Arc welder purchase.

[alex wight]

I,ve seen this arc welder on ebay, do you think it will be any good for my needs?

NEW 250 AMP ARC ELECTRIC WELDER WELDING MACHINE | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-250-AMP-ARC-ELECTRIC-WELDER-WELDING-MACHINE-/250658199545?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a5c6497f9)

I,m welding 60mm x 60mm x3mm steel box section.

I want one that will do the job with ease.

I dont want to break the bank.

It wont be used for mass production.

Once the machine is built, then it will only be used as and when required.

Thank you in advance, alex.

[D.C.]

That is actually way more than is required for welding 3mm mild steel.

You could spend half the amount and still do the job fine, any 100-120 amp welder that takes 2.5 or 3.2 mm sticks is all you need for 3mm steel.

[John S]

Input capacity 14 Kw ?
Do you live close to a power station ?

It's actually OK for 3mm steel, look at the duty cycle - 10% that means flat out 250 amps you can only use it for 1 minute in 10.
You need to know the 75% duty cycle given you will be positioning, welding, then re-positioning, I'm guessing the 75% duty cycle will be as low as 110 amp which is what you want for 3mm.
Start checking duty cycles for these 120 amp welders and you will get a shock :barbershop_quartet_

[alex wight]

Thank you D.C., the one i,m using keeps cutting out, due to the thermal cut out. Its a wizarc?? its an old one, whether thats got to do with it i dont know. I was only getting through 1/2-3/4 rod, then it cut out. The penetration wasn't that great either. Its only got high and low settings, the higher one cut out quicker. I was using 6013 rods, and also thicker ones. The thicker ones couldnt get a start?? I,m able to borrow a better unit with more adjustment, so i will see how i get on with that one.

[alex wight]

I live right next door to Mossmoran in Fife. I,ll see how i get on with the other unit, not sure what all the inputs and outputs are, but will check them when i get it. Thanks again.

[birchy]

Personally, I wouldn't touch anything Chinese. Actually, that's a lie because most kit is made in China nowadays. What I mean is...I wouldn't touch anything unbranded. It's all about guarantees, spare parts and after market support. You'll get no guarantee or warranty with that machine. If it goes wrong, you have to throw it away and buy another. 200A will comfortably weld 12mm thick plate. You would use around 100A and 2.5mm rods for the box section you suggest, so anything 150A+ will be suitable, however I suggest you don't go less than 180A as you will inevitably get some thicker jobs in the future.

The inverter sets are nice to weld with...if you can afford £250ish. THESE (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251205653416) are top of the range and will never let you down. Oxford are another good make...especially the old bomb-proof, green oil-cooled sets like THESE (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=oxford+arc+welder). Don't touch Clarke or Silverline, they're no better than that unbranded chinese machine. SIP are made in china but have decent guarantees so if it goes wrong, you can take it back. GYS are French and of decent quality. We have a GYS TIG set at work and it the canine's wotsits.

On a tight budget, I'd be looking at good quality second hand kit rather than low quality new. You could more than likely buy second hand, use it for your job and resell at what you paid.

Or you could just hire or borrow one to do the job.

[John S]

Personally, I wouldn't touch anything Chinese.

The inverter sets are nice to weld with...if you can afford £250ish. THESE (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251205653416) are top of the range and will never let you down.

That Esab one is made in China.

[birchy]

That Esab one is made in China.
Probably, but you used selective quoting to mock me.

[John S]

???????
Not mocking you, you started of wouldn't touch anything Chines then say the Esab is top of the range and won't let you down ?? But it's made in China.

If you want to talk welder then Ok got 2 Tig's, 4 Migs, 2 stick and 2 plasma cutters here, the best two are Chinese and the worst one is a British abortion called a Camarc which was bought as top of the range and I can't wait for the day it expodes which says something seeing as I have to buy it's replacement.

The Chinese 200amp tig will run rings round the 200 amp BOC transtig unit, in fact the transtig hasn't been fired up in 3 years.

Am I in a parallel universe on this forum? first Lee having a pop and now you ?

[birchy]

LOL, sounds like a bad day for you. My original context was...


Personally, I wouldn't touch anything Chinese. Actually, that's a lie because most kit is made in China nowadays. What I mean is...I wouldn't touch anything unbranded.
Don't get me wrong, the Chinese are pretty good nowadays and I have a Warco milling machine and a SIP TIG welder. Both are Chinese. Both are superb pieces of kit. Miller welders are manufactured in China and, as you probably know, are the Aston Martin of welders. The main point I am making is that if I'm shelling out £200 on a piece of workshop equipment that I want to last for years rather than weeks, I'd prefer to pay a bit extra for a branded item that will have better quality control, spares, support and a decent guarantee.

[Web Goblin]

The one you are looking at looks very much like a basic transformer machine. Duty cycle is rubbish. It will probably also have quite a high inrush current when you turn it on and if you have mcbs in your distribution board you might trip the circuit its plugged into.
The ESAB ones are great machines providing they dont break. If they do it wil cost you a fortune to get it fixed.
You might want to look at a small inverter machine like a Messer pico or maye a Thermal Arc. These are small light and very portable and will do a 3.2mm rod easily with a good duty cycle.

[Web Goblin]

Alex, check you PM.

[alex wight]

pm sent Ian

[John S]

OK understand, no sweat now. Should have put the rest of the quote in, my bad.

[Web Goblin]

Birchy just noticed you had said that Miller were the Aston Martin of the welding world. That might be but I have never looked at them much. I do remember having to go to a customer years ago who complained that his profiling machine kept on losing position. Arrived at his site to find the machine stuck between two syncrowelds. Everytime they fired up they chucked out so much rf they blasted the cnc controller senseless and it went wandering. Right PITA to fix it was.

[m_c]

I'd recommend getting an inverter, as they make arc welding alot easier.

I've got a small Cebora unit I picked up of ebay several years ago, primarily for TIG, however it now spends most of it's time doing Arc work.
Only issue is, as Web Goblin says, is they are expensive to repair should they go wrong, so I'd suggest a new one with warranty.

As for Clarke bashing, my big MIG welder is clarke, and it's never had any issues other than the woefully undersized torch supplied with it, but that was easily fixed with a new torch. Price wise, the Clarke was the cheapest at the time, can handle 1/2" plate, and it's never given me any troubles, however it is one of their industrial range.
I've used some of their smaller stuff, and it's just as good as any other cheap chinese stuff, but at least Clarke has pretty good parts back-up.

[AdCNC]

If you ask me i would suggest one like this... oxford stick welder | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/oxford-stick-welder-/251204653086?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a7cf6d01e) power delivery on that little oxford will run rings around most things regarding stick welders go. ive got the bigger brother to this and it weld smooth as silk. plus the duty cycle will be alot better than any cheap buzzbox

[alex wight]

Picked up my dads welder today, its a clarke 180 turbo, which i,ve had a play about with this morning. Its doing a grand job, so that's me set to start my build as soon as i get my the rest of my metal order through. Thank you all very much for your valuable input, its greatly appreciated.'

alex

[Web Goblin]

Thats great that youve got started.
Post photos. Its the law!!!!

[alex wight]

I'll put the odd update up to keep within the law lol