AC Buzz Box vs DC

[tombardier]

Greetings,

I enjoy arc welding, but I'd like to enjoy it more, and I'm considering getting a DC machine after reading that it's generally supposed to get better results at the kind of currents that I will be using, and it's supposed to be a lot easier to strike the arc with etc (really jealous of the people who tap once, and they're off!). I've got a Sureweld 140 at the moment. I'm wondering how cheaply I could get a DC welder that does up to 140-150amps. Anyone got any recommendations? Would any DC arc welder be an improvement over my little buzz box?

 

[cumbriasteve]

I went from a buzz box to a R-tech 140amp MMA, a world of difference, so much easier to use, lighter to carry and no blowing fuses on full whack, think they are about £150 at the moment but I have read they are worth a call for ex demo or factory marked machines sometimes.

 

[Robotstar5]

We got a small inverter welder at work and even I can use it due to easy strike/anti-stick technology!.
Got one of our (proper) welders to try it and he reckons they're a lot better/easier to use than the old buzz box type.

 

[StickNtig]

Definitly worth getting a half decent DC set over any AC set IMO

 

[tombardier]

thanks guys. The r-tech 140m looks like it might be up my street

 

[gavuk]

I have an invertor,I like oil cooled(bantams etc) and loathe buzzboxs .....a decent oilcooled or invertor everytime

 

[oilcooled :)]

i prefer oil cooleds to invertors, i hate infinate variable amps, i love on the oilcooled how you have about 10 different choices, and after that tough, but its like oxford found the sweet spots for you, save you having to look for them which can be a pain,

 

[gavuk]

i prefer oil cooleds to invertors, i hate infinate variable amps, i love on the oilcooled how you have about 10 different choices, and after that tough, but its like oxford found the sweet spots for you, save you having to look for them which can be a pain,

As a youngster you are supposed to embrace technology ....I will admit I'm not that fussy that I need a digital readout, 5-10amps on a dial is close enough ,but the extra control it gives for positional work is useful ....If you can use an oilcooled an invertor should be easier,same control over arc length etc and dc you can change polarity

 

[shenion]

Does not need to be an inverter for DC. I have a big transformer AC/DC machine (and does TIG.)

Inverters are nice for portability and power efficiency. My air-cooled AC/DC one make those oil-cooled ones look like small toys

 

[gavuk]

....If you can use an oilcooled an invertor should be easier,same control over arc length etc and dc you can change polarity

Scott I only referred to oil cooled,which you have to add a rectifier which itself costs as much as an invertor to get dc,,,.........we wouldn't class your monster as a buzzbox either ......yours is stepless and dc,so easier than an oilcooled?

 

[pedrobedro]

I gave a friend of mine a 140 amp oil cooled Triangle AC welder which worked fine but I didn't need it and it was in the way. It took two of us to lift it into his car boot. He is a fitter/welder by trade and makes excellent use of it, loves it to bits and has given it a new set of cables a trolley and a coat of paint so it looks like it just came from the factory.

 

[PTvor]

Inverters certainly have advantages, small, light, efficient, features to make life easier such as hot start, fewer problems with difficult rods, smoother arc, generally better duty cycle than a buzz box.

The disadvantage is that if they go wrong they probably can't be fixed except at a good part of their purchase price. They don't like damp, metal dust or being dropped and knocked about.

On balance they are well worth the extra, especially if you look after them a bit.

 

[oilcooled :)]

was using my inverter the other day in a shed about 400 yards from the house, best of armoured cable is laid from the house up the farm, erecting gates and barriers, using 30 foot cables coming out of the machine, well it was as unstable spitting and farting, couldnt get a bad vertical it was behaving that bad, thoughtut well thats it, down to the shed loaded my bantam onto the tractor and box, up to the shed, beutiful welds out of positon, and i was welding galvanise.. whats the explanation for that behaviour of the welder, which up until that had beeen good, and is a parweld machine,

 

[slimjim]

Does not need to be an inverter for DC. I have a big transformer AC/DC machine (and does TIG.)

Inverters are nice for portability and power efficiency. My air-cooled AC/DC one make those oil-cooled ones look like small toys

that's what I use, a TIG transformer, welds far better than the clark AC machine I used to have, and its much easier to change the power, starts much easier, you can do some decent welds down to 2mm

 

[shenion]

whats the explanation for that behaviour of the welder, which up until that had beeen good, and is a parweld machine,

Inverters are software controlled. On a good stable power source, they work well. The monitor the output current and voltage and vary a PWM signal.

When there is a significant drop in the line, the software can't keep up with the voltage changes.

Better inverters will have no problem. Some will go nuts, others will just burn up.

 

[gavuk]

Never used an invertor on long leads,always thought its better to take the supply closer to the weld?....our 110/240volt at work could be fussy on supply,we just switched to 240v when the HS manager wasn't around our oilcoooled and miller gen/welds handled extremely long cables without a problem .....I still hate buzz boxs

 

[tombardier]

I'm tempted by one of these, with their lifetime transformer guarantee _only_ 30kg too! lol

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TONCO-OIL-COOLED-140-amp-ARC-WELDER-220volt-/370325173091?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item563919b363

 

[oilcooled :)]

Inverters are software controlled. On a good stable power source, they work well. The monitor the output current and voltage and vary a PWM signal.

When there is a significant drop in the line, the software can't keep up with the voltage changes.

Better inverters will have no problem. Some will go nuts, others will just burn up.

thanks for that, cause i was thinking of giving mine a lesson with the ex120 digger it annoyed me that much . .

I'm tempted by one of these, with their lifetime transformer guarantee _only_ 30kg too! lol

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TONCO-OIL-COOLED-140-amp-ARC-WELDER-220volt-/370325173091?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item563919b363

im definately buying one, definately at that money fair bit lighter than the bantams for mobile work, and a way ahead of buzz boxes, and it probably wont play up like the inverter

 

[brightspark]

I'm tempted by one of these, with their lifetime transformer guarantee _only_ 30kg too! lol

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TONCO-OIL-COOLED-140-amp-ARC-WELDER-220volt-/370325173091?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item563919b363

theres only 4 power settings on it i mainly weld between 90 and 100 amp . thats a fair gap between amperages

 

[oilcooled :)]

theres only 4 power settings on it i mainly weld between 90 and 100 amp . thats a fair gap between amperages

when your good your good tho