Which inverter welder/mig

[Heath Robinson]

I did wonder how they managed to be competitive!
Still, the duty cycle and the warrantee are good, so probably worth it.

I do intend to start tig Woz, but not yet, and not with this unit. It'll essentially be built into the truck's belly box I think, just as an on-site tool. I can't see it ever being anywhere still enough for gas. When I get the new workshop built I'll get a mig/tig/arc lump on 3 phase, and learn with that.

To be honest, it's that duty cycle that's swung me toward this thing. It's rare that I've ever needed more than 165A, so the fact it'll do that all day long is very appealing. My buzz box has a duty cycle of about 30% with a 4mm rod, which is infuriating, but I guess that's all part of the learning curve.

The few reviews/discussions I've found relating to these seem to be positive too.

 

[wyn]

What sort of stuff are you welding together to need 4mm or larger rods?

 

[matt1978]

Classic example of trying to give the Impression of it being made somewhere other than it really is IMO. What I don't understand is if your selling something and your happy with the quality and performance of it, why not stand behind the product and the and the factory where it was made, why try to mis-lead?

 

[hotrodder]

I suspect because it works? As you said, and as we all know, you generally get you what you pay for*. If it looks identical to the cheapnese boxes being punted on eblag but costs more (QC, warranty worth the paper it's written on etc) that's enough for some people but others can't see past price and the cost of QC/aftersales service etc goes over their head.

Granted some probably don't look hard enough to notice 'made in' labels but of those that do gven the choice between two very similarly priced things, one made in the UK/Europe etc the other in China/India most (all?) would choose the former? If you're aiming the product at 'buy on price' types then brand loyality/real value probably doesn't mean much i.e. careful wording that dupes some is something that probably wins more customers than it loses? IIRC the R-tech site and their products used to be plastered with Union Jacks some years back. Thankfully that's no longer the case, they're concentrating more on the customer service angle these days


* the exception being the other end of the price scale where if you don't offer over priced stuff you lose sales because many badge whores equate price to status. Applies more to trainers/clothes/bling nonsense than anything else. Oh, and 'audiophile' hifi

 

[Heath Robinson]

Wyn, I have to stick 10mm plate stuff to the 13mm chassis of one of our trucks on occasion.
A lot of the stuff I do tends to be long runs on thickish stuff.

I think it all rests on whether the claims of high duty cycle are true. If not, then as you say hotrodder, it's just another Chinese box.

 

[wyn]

It's surprising what you can stick together with 3.2 rods and a few runs.......you could get away with a smaller cheaper inverter then.

When i was in quarrying we would usually use 3.2 for most things especially 10-15mm type stuff, maybe 4 or 5mm rods if it got up to 30-50mm thick.

 

[Heath Robinson]

That's true, but are there many smaller inverters that can run at high amps constantly? I know for a fact that I need better than 80% with 3.2's, from borrowing a mate's 200A Chinese inverter to do a big frame. I'd rather pay the money for the high cycle, if indeed it can hack the pace.

 

[Heath Robinson]

I thought it would be beneficial for me to post up what I went for.

In the end, I weighed up all the options, and ended up going down the road for one. Literally! I got an Inverter Fusion 180MA, direct from the manufacturer in Honiton! Better than just being made in the UK, it's made in the west country!
It's got an 80% duty cycle flat out at 40 degrees C, so happily 100% at normal temps. Having used it for a bit, I have to say it's brilliant. It's been eating through 4.0mm rods all day for the last few days without missing a beat, at 140A ish on a 13A plug. It's easily the nicest stick welder that I've used, and at about £400 it didn't break the bank. More than I intended to spend, but less than expected to have to shell out for something this good, made in the uk.
The guys at Inverter Fusion were really helpful, and their sticks etc are quite cheap too!

I also picked up a shiny new parweld xr916h whlst sailing on the bay of E, which for £50 delivered is great.

Hope that helps anyone in a similar position in the future!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[PTvor]

That's true, but are there many smaller inverters that can run at high amps constantly? I know for a fact that I need better than 80% with 3.2's, from borrowing a mate's 200A Chinese inverter to do a big frame. I'd rather pay the money for the high cycle, if indeed it can hack the pace.

Generally, if you've got an inverter design which is capable of say, 100% @ 120A, by tweaking the electronics you can have an inverter which will do say, 20% @ 180A, which is enough to be useful for light work at 180A and it can be sold as a 180A inverter.

As you say in your next post, there's a hell of a difference between duty cycles quoted at 40C and duty cycles quoted at 20C or 25C, which is obvious when makers quote both. Often makers, especially of the cheaper stuff, don't say what temperature their duty cycles are quoted at, making them pretty much meaningless.

There's a standard, IEC/EN-60974-1 which specifies duty cycles to be stated at 40C, but a lot of makers seem to ignore it.

The problem with going for a very powerful cheap inverter to get good duty cycles at moderate amps, is that it's still cheap and corners will have been cut in all sorts of ways.

I think you did the right thing by biting the bullet and buying the IFL as it certainly sounds as if you have a serious amount of work for it.