theres a hobart oerlikon beta mig 320 on ebay.It looks massive and ancient,but does any1 know if they are any good?have 3 phase at friends unit but not seen one of these b4.Any help appreciated.
The Hobart Brothers company was split/sold and resold years ago. As part of the first deal, the new company could not sell equipment over 250 amps. If you go on their current site, you will not be able to find documentation for the older, larger machines. They will refer you to a form you fill out and pay for the data.
That being said, they used common consumables and Tweco guns (Parweld and others sell guns and consumables for Tweco.). The few Hobarts I have seen were ancient and built to last forever. I sold a 30+year old Hobart wire feeder I had bought off ebay, still worked great after some cleanup. The other older Hobart feeders were all steel with 2 or 4 rollers that were all gear driven and a massive motor.
Euto torch, so you can get a new torch if spares are a problem (there is no pick of torch in ad.) Very nice with long leads, that alone is probably worth £150 in scrap.
The ID plate does not say the output current/voltage range clearly. You might want to ask the seller whet the minimum is. It had better not be the 150A shown on the plate
You may not be able to get wire feed rollers for it easily. Ask the seller what size are included. My Airco feeder is that way, I made some on a lathe.