meter box to my shed (60 metres of cable)
If you're wanting to make Aluminium bicycles the only real option is an AC/DC TIG.
Just unboxed mine today. It has a different guide instructions on the inside of the door. Nevertheless I tried it with 0.6 wire as I have a new roll of this and it has the wheel for it but I had to purchase tips for.06mm wire. What a disaster the wire kept jamming on the feeder. It would also jam on the exit point into the gun. When we got it fed through the tube to the gun and tried to weld it would start then wrap its self around the feeder, a complete mess. I had my brother helping me to set it up and he has an older Unimig that he has used for a number of years. So it does not do 0.6mm wire. After hours of frustration we switched to 0.9mm and then it worked. Still have to give it some more testing using0.9mm wire. Have you tried 0.6mm wire and is there any special technique to stopping it jamming .
I havn't tried it but I will make some enquires and see what I can find out. John
I believe the Viper 185 does not come with a 0.6mm wheel. Check the wheel #
My mig for 0.6 i use a spool gun , i find it better
John, I am looking at buying (my first) welder before end of financial year. Mostly interested in MIG welding, hoping to build myself a trailer eventually. What mix of Argon gas should I get for thin to medium thickness materials? Gas bottles seem quite dear initially but the refills for the larger ones are economical. If I was practicing an hour each day, how long would a size E bottle keep me going?
The most economical deal at the moment is A deal of BOC $200 a year for a G size bottle one bottle per year that includes the gas and rent. As far as how much Gas you will use depends on a few things. The mix of argon depends if you are just doing Mig welding with steel or stainless I use Argoshield Universal. If you work out the E size By the time you pay the rent and about 150+ for the gas the G deal is way cheaper and I doubt that you would use more than one a year one G would easy build a trailer. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 I was looking at buying a Speedgas bottle outright but will check out BOC, thanks.
Hi John. I didn't see the stick and tig cables are they included with the welder?
Yes they were included. John
Good video mate I was looking at this machine. Can you do a video showing how it goes on aluminium.
Yes ok in the near future. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 cheers
Gday Mate, just curious how much your g size bottle and your e size bottle cost originally and how much they are to fill?
I just rent them I dont own them. Gas got really expensive. But now BOC has a deal where you can get one G size bottle a year including the gas for the same price as the rent is if you go the other way. The scheme is for home users and unless I have a very big job on I get away with one G size a year. John
Maybe you could show us your big fabrication project in another video? Hows Pat & the farm?
G'day Frank I will show you what I have been making. Pat is good and the farm is drying out from the big wet. John
Please come and set my welder up ,
Are you having trouble? Contact me via email. farminglifeaustralia@gmail.com I will see if I can help. John
@Dave-Jill Nelson Hi, there are some useful guides available from unimig themselves, here is one for mig setup and you should be able to find others linked to this. ua-cam.com/video/F96jwE2nkbg/v-deo.html
I have the NZ version (Xcel-Arc) same welder different name and I totally agree with John. Great unit easy to use and maintain. The limiting factor is the person welding, i'm not great myself, but this unit makes me look good. :-)
Looks like the Unimig ain't the only thing that likes to lay down dime bags haha... 1:37
Yeah OK Ha Ha. John
Buy the man some gloves
Getting me to wear them is the trouble. John
be careful there's no ac on this machine nor does it come with 0.8 to 1.0 mm MIG liner even though the add says its 0.6 to1.0 mm ready
Thanks for the tips. John