Oxford 241 mig - are they any good?

[e5c0rt.mk1]

Hi
Just bought a old oxford 241 single phase mig.
Dont know alot about it just waiting for it to be delivered. I cant seem to find anything about the 241 on google.

Just wondering what people think of them are the good?

Thanks Owen

 

[tlovatt]

They are good machines, the same factory as Tecarc and Portamig. I believe the machine is the same, but with the wire drum on top and some extra smoothing capacitors. You also get that warm glow from buying a British built machine

http://www.oxfordwelders.co.uk/singlephasemig.html

Is the manufacturers website (not that it really tells you anything)

p.s. do not get your hopes up over the instruction manual! the rest of the machine should be good. You may also find that the welder and you other bits (regulator, torch etc) come as 2 separate shipments if it is a new machine

 

[e5c0rt.mk1]

Hi
Thanks for the info !

The one i have bought is quite old, the only info i can find about the same style welder is
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/20-year-old-oxford-turbo-mig-181.59922/

Its that style of welder i have bought but it is a 241

Thanks again

 

[tlovatt]

I suspect you will find that little has changed (Their R&D budget is probably on a par with their manual writing budget). I have a Tecarc machine and its great. At times I would like the portability of an inverter unit, but then I realise by the time you add the wire and gas bottle it makes little difference.

 

[blenkie1]

I have the newer 240 model and agree they are good little machines. Was asking a bit too much of it when I got it, I should of really got a bigger machine at the time. Got a lot of Tec Arc gear and got no complaints.

 

[Shedendman]

I've got one,its a 180-1 made in 93,its heavy,built like a tank,but its a top machine,when you get it pop up some photos of it

 

[Tom Orrow L]

The old oxfords aren't made by Tec Arc IIRC, Tec Arc bought the Oxford name around late 2000's and then built from there.
The old oxfords are still absolutely outstanding like the current machines though.

 

[e5c0rt.mk1]

The welder finally turned up on wednesday.

It arrived looking like this.

Definetly thought it had been a waste of money. Even the courier who delivered it was taking the mick, saying "its abit of a heap".

I took it off the pallet, and had a look inside it, looked quite clean

So i put it back together, connected it all up, and it welds Very nice too.

Even though it looks bad in the photos, it looked worse in real life.
The green panels are bent and have rust all over them, and it had something like tar all down the front panel.

so i decided to smarten it up abit.

Panels sand blasted

Cleaning the tar type stuff off. Spent all night trying to get it off with various things. only thing that touched it was alloy wheel cleaner.

Painted the panels with primer and stuck it all back together for now. Just need to paint it again and put some stickers on it.

Does anybody know if the fan should automatically come on when its switch on, or does it come on when its getting hot? I have only done a few welds with it but the fan has never come on yet :/

Thanks Owen

 

[Shedendman]

Top make over looks good
Yes the fan should come on when switched on

 

[arther dailey]

Looks good to me, and even better when cleaned and painted,you made a cracking job on the front panel most of the time the decals end up coming off, nice tool you got there.Arther

 

[desmo11225]

Hello All
Having bought an Oxford R T 180 Oil Cooled M M A Welder for a friend recently , I have found this company to be very helpful C.G.& W. Young LTD Electric Welding Plant Manufacturers & Stockists they do not build the Oil Cooled Welders any more but still have a range of spares. I hope this is helpful to quite a few of you. All the Best desmo11225

 

[blenkie1]

Check the rear panel where the fan is situated is not fouling it. The damage the other panels have had it could be that

 

[e5c0rt.mk1]

Thanks for the comments

When i first opened it up, the fan was a bit stiff when turning it. Thought is might be broke.

To be honest it doesnt look like it would cool it down much anyway. It not close to the vents on the panel and its quite small.

Will have another look at it tomorrow and try to get it working

 

[Shedendman]

The fan doesn't throw air over it as such,in fact it sucks it away from the transformer below it out through the vent/slots on the side panels

 

[Shedendman]

In fact your PCB looks or could be the same as mine,i have somewhere the wiring diagram i'll dig it out might be of help to you

 

[e5c0rt.mk1]

Yeah, that would be great if you could

Thanks

 

[Shedendman]

Found it,very basic but hope it helps,if you want to pm me your email i'll send you the file

 

[e5c0rt.mk1]

Hi
Thanks for the diagram its been very helpfull
The fan has a good right not to work as it hasnt got any wires going to it

For some reason the wires have been cut at the fan end. so i took the fan apart and lengthend the wires, connected it up and it works.

I dont understand why someone would cut the wires and remove them, when the fan works???