Hand held all-in-one (plus the ground lead) arc welder

[skotl]

I've been offered this for free to do a review. My expectations are infinitesimally low....

Even if it was any good (and doesn't immediately melt) I suspect it's five years too late, give how good, tiny and inexpensive these little 100A arc welders are from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F222P85Z

Still - should be interesting,..

 

[skotl]

Just reading the existing reviews and I wonder how long the mains cord is - unless it's very long then I suspect this will manage to be less portable than a traditional welding unit.

I shall report back!

 

[zx9]

I shall report back!

I don't need or want one but I am looking forward to hearing what you make of or with that.

Have fun.

 

[Mark 2]

Game changer or gameshow?

 

[Turbo]

You will need a 5kva 110v yellow box to run that. Are they providing that too?

 

[skotl]

You will need a 5kva 110v yellow box to run that. Are they providing that too?

Good spot. Not a problem for me if so, but I'd be astonished if the listing was right. Most of these product descriptions are way off.

Here's an example of a (surprisingly not-terrible) portable saw I got a few weeks ago:

Even assuming that puny little motor really was 3KW, that would suggest that the poor 20V battery would be supplying 150A

 

[Barking Mat]

I suspect that welder is absolute junk.

 

[skotl]

I suspect that welder is absolute junk.

I suspect that too
Always good to approach a review with an open mind

 

[Erie Fred]

Good spot. Not a problem for me if so, but I'd be astonished if the listing was right. Most of these product descriptions are way off.

Here's an example of a (surprisingly not-terrible) portable saw I got a few weeks ago:

View attachment 496753


Even assuming that puny little motor really was 3KW, that would suggest that the poor 20V battery would be supplying 150A

Is that blade on backwards ?

 

[skotl]

Don't think so? But that's the advert, not real life

 

[chrismac]

Is that blade on backwards ?

well spotted they usually cut up to the front

 

[Erie Fred]

well spotted they usually cut up to the front

This one must "self Feed"......right across the sheet....

 

[skotl]

Well, the votes are in and my conclusion is: Surprisingly good, yet utterly pointless.

It comes in a handy, small case and comes with the usual throwaway mask and what look like highly flammable gloves It also came with 20 unmarked rods.

It has an on/off button on the base and, very unusually for an arc welder, a power trigger. If you don't pull the trigger then the rod isn't live, which I think is actually very useful.

The rod fits into a circular hole and is fixed by turning a plastic knurled wheel.

There's a wheel on the top that allows you go from an alleged 20A to an equally alleged 200A. I've only tried it today at an indicated 100A.

In action, noting that I'm a crap stick welder without the added complexity of this thing. Note that I try without the trigger a couple of times, deliberately, to verify that it really does cut the current:

The results - on a par with my usual arc-wizardy:

The 230V fused mains lead is 1.3m long and the (rubbish) return lead is 1.5m. Given that neither are replaceable this means being within a metre of a plug socket, which isn't massively convenient and kind of undoes the "portable" argument.


So overall, it performed better than I expected it to, is probably somewhat portable in that you can wrap it up in its dinky little case. But then, for 75% of the cost you can buy a dinky "normal" arc welder off Amazon that has longer, detachable leads. And a stinger is a lot easier to handle than this (admittedly light) gun.

 

[Mark 2]

So, the short leads sre to fit the case, I should think.
Struggling to see any advantages really, even the portability aspect makes little difference in the context of all the other bits needed for even a small site visit.
And there's always that chance that other trades could snigger once the case has been opened.

 

[skotl]

So, the short leads sre to fit the case, I should think.
Struggling to see any advantages really, even the portability aspect makes little difference in the context of all the other bits needed for even a small site visit.
And there's always that chance that other trades could snigger once the case has been opened.

Pretty much!

 

[Turbo]

It's hard enough to manipulate a welding rod in a stinger but this gadget is making that even harder by making you stinger heavier and effectively making the rod longer.

As others have said I don't see the point in this.

 

[skotl]

It's hard enough to manipulate a welding rod in a stinger but this gadget is making that even harder by making you stinger heavier and effectively making the rod longer.

As others have said I don't see the point in this.

100% agree. I’m a rubbish enough stick welder at the best of times but being even further away from the workpiece made it even harder.

 

[BrokenBiker]

so basically, its less portable than my inverter with 4 meter leads? surprised it actually worked though, i suppose as a last dith attempt to get something stuck together it would do the job

 

[Barking Mat]

Go on, run a load of beads at near full power, see how long it lasts...

 

[skotl]

Go on, run a load of beads at near full power, see how long it lasts...

That's not a terrible idea. It's not as if I'm ever likely to use it again...