Review Cheap eBay 200amp single phase inverter MMA

(very) Occasionally I will do a little MMA welding on a job that comes in. Often these jobs are too big for me to get through the workshop doors or it is easier to just not unload them from the trailer they were delivered on, etc.

For the past four years I have used my dual voltage 110/240 volt X 200amp dc Tig machine, plugging the torch and return into the available dinse sockets on the machine's front panel. Normally my TIG lives on a shelf and is attached to a cylinder of Argon and I have to disconnected it from the cylinder to do a 5 minute MMA job, so for two years I considered purchasing a dedicated single phase MMA inverter welder for these small jobs.... maybe only a maximum of two or three hours of work per year.

So I shopped around with cheapness rather than brand loyalty being my priority in this particular instance. This is what I found on ebay for £34.99 so I thought "Well, it's a Blue one, I'll give it a punt" ..... it has since risen in price twice from the date of my original purchase.



So I bought it on Monday 12th of August and it arrived directly from China on Saturday 24th of August. It was delivered by Royal Mail, although the box it came in was just and I mean just a little too large to post through our standard letter box.


Just to make it absolutely clear, I deliberately purchased this welder as a bare unit without a mains plug, without leads, without a return clamp or electrode holder, and without any other accessories such as chipping hammer, cheapo-dodgy mask, etc.

You can buy more expensive versions of this welder with these items and accessories including a plastic storage case if you want to, but basically I did not want any more low quality leads or cheap welding accessories cluttering up my workshop...………… I have several reasonable quality spare sets of MMA leads and torches, etc that were supplied with both my Mig & Tig plants when they were new.

 

This is what I received:





After fitting a standard UK 13amp plug and digging out a MMA electrode holder, a return clamp and fitting the supplied 10/25 dinse male plugs to my leads I decided to give it a go with some Super 6 brand 2.5mm and 3.2mm 6013 electrodes that have lived in a damp wooden shed for sometime.

Switching the machine on with the red switch located on the rear of the casing is straight forward and the cooling fan immediately springs to life. Switching the unit off with the same red switch though is slightly different as the switch does not go straight to the off position, it sticks slightly and allows the fan to run until the unit is sufficiently cooled and then the unit switches it's self off with an audible click.
While it is doing this the machine will not strike an arc at the electrode..... you have to click the switch fully on to do that.

I obtained some scrap material, fitted the return clamp to it and installed a 2.5mm electrode in the holder, made a guess for 75amps on the dial switch and went for it............ and I was really surprised at how the stable the arc was as I laid a quick bead down, this I repeated four more times in succession without this little welder missing a beat or over heating. So I immediately turned the set up to an estimated 100amps and repeated this with 5 X 3.2mm electrodes and again this little welder did not misbehave and maintained a lovely arc that was almost a pleasure to listen to. I then switched the machine off, but it took a couple of minutes or so to cool down enough for it to shut down.

First impressions.............. I really like this lightweight, tiny little single phase inverter set.

Today I shall dig out some 4mm electrodes and give them a try and if everything goes well I will use this machine on a paying job later this week.

 

that's a really decent review, thanks for taking the time to write it up

I'm quite impressed. I've seen an awful lot worse machine that cost more than that... and based on one I saw, I assumed most of these ultra cheap inverters were POS that could barely run a 3.2mm rod.

I'll be really impressed if it can run 5 4.0mm rods on the bounce, though

Pics of weld beads?

 

did we see a review of one of these a few week ago said the power what they where saying is about half of what there showing

 

Do you get the same result if you remove the plug without turning the unit off, on some inverters, the fan will run until the main capacitors and DC rail are discharged?

 

It never occurred to me to try that.

A change in plans means this little set will sit on the shelf until Friday, when I'll put it through all its paces with a few 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.2mm and 4mm Super 6 brand 6013 rods including some 2.5mm stainless steel ones if I can find them. Somewhere in a long forgotten dusty, cobweb infested corner is one of those old carbon rod arc brazing kits from the 1980s knocking about, if I can find it I'll include that in the review.

A friend has called me and said he has just passed through the Lock between Lake Loathing and Oulton so I'm off lure fishing on the broads for a the next couple of days.

 

i have had one similar to that for some time now,it wont weld a battleship but is super portable, starts easily and hasnt let the magic smoke out yet

 

Let me know how the predator fishing is as had no reports this year?

 

I can't get my head around how small it is.

8 inch long front to back.
Less than 3 1/2 inch wide.
Not even 5 inch high.

I shall be watching this thread with interest.

 

£33 special on BangGood at the moment

https://www.banggood.com/ZX7-200-mi...=159511802&sc_uid=e7m6Yd2TzV&cur_warehouse=CN

 

The OP is due back today from his fishing trip on the broads.

Over the weekend we may see some more details, including a trial of M4 rods.
.

 

Is it possible to upload some pics of your welds ?

 

Someone asked on Monday for pics of weld beads.

 

It's so tiny
It's so cheap
It's so little
You could even put it in your pocket
The picture with the coca cola can is EPIC

Anyway I can not thrust in something like that
It's to little ,I doubt that it can last because essentially the components are tightly put in a small enclosure , not enough air dissipation and probably it will clogged with dust in no time
In my opinion

 

I know this is the impression on seeing the photos. It is hard to go against the logic.

Only time will tell assuming the OP let's us know further down the road.

 

I bought a cheap inverter welder but is a decent sized welder , good an true duty cycle,it isn't a fronius but for what I paid is good enough
I took it almost a year ago , little bit struggling with E6010 but it can run them up to 4mm no problems with other rods up to 4mm
I took it because the leads , not good quality neoprene rubber copper leads but pvc copper ones ,both 8 meters long
I had to change the ground clamp and the electrode holder because ,I mold them at the first rod (4mm E6010 at 160A ,and it ran good enough for me ) , now I have to replace the power cord because it got bent and it's starting causing issues
But the core itself so welder is good
I used it full power to cut through H beams no problems

 

It's gotta be worth £33!

 

You could always use it as a doorstop. What was it the adverts used to say...."Not a toy, but a fascinating adult conversation piece"

 

Expensive doorstop.