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Near New - Inverter Arc/Tig welder for Sale


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Spockie-Tech
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Joined: 31 May 2004
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Location: Melbourne, Australia


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Near New - Inverter Arc/Tig welder for Sale

Greetings Builders.

I have a 2 month old Welder for Sale.

Its a Mechpro (Repco) 140 Amp DC Inverter Arc (Stick) Welder with the optional TIG Torch conversion Kit included.

http://repcoequipment.businesscatalyst.com/welding/mech-pro-140amp-arc-welder-1



*Bonus* I have modified it for an external foot-pedal control for the amperage (Pedal Included) which makes the TIG function even nicer to use. An added switch on the front selects the internal amp dial or the pedal for live Arc control while welding, The Pedal is really good for stick welding too, you can easily start the Stick Arc "Hot" (max power) and quickly back off on the pedal to a nice low amps and weld thin wall tubing even with stick rods because of the pedal, so you can do some fine work even without needing/using the gas for TIG mode.

While adding the pedal socket and switch, I looked around inside it, its actually nicely made. not the usual chinese-engineering birds nest that look like they were assembled by untrained monkeys out on strike for more bananas per day.

If you have never used an recent model "Inverter" ARC/Stick Welder, as opposed to an old-school BuzzBox "Transformer" ARC welder, they are chalk and cheese. Transformers are just magnetically controlled rough-as current sources requiring a masters touch to use well, this thing has heaps of smart features that make it much more novice friendly.

It has "Hot Start", "Arc Force" and "Dig" functions, which makes striking an arc without sticking and keeping it going about 10x easier than an old "dumb" arc welder. It dynamically adjusts the voltage and current to do its best to keep the arc going automatically. You *can* stick it, but you have to try a lot harder than an old transformer arc welder. With most rod types, you can just prop the rod at an angle and let go and it will burn itself down to the end without stopping or touching it.

I was amazed just how easy it is to do neat arc welds with it. It actually makes Stick/Arc welding enjoyable instead of frustrating.. I built a workbench with Stick mode in just a few hours and the welds are impressively neat for a relative n00b welder like me. No Bird-shit welds here, all nice smooth beads with just 30 mins practice first.

Its a DC only welder, so it will do steel, stainless, and all ferrous metals, it *wont* do Aluminium.

I borrowed a friends AC/DC TIG welder to have a practice at Alu-Tig welding to see if I wanted to splash for one before buying this, and boy is it *hard. You practically have to polish the joint metal clean first, the AC Balance setting for good cleaning eats the tungsten electrodes away quickly, and since Aluminium doesnt change color as it gets hot, you dont realise until suddenly half your piece goes "glob" and melts into a puddle.

I Spent a few hours trying and practicing, re-grinding contaminated tungsten tips and managed about 2 *ugly but maybe functional welds and about 10 *complete failures and thought "Screw this, Ill stick to steel and leave the Alu welding to the professionals if I need it done".

Welding steel with this machine is a doddle by comparison.

Its fan cooled and has a 60% duty cycle at 100 amps and about 35% at max power (140 amps - which I havent had to use yet, 110 amps is as high as Ive needed for even 8mm thick steel), so unlike the cheap transformer models, you wont be waiting ages for it to cool down. I havent managed to get it to go into overtemp wait at all yet.

For precision work, I added a TIG torch to it. because its an inverter, the Tig function (with the add on pedal) works really well and allows precise control for welding sheetmetal, thin tubes and without slag. All you need to add is a bottle of Argon Gas and regulator (Im keeping mine for the next welder)

The TIG Torch is a scratch-start, manual gas valve torch (with a rotary knob to open/close the gas flow). Because the inverter does Hot-Start, its very easy to strike and maintain the Tig Arc, but it *isnt a HF (High Frequency) auto start model, so you do need to lightly scratch the work to initiate the Tig Arc.

Im wanting to upgrade it to a model that includes a Plasma cutter function, since Im not enjoying eating angle grinder sparks to cut out the bits to the shapes I want.

New, the Welder was $280, the TIG Torch Kit was $199 (but I got it through a friend at cost) and I made the pedal from a playstation steering wheel accelerator foot controller. (its all neatly done and looks factory). Normally only $500+ welders have pedal control options and the pedals are usually $50-$100 each.

So thats about $600 worth of welder there, Id like about $300 for it so I don't have to kick in *too much extra to upgrade to the plasma cutter model ($600). Bargain, since its only 2 months old.

Since its not a transformer welder, its very lightweight and small, but with the three coils of cables (Earth, Stick and TIg Electrodes) it will probably occupy about a 50cm-a-side box and weigh about 10-15Kg. Postage is at your cost, or you can pickup (if in melbourne) for free.

Hope someone out there would find it useful. Post or PM me here if you're interested.

regards
Brett
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Post Sat Mar 08, 2014 12:22 am 
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Spockie-Tech
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Joined: 31 May 2004
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Location: Melbourne, Australia


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No Interest ? Really, wow a Pedal Controlled TIG (and Arc) welder for $300 ?

OK, Best offer over $200 in a few day gets it, otherwise Ill put it on Ebay.
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Post Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:52 am 
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Knightrous
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Use it to build a robot and attend an interstate event Razz
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Post Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:14 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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Heh. Rolling Eyes Nah,

I still havent finished my Charger yet (although its getting close), and I need some exercise, so the reason for the welders is Im building myself some recumbent Tricycles at the moment, like this.


(wih Electric Boost.. Did Lukes e-bike project go ahead ?).

Also, I got bored with the Rock, Paper, Scissors format (as we have discussed before). Perhaps in the future Id consider building something with a bit more articulation and complexity, but while its just a K.E. vs Armour competition Im not particularly interested.
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Post Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:28 pm 
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Knightrous
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For the price I'd be keen, but I really have my heart set on a HF start.
Luke's project I didn't follow up due to increased work commitments, maybe Daniel did?
Maybe you missed the Sportsmen/non-spinner class Smile
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Post Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:23 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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The HF Start is a nice feature. ,I borrowed Jasons AC/DC tig and it has it and the one Im planning on getting has it too, although its the Plasma Cutter feature that I really want.

After a bit of practice, Scratch start isnt hard to do at all.

I probably saw the sportsman class, but with noone bothering to organise events down here, and my car taking first priority, Im not really up for building more robots at this time.
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Post Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:37 pm 
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Glen
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Very much worth the money even if it's just used in stick mode. So much better than buzzboxes.

Jaemus, you should get this Razz
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Post Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:40 pm 
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DumHed
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I'm going to melbourne on the weekend and could pick it up for someone - although won't have much time to organise the pickup
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Post Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:56 pm 
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Jaemus
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I'm considering it Glen Smile
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Post Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:22 pm 
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