210 amp HF stick welder for $100

[davesisk]

Hi folks:

Just stumbled across this...$100 for a 210 amp max stick welder with both AC and DC output...not a great duty cycle, but might be worth looking at for the price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=51878

Anyway, just posting as an FYI in case anyone is looking for something similar for a cheap price...

Dave

[vipermanz]

i ordered the inverter one last week... i'll keep this as a maybe though...

[morpheus]

the inverter one that you ordered is AC only though. this has AC and DC.

- jack

[davesisk]

Originally posted by morpheus
the inverter one that you ordered is AC only though. this has AC and DC.

- jack

I hope the one Vipermaz ordered was DC-only...if I recall he was going to use it as a TIG power supply!

The Arc One has a much better duty cycle than this one, but then this can hit some pretty high amps, even if for only a short time...

Dave

[morpheus]

I think this is the one he ordered. Since it doesn't specify ac or dc I figure it's AC, I could be wrong though ...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=3730

[Aaron]

Jack,

The manual for the Mini-80 unit specifies DC output, and even tells you how to set it up for TIG.

Check out the product manual link on the HF page.

[morpheus]

well Aaron, I looked at that manual eariler and didn't see DC looking through the specs of the machine. I clearly see it now where it tells how the Inverter works

- jack

[vipermanz]

I hope it's a dc machine, i even emailed arc one and asked but never got a response. I'd say it's a good sign that it has setup info for tig. It also has hot start, i saw that on a miller true tig machine.

Thanks again guys!!!

[Slagking]

The 80 amp inverter from HF is a DC unit. I looked at the Arc One site and it tells a little about it. Looks like they have a 200 amp unit for under $1,000

[davesisk]

Originally posted by vipermanz
I hope it's a dc machine, i even emailed arc one and asked but never got a response. I'd say it's a good sign that it has setup info for tig. It also has hot start, i saw that on a miller true tig machine.

Thanks again guys!!!

Don't get too excited about the so-called "hot start". All this does (to my understanding) is increase the voltage potential when current is not flowing (ie. when you're not welding). This happens naturally in the transformer-based machines (something to do with inductance I believe), and the inverter-based machines exagerate it a little bit. You'll still have to scratch start TIG, but it just won't be any harder than it would be with a transformer-based machine...

HTH,
Dave

[morpheus]

how do all those various starting methods work Dave:

I've read of Lift-Arc, Hot Start, HF Start, etc, etc, etc .. lots of different names/methods for starting TIG arc it seems.

The only one that makes sense is the HF start. But I was under the impression that HF start only works with AC as DC does not have HF. I'm no electrical genius so I could have easily misunderstood.

- jack

[Aaron]

Jack,

HF start- the least chance for contamination of the work and tungsten. For DC TIG, the HF is only used to initiate the arc. For AC, the HF is applied continuously to stabilize the arc. This scenario only applies to transformer machines. For inverters, the AC is actually made up by two separate DC inverters, so the wave passes zero nearly instantly, eliminating the need for continuous HF.

Scratch start- the arc is initiated by momentarily dragging the tungsten across the work. This is bad in that the tungsten is quickly contaminated.

Lift arc- when the tungsten touches the work the machine initiates the arc. Because the tunsten still touches the work, contamination is still possible, but the risk is less.

I think the Hot-start is only for stick welding.

[morpheus]

Thanks for the info Aaron. Your explanation of how the HF works on DC clarifies what I'd been told but didn't comprehend.

Some of the newer machines use different methods right ? or at least they give there method a different name I think.

- jack

[dseman]

Originally posted by davesisk
Don't get too excited about the so-called "hot start". All this does (to my understanding) is increase the voltage potential when current is not flowing (ie. when you're not welding). This happens naturally in the transformer-based machines (something to do with inductance I believe), and the inverter-based machines exagerate it a little bit. You'll still have to scratch start TIG, but it just won't be any harder than it would be with a transformer-based machine...

HTH,
Dave

'Hot start' is strictly for stick. It does NOT however increase the voltage,either ocv or arc voltage at the beginning of the weld. It increases the amperage by a percentage over what the dial is set at, and this increase is only available for 100msec or so. It can help arc starting for difficult to start rods.

-dseman

[davesisk]

Originally posted by morpheus
Some of the newer machines use different methods right ? or at least they give there method a different name I think.

- jack

Yes, they do. My ESAB can be switched between HF start and touch-start (or lift-arc) for TIG. You set it to stick settings to do scratch start, but that wouldn't work for TIG on the ESAB because that setting turns off the gas solenoid.

Thanks dseman for the clarification on hot start...

Dave