Anyone heard of PELA?

[simon75]

i am completely new to welding, looking to buy my first machine, found a decent (on paper) MMA inverter, but no one has heard of the brand.
It's :PELA (arc160a IGBT)...:

heres a link if you want to see it, (sorry its in swedish)

http://www.verktygsboden.se/svetsinvertrar/svetsinverter-arc160a?back=1

25-160A
60% @160A Duty cycle

any info god or bad would be helpful ,,cheers

 

[Sub-arc]

Hi Simon. There are so many names put on the same machine its going to be difficult to tell the make. Someone here may recognize the machine and know it under a different brand. Its quite distinctive looking (front panel)

You could ask the supplier to tell you the country of manufacture. 160amps @60% is a good duty cycle though.

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

Looks very much like this SIP, external wise, but the SIP has a higher power output
http://www.sipuk.co.uk/tools/info_SIP05250.html


This is the 160A SIP but is without the digi display. Has the same duty cycle as yours. looks like maybe your machine has these internals but the case of the one above.
http://www.sipuk.co.uk/tools/info_SIP05246.html


Even the rod holder and clamp look the same!

 

[simon75]

thanks for the replies.. it certainly looks just like the SIP machine... its crazy how many machines are all the same, just with different logos.

everyone i know suggests a mig welder, but i like the simplicity of the arc...
so i have narrowed my search down to 3 models

1:the above mentioned Pela

2:Telwin force 165.

http://www.telwin.com/webtelwin/site.nsf/webindex?openform&E

3:Ben royal 200 inverter
(link is swedish but you can get the gist of the spec)

http://www.tradlost.se/shop/product.php?productid=16752&cat=0&page=1

with the pela i am not 100% certain the specs are true as i heard a rumor some retailers fabricate the true data, such as duty cycles.

lookin forward to your comments.

 

[simon75]

Just got a reply from the supplier in regard to the welders origin of manufacture...

Quote: "It is produced in one of China's largest welding factories"

so back to aquare one... buying a welder is worse than choosing a new mobile phone!!

 

[PTvor]

I don't think where the machine was made is as important as the confidence you can have in the company importing and selling it.

How long have they been going for? Are they likely to stay in business? Do they offer a decent guarantee? Do they have a reputation for dealing with guarantee claims with no arguments? Are they going to offer support after the guarantee is up (will they fix it for a charge?) or do they just want to forget it?

I don't know about fabricating duty cycles, but they often don't state the temperature at which the duty cycles are quoted. A 50% duty cycle at 150A and 40C, is a more impressive specification than 50% at A150A and 20C.

 

[simon75]

is there any way of working out duty cycles at 40c?? as most retailers are just quoting 20c duty cycles like you said.

 

[PTvor]

Some makers specify 40C duty cycles and some (most) forget the temperature when they specify the duty cycle. It costs money to add the extra heat sinking and the quality parts which can deliver at 40C. Some specify both

e.g.

http://www.gys.fr/pdf/datasheet/uk/015456.pdf


Which seems to specify 45% @80A @20C

and 6% @ 31A @ 40C

which gives a rough idea of the effect different temperatures have.

It would be interesting to see graphs of duty cycle against ambient temperature. My guess is they tail off very sharply as temperature increases.

However, the point is not that we want to weld in a tin shed in Saudi Arabia in the summer, it's that we want a fair basis on which to compare various machines as regards duty cycle. This was the intention of the EU specification which makers, at least most of the cheaper ones, have found a way to skate round by being vague about the temperature and relying on the assumption that most people want to weld at 20C or less. The thermal protection ought to bail the welder out of any problems...........

In amateur welding you're not forced to burn rod after rod at max amps, there are natural pauses and it makes sense not to push gear you've paid for too hard. If someone else is paying you can reasonably assume they have thought about these things and if they haven't that's their problem.

If I was looking for a new inverter I'd be interested in looking at at one of these

http://www.weldequip.com/mma-welders.htm

or maybe Parweld

or maybe EWM or Lorch.

One of the local welding shops uses ThermalArc and they look very big and not at all cheap

However, I'm not sure this has helped you very much with choosing an inverter. It rather depends on what the market is like in Sweden, and as I say, what confidence you have in the sellers.

 

[simon75]

ank you for your reply, it has cleared up a lot of concerns i had with temperatures & Duty cycles, i appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me. I had a laugh at the welding in a tin shed in saudi..haha (a Good point though!) right now the temperature, where i am, in Sweden. Is on average
-6 °C... so it should keep the inverter cooler than the Arabian tin shed!

i'll take a thorough look at your recommendations and see what sort of specs a well seasoned welder would choose.

cheers, Simon

 

[simon75]

Just checked out a great little ESAB inverter ... i really can not figure why its over £100 cheaper in the UK than in Sweden even though ESAB is Swedish!

 

[PTvor]

- 6C average?

I'd forget about arc welders of any sort and get an oxy-acetylene set and some brazing rods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_(colloquial_expression))

 

[PTvor]

Just checked out a great little ESAB inverter ... i really can not figure why its over £100 cheaper in the UK than in Sweden even though ESAB is Swedish!

ESAB is Swedish . Are you sure about that? They seem to have been part of Charter International since 1994, which has always been thought to be British but since 2008 has been incorporated in Ireland.

Then we have Rolls Royce cars, currently a part of BMW, and Volvo which was bought by Ford and now appears to be Chinese.

How about Elga? Good Swedish boys and their rods are good, every pack says "Made in Sweden".

"Elga is part of the global group ITW (Illinois Tools Works Inc). Elga´s role is to form a base for a continued expansion in the field of welding consumables on the European market."

The fact that an EASB welder can be bought for £100 less in the UK than in Sweden reflects all sorts of things, not the least that importing one and having it dubbed a "grey import" if anything goes wrong, is likely to amount to at least £100 of cost and hassle.

 

[simon75]

ESAB = Elektriska Svetsnings AktieBolaget

(Electrical Welding LTD)

founded in Göteborg (gothenburg)

but now i see (like you wrote), Charter plc acquired ESAB In 1994 !

also, thanks for the link: brass monkeys!!: ha ha ha

.... last winter was -25°C.....that was brass monkeys ...