Thread: Which Arc Welder

Oops, I think my boys were a bit out with pricing....I should remember as I buy them.....guess that's what the sales rep is for.

Originally Posted by weeds

In the work truck we have three.......well the boys have three to choose from

BOC Smootharc Elite. It's a dear one and is the pick of them......15amp.

Smootharc elite is a German made EWM unit. Superior quality, but does come at a cost.
I would do nasty things for the new range of EWM taurus machines...
I've played with a few of the high end machines, (Stick, pulse MIG and TIG) and they really do lay a good weld, even for a bloke like me who is a average welder to begin with.

Bought one of these a few years back - great little unit.

https://weldingstore.tokentools.com....c-205-stl.html

a few more to consider:

https://weldingstore.tokentools.com....c-welders.html.

cheers

Originally Posted by Toxic_Avenger

Smootharc elite is a German made EWM unit. Superior quality, but does come at a cost.
I would do nasty things for the new range of EWM taurus machines...
I've played with a few of the high end machines, (Stick, pulse MIG and TIG) and they really do lay a good weld, even for a bloke like me who is a average welder to begin with.

Does this also apply to the non-Elite models? BOC Smootharc 170 MMA Welder | BOC Australia

Negative.
But at a price point 75% off the EWM units, it's to be expected.

Still plenty of punch in the MMA 170.

Turns out this one - which I have used for handyman stuff - is in special and another 20% off if you opt for a 1 year warranty instead of 5 years.

https://weldingstore.tokentools.com....ne-arc162.html

Had a look at the link you had for the inverter welder. Check the duty cycle. You will only be able to do light welding for any period of time. Duty cycle drops of at 3.2 mm rod size. This is why a good old school copper coil welder is a good choice. You should be able to weld all day with 3.2 mm rods. Avoid welders with aluminum wound coils, won`t last long at all. I picked up a old Peerless copper coil welder. It has four coils and switches between them so has a continuous duty cycle. It also has dual voltage so you can weld either heavy or light gauge metal. But any old copper coil welder would be good. So look at the duty cycle, it is what separates the cheap from the good. Unless you don`t mind standing around waiting for your welder to restart.
Cheers Hall

Agree with above, but on the contrary, don't think that you need a machine with a 100% duty cycle.
Stick welding by nature is not a fast process. There is plenty of arc-off time where you are fitting up the job, chipping slag, changing electrodes, sipping a beer etc...
So while you should avoid a machine with 10% duty cycle at 50% of it's supposed 'max' output (ie 10% @ 65A on a 130A machine), keep in mind anythign around 30% duty cycle at 80% of it's rated output will be more than fine for the home gamer.

I did a torture test on a 170A red machine once. Had the dial cranked to the metaphorical '11', and proceeded to burn 4mm 7016 rods on 10mm steel plate. Could not hit duty cycle. Bent the plate like a banana due to all the heat too.