Thread: Inverter stick welders - advice wanted

I am no expert (just a farmer) but for 5mm steel, you will not need 3 phase.

You might need a 15A power socket though, depending upon how many amps you go up to.

I've got a BOC. Not the cheapest but full supply of parts.

They weld much nicer than the old fashioned stick welders. The newer electronics seem to make it easier to strike and make an even bead than the old transformer type welders.

Just bought a 200 AMP inverter Stick, Mig, Scratch TIG welder from Tokentools.

The owner set up a fabrication/machining shop years ago, and was horrified at the cost of brand name welding equipment.

He now has his own designs, manufactured to his specs, in a single, ISO certified factory in China, using toshiba parts. Ships them back to Oz, and sells them at a good price, with 3 year warranty.

Apparently has had NO failures/returns , with only a 0.5% component failure at manufacture. He even offers a 30 day money back guarantee. If you don't like the welder.............. send it back.

For just a plain stick welder, the miniarc142 got rave reviews, at a cost of $465.00 outperformed other comparable stick welders that cost up to $1000.00

Won't hurt to check them out.

I agree with the previous comments
The welders from Token tools are very good.
200 amps are more than enough for 5 mm welding.
Look for the duty cycle of the welders, as an example 200 amps at 30%.
Have a look THIS model

I've got this:

Dandy Gas

and it will do thick plate no probs. The only drawback I can think of when comparing the 170 vs the 130 is the plug - it's 15amp (Bigger earth blade) but then I've got access to 15amp outlets.

The advantage is that the 170 will do 85amp @ 100%. So you can do decent runs on heavy stuff.

Hell of a difference - inverter the size of a handbag vs a monster transformer. And it's true that the inverter makes stick welding easier.

Originally Posted by Chucaro

I agree with the previous comments
The welders from Token tools are very good.
200 amps are more than enough for 5 mm welding.
Look for the duty cycle of the welders, as an example 200 amps at 30%.
Have a look THIS model

I was tempted to get that one, but I went for the simplicity of MIG, and I scored it for about a grand.


Also of note:

Alot of cheaper units I've seen have a minimum Amp setting of 50 amps, often with a high/low toggle. A little too high for welding thin sheet. You want to be able to wind it back to about 30 Amps or lower for those jobs.

Great feedback guys, exactly what I wanted.

Given that you have 3 phase power, If it as me and I was after bang for buck, I would buy a quality 3 phase power mig welder and run gasless wire. 3 phase quality migs come up cheap because most business buy new and most handy men dont have 3 phase power. You would end up with a versitile welder that you can grow with. Most welding supply places of good repute would have machine that they know of or maybe traded.
cheers
blaze

When I was looking at the invertor welders one thing that attracted me to them was the ability of some to put a TIG attachment to. At the time about 8years ago I did not have the $1500.00 they wanted. I opted for a MIG instead.
On a different mix of things Lane you could run gas less wire in the MIG and forget about the bottles - that is what I do now, not as nice as running a MIG on gas but a hell of a lot cheaper than bottle rental.