Welbach TIG any good

[fizzy]

These machines on fleabay look pretty good for the money.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/welder-TI...858?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c35d939da

I have a 3 phase supply so thinking of the entrix 315amp £1035 or the Alpha 335 amp for £1506. That is a lot cheaper than the 3 phase RTECH for example.

I know to run the higher amps I will need water cooling - will any cooler work?

Finally what sort of thickness ally will these weld?



cheers

 

[PTvor]

I'd have serious doubts about spending £1,500 on something on ebay, and especially something from outside the country, e.g. no local support if it goes wrong and maybe not much assurance the seller is going to be in business in 12 months time.

 

[zzr1200]

If I had a 3 phase supply these are the type of welding units I'd be looking for on fleabay, but only buy one from a seller that has a 3 phase supply and understands YOU WILL BE TESTING IT, before handing the cash over or the sale is off....


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESAB-L-TE...680?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c74fb2368


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MILLER-45...338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c74fb0aa2

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MILLER-DI...145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c74fabbc1

 

[Shox Dr]

^^What he said for sure.

 

[fizzy]

I did a search on here and saw someone who has good things to say about those webach tigs. That is just one person though!

Forgive my ignorance but do those older tigs have all the fancy levels of control you need that the modern inverter style have?

I will guess they have the potential to be more reliable originally but I doubt they will have had an easy life?

And does anyone know about this seller on Ebay - of the older machines/ He seems to have great feedback which must be a good sign.

 

[langy]

If I had a 3 phase supply these are the type of welding units I'd be looking for on fleabay, but only buy one from a seller that has a 3 phase supply and understands YOU WILL BE TESTING IT, before handing the cash over or the sale is off....


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESAB-L-TE...680?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c74fb2368


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MILLER-45...338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c74fb0aa2

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MILLER-DI...145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c74fabbc1

x 2, I picked up a Synchowave 350 complete with cooler for £500

 

[squazy84]

I bought a syncrowave 275 3 phase from a guy called ballon1 or similar on ebay and he ran a welder repair service,any problems I had with the welder since purchase around 3 years ago were simple and he was able to get parts promptly and fully understood the workings of the machine he sold me,I would buy again from this guy.ebay is no good for warranty imo I believe the most important part of the welder is the operator

 

[500e]

I have a Miller Dial Arc you can have for £400 with cooler

 

[wyn]

If you look a bit further down the ebay page there is a video of the factory and all the signs are in chinese.

 

[fizzy]

I wasn't daft enough to think they were made in the Farterland!!! And so what if they were lol

 

[PTvor]

You might drop a PM to Welderfixer who's a member on here and see what he thinks about how easy these are to repair.

If anything goes wrong, even under warranty, sending it back to Germany might work out very dear and have all sorts of delays. I may have missed it but it wasn't obvious from the ebay ad what the warranty period was and what the terms and conditions were.