im after a cheap welder mig/ gas less.. i got one off Ebay and its not the best with thin metal or doing rust work.... Anyone know where i could get one from...................................................

mate ive learnt the hard way if u want great welds when doin body work u gotta spend the money on a decent welder.
ive got a little mig that cost me 1200 bux. its not a bad welder but i still cant get it set to weld right all the time, u might get it to spot once then the next time u do it will blow a whole throo ur panel then the next time it wont fuse etc etc. its not easy welding up these tin can thik panels. have a play around on some scrap with ur settings and that and see how u go before u go rushin to get a new welder. the body work isnt going to be easy either way. good luk

I brought a Ryobi gas/gasless mig for around $600 bucks a few years ago. It was poor on the gasless wire and the gas cylinders dont last long.

Ended up setting it up with a regulator and a normal gas bottle. Plus good quality wire. Its OK on material upto 3mm.

But it dont compare to the welder I got at work which is about $3000.

The main prob I found with the cheap welders is they only have 4 power settings which makes it hard to find a happy medium. Took me a while to get use to this and to master welding thin material with this welder.

As woodydat said "practice" good luck

When you only have a few heat settings to pick from, go the hotter setting and pull the nozzle back an inch (experiment), this will increase resistance and reduce temp.

Make sure everything is clean before starting, don't make life hard for yourself.

When welding real light stuff or pinholes, whack a piece of copper behind it. This will pull a fair bit of heat out and support the molten metal without sticking. I use a flattened piece of water pipe.

It will get hot quickly so wear gloves. . .

I have since purchased a Uni-mig procraft 240 and haven't looked back. About $1300, depends on how often you intend to use it.
Might work out cheaper to get a professional in if there is only a little work to be done.

Uni Mig .pdf of specs

For sheet this is HUGE overkill. I am not saying that this is the best welder around, infact the paint quality is siht, falling off in places due to surface rust below, ie bad prep. But it has been working for me for the last few years. Only home use.

yes pull the tip back a bit and go in 1-2 sec bursts, keep wire brushing the area as well. keep a wet rag handy to cool areas down, also if u are welding near any larger flatter areas dont overheat the area or it can buckle. laying or holding a wet rag to the area u want to protect prevents that tho

I bought a welder from these guys. So far it seems to be an excellent machine for a very good price. dual voltage, multiple heat settings, stitch & spot welding features, nice clean welds w/o much spatter with the gas bottle. Around $900 US for the 160DV model. Seems to be very well made, a lot of great features for the money. Not some puny transformer with a small duty cycle. I've never bought a welder before but all the Lincoln, Horbart, Miller welder in the same price range didn't seem to compare at all & so far it's performed great. To get the same features in the above mentioned brands was pushing $2000 US.

It cost me $100 to ship across the US so to AU, $300 to $400 ???

Good luck, check out hyperlink.
Evan

http://www.htpweld.com/