Ebay Inverter Welders
Submitted: Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 11:25
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geocacher (djcache)
Hi all,
I have been toying for a while with the idea of outlaying a fairly serious amount of coin for some new welding gear.
I will be buying a MIG in the next twelve months but I recently used an Inverter Welder for the first time in years.
It was a Miller (Something) 1000 - 140Amp welder.
It was scratch start but I've used hot start stuff before and that was even nicer. (An ESAB Caddy I think but it was a long time ago.)
The guy who owned the Miller was saying that the only problem was that if the circuit board failed in what is about $1000 worth of welder it was $700 to $800 to replace it.
He hasn't bought one but he pointed me in the direction of Ebay and as he said there are many inverter welders there. See this link.
[ View Image]
I'm only using it for occasional use and I've never had my stick welder above 85 Amps for anything I've done. The light weight and other advantages of inverter welders appeals and at $260 I'm tempted to give it a whirl anyway.
But before I did I thought I'd ask here if anyone else has and if they were happy or not?
Aside from that I'm open to suggestions regarding brands models of both inverter stick and MIG welders for home use.
I think my old arc jobbie is about to give up the ghost. (Starting to blow the breaker every so often which it never used to do.)
Thanks in advance,
Dave
Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 11:35
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 11:35
Yeh, I bought an Inverter welder off ebay (made in froggy land....can't remember the brand).
It's a gr8 welder, it's just that the "welder" is not so good...hahaha (;-((
My welding skills leave a lot to be desired. In my own defence though, I believe I maybe should've bought different rods to the ones I just picked up at the local hardware
shop.
Mine will take up to 3.2mm rods, but I think they're supposed to be a particular type of rod, not just any old rod. I guess that's one disadvantage of buying from ebay, you've gotta find all that stuff out somewhere else; whereas if you buy from a BOC store or similar, they can show/tell you all that important info.
Cheers
Roachie
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Nudenut - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 11:38
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 11:38
with a stick welder I cant weld with ordinary rods.....but can do okay with stainless rods for some reason....thats all i use these days....dont need to get welds certified so who's gunna care
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - DOZER- Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 at 18:12
Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 at 18:12
i second that, please be aware that you are breathing in chrome if you weld in a confined space...make sure you have plenty of ventilation.
2.5mm 41-13 rods are general purpose and probably good from 60-100 amps. 3.2's are a little big and best for 90-140amps
Andrew (fitter and turner and claytons welder/rigger/electrician etc)
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Nudenut - Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 at 18:26
Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 at 18:26
who cares at my age (22) my welds look professional....just like a bioler makers but only better!!!
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Nudenut - Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 at 18:27
Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 at 18:27
just had a look in the mirror...maybe i do need to care? hahaha
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Reply By: Hairy - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 13:26
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 13:26
If your buying a MIG soon do you really need another stick welder?
But yes the
inverters are great and its true about the cost of the curcuit board Id be carefull with the cheap ones as they would be no cheaper to repair and anything off ebay is a gamble.
Ive had a WIA inverter and it was brilliant, about $1500 then and a BOC one after that, the BOC one lasted 6 months and has been in getting repaired for the last 3 months.
Do you realise you can buy stainless and aluminium etc. wire for a MIG?You just need different gases with different wires.
AnswerID:
129869
Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 15:11
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 15:11
Thanks Hairy,
The only reason I am considering the little inverter is size and portability. If I go up to Mums and do a small job on a potting bench or something I don't really want to cart a full mig setup up there.
Most of my work would be in steel but I wouldn't mind learning to weld ally. Handy for mounting stuff on the boat. I'd probably go do a night course at tafe but the last time I tried that I only got to half the nights with afternoon shift and night shift interuptions.
I am looking at a 170Amp Lincoln MIG. I like its fairly compact size and the price isn't too bad - about 1200. I don't need to use 15kg reels so that's not really an issue even though I know it's a bit cheaper.
Still tempted to try one of those
inverters though...
Dave
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Hairy - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 15:50
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 15:50
just noticed independent motor mart are doing a 5-150 amp inverter for $695, no name brand though so it would be a bit of a gamble. Good luck
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Reply By: Kiwi Kia - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 13:48
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 13:48
Circuit breakers get "tired" and trip at a lower level then when new. The more times they trip the more "tired" they become. It may be that your welder is ok but over the years you have 'worn out' the circuit breaker.
(And I didn't even mention the cricket :-))
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Duncs - Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 15:46
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005 at 15:46
There is a mob in WA (I think) called Uni-power who build a 12v chopped DC welder/inverter. Worth a search on Google.
There was one fitted in the old GQ when I bought it. It had a second alternator under the bonnet which in some ways was a real pain.
It did a great job of welding and provided 12v, 24v and 240v power. Could run the welder and a couple of flood lights at the same time. Big draawback was having to have the engine doing about 2000rpm.
It did get me and some others out of trouble a couple of times. It had a different 'feel' to a normal AC welder but did the job. Even if it was expensive.
By the way I don't like cricket.....................................................I love it!!!
Duncs
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Reply By: sudsy - Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 00:06
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 00:06
Gday geocacher, If you want to weld aluminium with an inverter welding machine it will need to be AC capable as
well and you will need the TIG gear and all up they are veeeeeeeery expensive.
As others have said, if youre getting a mig anyway, there are plenty of good lightweight portable ones (dual polarity too so gasless wire can be used) on the market and you can use straight argon gas for alu, s/s and mild steel to save you renting 2 or 3 gas type bottles for different materials.
As far as brands go some reliable ones have been mentioned already but steer clear of the lesser known. I'm a welder and I've used a lot of different machines so I'm speaking from experience.
Lincoln, Cigweld (parts scammers now), Liquid Arc, Miller, WIA are some of the big names and are all pretty good but there are others too that are ok. Theres a lot of new name imports on the market in the last ten years or so and I've used some of them but they just dont cut the mustard
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Follow Up By: awill4x4 - Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 19:39
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 19:39
Yeah, I've got to agree with Sudsy. I'm a specialist Tig welder and you really only get what you pay for. My current twin inverter AC/DC hybrid wave OTC machine would be rated in the top 2 or 3 in the world but it comes at a price unfortunately. But, at least I get to do great stuff like this :-)
[ View Image]
Regards Andrew.
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