ESAB Rebel EMP 205ic AC/DC

[George Erasmus]

Hi guys I am looking at one of these machines ESAB Rebel EMP 205ic AC/DC
1.) I like the compact design
2.) Freeing up valuable garage space due to it's all in one design

But often than not these jack of all trade machines can be a bit promise a lot but delivers very little nutcases
I personally own the following machines but my small garage needs space freed up.
I noticed today these machines are no longer available.
Portamig 216s MIG with spot weld timer
Oxford Tig Maker AC/DC 220e with foot pedal

Is there any owners here experts that have switched to the ESAB Rebel EMP 205ic AC/DC that can give their feedback.
Anyone regretted their purchase ESAB Rebel EMP 205ic AC/DC

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[George Erasmus]

No One??

 

[hotponyshoes]

I have got a couple of the DC versions in the workshop, not used them much myself. They are also in a few farriers vans and a couple of farmers have them. No issues to report.
None of these are the ac/dc versions though.

I like the rugged cage design, easy to carry, well-protected for using on site or sticking in a van. I like the way the control panel and the display are recessed in behind the cage to protect from damage.
It would be nice if they also had a protection cover for the controls but it would be easy enough to make a clip-on version yourself.

They do look fairly compact although the cage design and all the handles does mean you can actually get smaller machines with the same spec.

Mig side works fine, the s-mode works very well, it self-learns somehow so you can do a couple of test runs and it will give you nice looking welds with very little effort.
I've nver tested any of these welds for penetratation or anything but they look good from the outside.
I've only ever used the mig side on steel.
It does have programs for stainless and alloy, I have been meening to see if the s-mig mode works on stainless.
It's a single roll feeder so I think you'd want the spool gun to mig alloy.

Arc side works fine as well, the only slightly annoying thing with that is that after selecting arc you have to select again to turn the output live. Most multipurpose machines are like that I think. Has a useful amount of settings and features in the menu

Tig side is fairly basic on mine, I'm not sure exactly what settings it has (read the manual) more than some other multi-process but nothing like a dedicated tig.

I think i have the 215 and the 335
215 is easy to stick in the van.
The 335 has higher power and will take a big spool of wire and a spool gun.
The 335 also has 2 gas inputs so you can keep mig and tig gas connected at the same time.

Downsides, (with multi-process machines)
It's annoying if you have to change stuff around to use each process. The rebel is better than some as you can at least leave the mig torch connected when using the other processes. You'll need to swap arc/tig leads around.

Then there is the price, for the price of these you could have individual, cheaper, mig and tig welders. Both would have more functions and adjustment for the dedicated processes and you can just turn them on and use them rather than going through menus and changing leads around.

The 205ac/dc is probably fine if you are a hobby user who packs everything away when you finish a job.
If you want to weld some alloy at a weekend you can go in Saturday morning, get out the tig leads, set up the machine, Weld away.

If you have a workshop and you are welding up a steel gate on a saturday morning then by lunchtime someone has dropped off a bit of 1/8" alloy they want welding and someone else a 1" lump of cast you'll soon get fed up with the constant process switching and setting and wish you had 2 or 3 independent machines.

I'd think both the machines you have will probably have more features than the 205.
You'll know if you actually use these features or not.
You'll certainly save space on the machine itself. But you then have one machine that either has 2 gas bottles and 2 sets of leads connected (so it's harder to move) or you'll need the space to store the other leads in a way that makes it easy to swap over.

An alternative solution would be to make a custom trolley that holds both of your existing machines, one power lead. Maybe fit long gas hoses so the bottles can sit out of the way.
Or fit long output leads so the machines can sit out of the way?

 

[George Erasmus]

Makes sense if you are using welders for business but for me it is purely hobby purposes and space as I said before I have 2 fairly large welders @ the time I originally bought them I was looking ESAB Rebel EMP 205ic AC/DC but it took forever to be released in the UK and I had a big project at home that needed doing eventually I I bought these two welders. They have served their purpose and could most likely continue to do so.

But the other day I was shuffling things around just to get to the cupboard and the topic came up again as I don't use them that often I could really do with the extra floor space although a new 205ic AC/DC is pricy the odd 2nd hand ones comes up that is not badly priced so I am weighing the options

Does not sound like too many people here have the Appetite to spend £3K for a multi process machine like the 205ic AC/DC

 

[hotponyshoes]

Does not sound like too many people here have the Appetite to spend £3K for a multi process machine like the 205ic AC/DC

That's the thing,
£2-2.5k gets you a really good ac/dc tig that will do arc as well.
£500-1k gets you a good mig welder.
If you have (can justify) £3k to spend on a welder you might well have 3-phase power as well in which case you can get both machines even cheaper.

Same rules apply to used kit, you might get a 205ic well under £3k but you'll be looking at less for dedicated machines used as well.

Also 2 separate machines give you some redundancy if one is out of action for repair or servicing.

Plus £3k is a lot for hobby money. I expect most people who drop £3k will be looking to make some money back on these machines. They'll probably have decent size workshops (so the size of 2 is not a problem), they might be spending that sort of money because they want all the features and they might even have more than one worker so can use more than one machine at the same time.

It's a good machine to carry in a van to cover multiple types of job.
For a workshop , the numbers don't really add up.

 

[George Erasmus]

That's the thing,
£2-2.5k gets you a really good ac/dc tig that will do arc as well.
£500-1k gets you a good mig welder.
If you have (can justify) £3k to spend on a welder you might well have 3-phase power as well in which case you can get both machines even cheaper.

Same rules apply to used kit, you might get a 205ic well under £3k but you'll be looking at less for dedicated machines used as well.

Also 2 separate machines give you some redundancy if one is out of action for repair or servicing.

Plus £3k is a lot for hobby money. I expect most people who drop £3k will be looking to make some money back on these machines. They'll probably have decent size workshops (so the size of 2 is not a problem), they might be spending that sort of money because they want all the features and they might even have more than one worker so can use more than one machine at the same time.

It's a good machine to carry in a van to cover multiple types of job.
For a workshop , the numbers don't really add up.

There is currently a 205ic AC/DC machine only on Ebay for about £1600 but after adding tig/mig torch, earth wire and foot controller, I am again close to the £3K ballpark
Bargain if you have the torches already and then there is the question around why is it being sold

 

[hotponyshoes]

There is currently a 205ic AC/DC machine only on Ebay for about £1600 but after adding tig/mig torch, earth wire and foot controller, I am again close to the £3K ballpark
Bargain if you have the torches already and then there is the question around why is it being sold

If you don't want a brand new one you'll be under 2k easily enough. I expect I can get hold of a demo one for less than that.

I've got a foot pedal somewhere that's never been used, i got it for the 315 so I'll have to dig it out and see if it's the same as the 205 one?

 

[George Erasmus]

That one disappeared quick not long after I posted about that one here it got an offer and was sold