Newbie here

[ebiff2k]

Hi all new to register on the forums but I have lurked for a while now. I have been gifted a old Ark welder by my better half's gran-parents. Its a old unit (manuals show early 80's?) Its a Sureweld badged unit but made by CEA (Costruzioni Elettromeccaniche Annettoni spa italy) electronic 175

I've never arc welded before only ever done a little Mig and Tig. Can anyone give me any info on this welder? Is it just a basic buzz box? Its only ever been used once or twice and is in very very good condition (almost new)







Also I understand this is used for brazing/spot welding? Any ideas?


Thanks all

chris

 

[madkayaker]

Its just a basic buzz box. One of the tools looks to be an carbon arc welding tool which were marketed to allow gas type welding with out gas! when your uploading photos it's best to upload direct to site instead of image shack as in a few weeks the photos will have disappeared!

 

[the artfull-codger]

It's a carbon ark brazing attatchment you can't weld with it, a lot of people poo poo ''buzz boxes'' as they call them but I've used an oil filled ark welder & an air cooled one for 40 odd yrs with no problems, the modern electronic ones strike the ark easier etc I'm led to believe, but as said nothing wrong with my welding.
slan go fol

 

[Sub-arc]

CEA make good stuff. It looks a little bit more than a basic buzz box with the thyristor amp adjustment. Should be nice n smooth.

 

[keith19]

It should be a nice machine to work with, and if you are beginning arc welding it's probably one of the best 'buzz-box' type to learn with.

It will probably blow the plug fuse in a 13Amp domestic circuit if you try to use it over about 135-140 Amps, so you might be advised to get a 15 or 20 Amp circuit put in if you need to use it at the top end of the range.

As said already, CEA make great kit. I have its little brother, the 126Amp, and it is the best buzz-box I've ever used, and punches well above its weight. When my 150Amp Clarke mig can't tackle the job, out comes the little 126 CEA...

 

[ebiff2k]

Thanks for your input people. I picked up some rods from Halfords the other day, gonna liberate some mild from work tonight and have a crack tomorrow. Sadly I rent at the moment so I have to live with the 13amp socket in the garage for now!

I will post back the results!!

Thanks

Chris

 

[Jester]

I learnt arc welding using a buzzbox and it did all I needed.
I recently upgraded to an invertor and my welds have improved.
In hindsight, I struggled to learn with 'poor' kit but this has (hopefully) improved my technique.
Last week, in work, I used their industrial welder (1st time ever) and found this even easier than my invertor.
The point I'm making is that if you learn on 'bottom of the range' kit, you can only improve when you upgrade - I would be embarassed if I'd only used top kit then had to use a buzzbox
Good luck with the - hope you enjoy welding and take it up longterm