Review Testing £65 Rohr Mini Inverter Arc Welder - recommended

[JOEPRO]

I mentioned this in other threads and some of you were curious so here are my thoughts.

I already had this Impax Arc Welder and rods from screwfix. Bought it a couple of years back and used it on the roof of my carport for light box purlin welding.



More recently I used it to weld some brackets on my garage door. Both times I used it I found it hard to start off an arc unless it was a brand new rod and very careful. Most of the time it stuck badly and buzzed during this until I broke it free. Most times I junked the rod when that happened.

Therefore I was a bit frustrated with it. I don't use it often but when I do it was very difficult!

Some of you mentioned newer inverter arc welders being better. My TIG has arc function but it's too big to take on a roof for example and I also don't want to risk it!

I did alot of research including hours on the old you tube and the Rohr branded 120NI on ebay or Amazon was the best bet.

I chose amazon but doesn't matter which they are both the same vendor. £65 posted. I ordered late Thursday night and it was here sat morning RM 24hr service.



More to come in 2nd post

 

[JOEPRO]

It comes in a plastic carry case with a decent quality earth clamp and electrode holder. A cheap wire brush/ chip hammer is also included and a cheap mask which was so bad I just binned it!

It has a UK moulded plug already fitted and I did pull the fuse to check. It is a UK 13amp fuse so all good.

It has a led rocker on off switch on the back



And is surprisingly small!!



In my non expert opinion the quality of it all is very decent for the money.

When switched on it does make noise from the fan cooling but that's to be expected. I am surprised by how much air it moves. The fan pulls in from the back and a good blow is felt on front and both side vents.

I burned off 4x full weld rods right after each other and felt it after. Zero change it was still cold to touch and air felt cold.

It does have more features than my old arc welder including hot start and anti stick. This does make a huge difference for a novice like me. I found it easy to restart the stick and cannot complain at all.

Some test runs - set at 60 amps for 2.0mm rods



I found it very good to weld with and plenty of power too.

I did get great slag peel too

 

[JOEPRO]

Conclusion:

Pros:

Unbelievable value
Compact size
In a case to keep it all clean in my garage environment
Comes ready to go out of Box with thick quality cables & UK rubber moulded plug

Cons:

The cheap mask is a joke and I binned it. I guess they are ticking a box there for the odd customer who wants a complete kit but would respect them more if they left it out!

Doesn't come with electrodes. I think better to leave out the mask and include a couple of electrodes to get someone started if they don't have any. (But then they might weld with no mask so maybe I'm wrong!)

Highly recommend this little welder I think its fantastic but I am a hobby welder / weekend warrior so take that as you will. It is NOT a pro level machine we know that.

I also sold my Impax arc welder on gumtree for £40 the next day

 

[JOEPRO]

Be warned however guys. Some of these little Chinese arc welders can be dodgy!

This Rohr branded one is fine as I said and to me looking in from the vents etc it looks high quality inside also.

But when researching mini arc welders I see lots on amazon etc blowing trips. And when people check the fuse there is no fuse in the plug but instead a copper pipe!!! That's how they sell some of them on amazon UK. Shocking. I can get a link if anyone doubts this users posted photos of it on the reviews.

I also seen some which don't come with the cables! Just the end terminals.

This Rohr one has something like 200 reviews on amazon UK and 4.5 star average. So it appears dependable quality.

 

[JOEPRO]

I also have 1.6mm and 2.5mm rods coming. All just small qtys as a 2kg Box would still be here in the year 2050!

I would like to try butt welding car repair tin with the 1.6mm rods out of curiosity and nothing else. For example if I had just a very small patch to do on a car It might save me moving cars and dragging my MIG out.

 

[JOEPRO]

It doesn't look pretty but I was just testing the theory and yes you can stuck weld car tin with this welder at 20 amp!



I was also able to rub beads without blowing through. I have my gas mig anyway but wanted to see it it would weld on thin steel.

 

[Mick Annick]

Looks a decent enough bit of kit for what you want. I’ve always truffled with those GYS rods, especially the 1.6mm, let us know how you get on please.

 

[JOEPRO]

Looks a decent enough bit of kit for what you want. I’ve always truffled with those GYS rods, especially the 1.6mm, let us know how you get on please.

I should have clarified that in my post #6 above I was using 1.6mm rods.

Brand was "weld right" from ebay. They appeared decent.

