New Oxford welders

[Ruadhán]

First post here,
Looking at buying a new mig welder for the farm and for some fabrication projects to supplement income. I have a couple of questions hopefully someone can answer.

I’m looking on welding supplies direct who have a couple of Oxford welders I like the look of. The two that spring to mind are the;
Oxford 271cs, air cooled, input current 25/32A duty 60% @ 205, max weld 10mm. £1593 inc Vat
Oxford 331cs, air cooled, input current 16/25A, Duty 60% @ 260 max weld 12mm. £1795 inc Vat
I need a single phase machine and preferably an inverter as being the west of Ireland the power supply isn’t great here at the best of times.

Does anyone here have experience with Oxford machines, or the new range they have now to keep up with Regs ?

On paper would you say these are decent specs for the price ?

Will the welder be safe to use on full amperage on the smaller size of suggested/required plugs as there is no ideation as such which to use ?

Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Cheers.

 

[Fazerruss]

Oxford welders aren't full of features like other brands but they are bullet proof machines. I have two. My TIG is used everyday and never fails to earn its keep. I don't use my MIG as much but it's a workhorse with plenty of power.

Had my TIG for 8 years and MIG for 2 years
Tigmaker 270 and Oxford I-MIG 330

 

[eddie49]

There was a discussion about the Oxford 271CS here:

Oxford CS 271

It has arrived after 3 weeks of waiting. Will do full review of Pros & Cons over next few weeks.

www.mig-welding.co.uk

The specs and description of the features are impressive. This caught my eye:
"Unique ARC TUNE control allows operator full control over welding characteristics from CV through to CC"
which implies that the feedback which controls how the inverter output is regulated can be varied from constant voltage to constant current....?

 

[Ruadhán]

I’ve no idea what that feature is to be honest, maybe a bit of a gimmick ?

Thanks I’ll have a look through that discussion now and see

 

[Munkul]

It looks like a feature that most cc/cv inverters have. In cc it adjusts arc force, and in cv it adjusts inductance. Pretty standard really.

 

[oilcooled :)]

I have the older type 410 here and it wasn’t very refined till I upgraded my supply from 12kva sharing a transformer with 7 houses to 29kva with my own transformer beside the shed. It was a completely different machine as good as 3 phase. Changing from direct metering to Ct metering and your own transformer and 160 amp main fuse makes some difference to supply.

 

[Ruadhán]

I have the older type 410 here and it wasn’t very refined till I upgraded my supply from 12kva sharing a transformer with 7 houses to 29kva with my own transformer beside the shed. It was a completely different machine as good as 3 phase. Changing from direct metering to Ct metering and your own transformer and 160 amp main fuse makes some difference to supply.

Unfortunately the power ain’t great here, we are on the end of the line but the transformer is only over the hedge. I’m hoping it should be enough if I do bite the bullet. I’ll have to check what square the cable is currently running from the shed to the house, might need to pull a heavier one yet.
I bet the upgrade cost a pretty penny ?

 

[oilcooled :)]

I gave 5k for the upgrade and in the near future I’ll have no option but to go to 3phase that’s 30k. If the transformers near and there’s not to many houses on it you could be fine, if you look up at it and there writings still on it you will see weather it’s a 15 or 33kva transformer. Where you will get bad power is where there is a group of 7 houses on a 15kva transformer and your at the end of the line coming three or 4 poles from the transformer in low voltage that’s a disaster.

 

[Ruadhán]

I thought it would have been more to be honest for the upgrade ! I have a cousin looking at putting in three phase alright and he did say that was silly money.
I’ll take a look tomorrow and see if the writing is still in it but I highly doubt it as it’s been there a fair while now

 

[fizzy]

I thought it would have been more to be honest for the upgrade ! I have a cousin looking at putting in three phase alright and he did say that was silly money.
I’ll take a look tomorrow and see if the writing is still in it but I highly doubt it as it’s been there a fair while now

Buy an ex standby 3 phase genny!
Or install a forklift battery as a powerwall with a hefty inverter. You will be able to buy electric cheap and use it at peak times from the battery.
Something like this

12KW Three-Phase 48V Hybrid Solar Inverter 230/400VAC Built-in Dual MPPT 260A Charger Controller Dual PV Input Max PV 800VDC - AliExpress 13

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