Hmm, where do I start........ How about Portable Battery Powered Mig Welding just about anywhere. Got a broken part on your rig that some welding could fix and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere? Maybe it's a good friend that is stuck, or it could be you have some farm equipment that needs some repair. Oh heck, I could go on and on with different scenarios, but I think you can find your own much better than I can. If "portable" mig welding is something you have been wanting or needing, then take a look at what Broco Inc. has to offer in this great package called the GOWELD. I took the unit along for one of my trail rides (with the intention of including its usage there in my review), however it turned out to be the one time that nobody had anything break! But it did draw lots of attention from the other riders while I was there. Everyone that saw the Goweld was immediately impressed by its ease of use and portability. Not only were they impressed by the minimal amount of space used to carry the Goweld, but also by the entire unit itself as it was far superior to what they were carrying! Don't let the small size of the unit fool you, this is a very POWERFUL welding tool, not a toy. To start off with this package comes in a very durable high impact polymer case. It has a large easy to carry handle on the top with a thick hinge on the rear and two quality latches on the front. Strapped down in your rig the unit is very safely and securely housed in this case so that when you need it, it will be ready and in good working order. Also a big plus (at least for me) this unit is MADE IN THE USA.
The first thing you will notice is that this is a very well built unit with easy to find controls. It comes with 6 contact tips, Nozzle, 2 spools of welding wire (1 flux cored, 1 plain), gas hose adapter (for welding with your choice of shielding gas), a very good instruction manual, battery jumper cables and wiring harness, long ground cable, and of course the welder itself. To give you an idea on how durable this unit is, the United States Marine Corps as well as the Rangers, Armored Cav. and Special Forces are all GOWELD users. The GOWELD has proven itself to the US Military, it's compact, rugged and dependable.
The unit has an inspection tag with its serial number, the persons name who inspected it, and the date of inspection. Further assurance that you are getting a good quality unit that was checked out before it was packaged. It's nice to see a handwritten tag with a real name on it, not just a computer stamped number. The main unit and some of the parts are in the top tray, it pivots up out of the way and you can get to the cables and instructions. The storage is nice and neat with plenty of room for some extra spools of welding wire in the bottom. It's nice to be able to throw the dirty cables down in the bottom of the box and keep the rest of the unit clean.
O.k. enough with the posing shots, now onto the controls and features of the welder as well as its specs. It should go without saying that you should read all instructions and safety warnings/labels before attempting to use any product (now we know you always do that don't you) as well as wearing the proper safety equipment to minimize the risk of burns or injury while welding. For me these include a good welding helmet with the proper shade lens, some welding gloves and a pair of Kevlar arm guards.
For you nuts and bolts people out there, the unit is computer controlled for the best weld quality and optimum results. The wire feed motor is a heavy duty hi-torque industrial grade motor. It also has an optical encoder for true wire speed control from 0 to 1100 inches per minute. This is checked and adjusted 675 times a second. It has on board L.E.D.'s to indicate power, polarity, battery charge and motor temp. The main body of the welder is made of a high impact rigid polymer. It has an all metal main chassis inside the unit that supports the motor, drive assembly, trigger switch, gas valve, circuit board and wire spool. Rated input and output are the same, 200 amps 42 volts DC (two or three 12 volt batteries in series) ***(except for the welder control circuit, it must be kept at 24 volts)*** It has a 50% duty cycle (this means for a 10 minute period, you can use the welder for 5 minutes of that 10). The welding wire speed is fully adjustable via a knob on the upper left side of the welder. The L.E.D.' s are just in front of the control knobs on the same side. *NOTE*: There is no separate motor temp. L.E.D. the power L.E.D. will flash if the motor is overheating and will return to being continuously lit when temp has returned to normal. Now to get it ready and do some welding. First of all, choose if you want to use solid steel or aluminum wire (you will need a shielding gas for the solid steel or aluminum wire), or Flux Cored steel wire. I used the Flux Cored wire, as it's a lot easier than lugging a bottle of shielding gas along on the trail. Once you choose the wire, next choose the diameter, the welder can use .023 to .045 diameter wire in either flux core or solid. *Never load electrode wire or remove/ replace the contact tip/ gas diffuser or other parts while the unit is powered* I am going to include some pictures of the process in progress, but not walk you through the entire process. The instruction manual does a very good job with this and it's very easy to do by following them. Once the wire is fed and the battery cable connections are attached, it's time to weld. (No comments on the UGLY batteries please.) I used an old deep cycle battery and one regular starting battery. A pair of high amp hour deep cycle batteries would be best.
Once hooked up to the batteries, be very careful, the Goweld is now "hot" (this is something that I didn't like, but once you're used to it, works just fine). What I mean is, if you have your material grounded with the ground clamp and you touch the welding wire sticking out of the tip to it, it will arc and weld. The trigger only activates the gas valve and the motor to drive the wire speed. The welding wire is energized with the full capacity of the welding batteries. This brings me to the only other dislike I had with the welder. The power adjustment knob on the unit is non- effective unless you have the optional Voltage Control Unit, which is something I think should be included with the kit almost any trail repair and most any welding job can be completed without the VCU, it just makes welding very thin metals a lot easier.
Welding with the Goweld is quick and easy! I have only tried it with 2 batteries and found that 1/4" thick steel plate was not a problem. It made quick, clean strong welds (although using the flux core wire does make a good bit more spatter). The Goweld is lightweight, easy to handle, and welding quality is great! Add the nice secure storage case and long welding leads and I think Broco, Inc. has a winner on their hands. Overall, I was very impressed with the Goweld. It proved to be a great product that performed exceptionally, is well packaged and convenient! For more information about the Goweld, check out the Goweld website. Any questions or comments about this article, please feel free to contact me Any questions or comments on the product, please contact the manufacturer at the web site below.
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Posted 2007-12-25 01:29:49.0