 

[Turbo]

If you can do it without disturbing any security seals I would suggest you open the casing & check for any obvious mistakes like loose connections, badly routed wires, terminals not tightened, etc. I think those Rohr units have some quality control applied but you can never tell with Chinese sourced stuff.

Just be careful not to get shocked, there will be some big capacitors in there! Leave it unplugged for a couple of days to let them discharge before opening the case!

Don't forget to take a photos, there are some members who like looking at circuit boards.

 

[mtt.tr]

What amps does it draw? Would make a cracking service van welder for light repairs.

 

[JOEPRO]

If you can do it without disturbing any security seals I would suggest you open the casing & check for any obvious mistakes like loose connections, badly routed wires, terminals not tightened, etc. I think those Rohr units have some quality control applied but you can never tell with Chinese sourced stuff.

Just be careful not to get shocked, there will be some big capacitors in there! Leave it unplugged for a couple of days to let them discharge before opening the case!

Don't forget to take a photos, there are some members who like looking at circuit boards.

I don't mind opening it. Doesn't look like any seals exist. I'll be careful with it though don't want to break it!

So if I leave it a couple days I shouldn't get murdered by it?

What amps does it draw? Would make a cracking service van welder for light repairs.

I have seen the other thread on here about a clamp meter on amazon. If it works on DC amps too would be worth getting

I can check that with a test plug I have but will leave it off for a couple of days now first.

I was welding at 20 amps on the dial for that car tin. And 60 amps for the 2mm rod. I have 2.5mm rods coming too. But the dial seems accurate enough to be fair.

 

[Turbo]

So if I leave it a couple days I shouldn't get murdered by it?

Should be ok.

I can check that with a test plug I have but will leave it off for a couple of days now first.

I have a short 13a extension lead I made up that has a loop in the live wire before it enters the trailing socket. That allows me to use my clamp meter to check the current draw on any equipment.

 

[JOEPRO]

I opened it in the interest of science and live to tell the tale


I have no idea what I'm looking at. Except the soldering looks half decent and the board is varnished or something.

I tested for earth continuity between the earth eyelet and casing and its fine.

Thoughts from those who know what they are looking at?

 

[JOEPRO]

All screws and connections were tight.

It's still open incase someone sees an issue. Will put the case back on tomorrow eve.

 

[addjunkie]

Its amazing to think……the seller will make 20 quid out of the 65, so in effect the welder was made for about 35 quid after packaging, instruction book, crappy mask, leads etc.

 

[eddie49]

Looks good.
The typical issues can be:
- loose washers or other hardware rolling around inside
- push-on tags at the back of the mains switch not fully home or not tight
- ditto for the four tags on the bridge rectifier, if it is not soldered directly to the board
- loose connections where the Dinse sockets join to the PCB and heatsinks via busbars or thick cables
- poor soldered joints or detached gluing at the heavy ferrite ring transformer
- mains earth not used at all, or not connected to casing.

In this machine the mains earth is connected to the PCB, which is unusual. From there it joins the metal baseplate, then the wrap-around metal case...?

 

[JOEPRO]

Looks good.
The typical issues can be:
- loose washers or other hardware rolling around inside
- push-on tags at the back of the mains switch not fully home or not tight
- ditto for the four tags on the bridge rectifier, if it is not soldered directly to the board
- loose connections where the Dinse sockets join to the PCB and heatsinks via busbars or thick cables
- poor soldered joints or detached gluing at the heavy ferrite ring transformer
- mains earth not used at all, or not connected to casing.

In this machine the mains earth is connected to the PCB, which is unusual. From there it joins the metal baseplate, then the wrap-around metal case...?

I did check the earth and used a multimeter to touch the earth plug pin and metal outer casing. There was continuity present so the casing is earthed.

Exactly how I'm not certain but it is earthed from what I can tell.

 

[fizzy]

Brilliant review - thanks for posting!
People pay more than that for a family meal from Pizza Hut

 

[tom2207]

Its one of those amazingly German sounding names that China has adopted , my friends son got one for xmas , and its a cracking wee thing.
Great review thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[JOEPRO]

I wasn't expecting to be able to run beads along thin autobody repair tin. It welds nicely at 20 amps and 1.6mm rods



This means I'll probably use this alot more than I thought. Compared to using my MIG or TIG for certain small repairs it's likely cheaper too. (Just rods expended and not gas and filler rod etc)