Best welding advice video on you tube, straight talking and to the point, just what i was looking for after watching endless confusing videos. well done sir, regards from steve, bournemouth, england.
I got the Sungold inverter welder to try out, based on your video, rather than the AC buzz box. I have been happy using it to repair my cracked lawnmower deck, some gates, and other hardware. I've been able to focus less on striking and keeping an arc and more on applying good welding technique to make neat beads.
Haha. Loved it. I worked as a Blacksmiths apprentice and got to say Inverter welders were the game changer. Using bloody Transformer welders were like flicking a Rottweilers balls! Any chance it would jump up and bite you.I never liked holding a thin plastic handle with the national Grid buzzing through it! I felt in charge with the Inverter .
Coolest trick you can do, is to take an old Lincoln 225 (red box) and add a 300-Amp rectifier to it...making it DC!!! Cost you $30, plus a bit of AC wiring knowledge, some terminal ends, a quick trip to Amazon, and about 1-hour of work. Then, if you know enough, you can even make this 'AC/DC' switchable!!! LOT CHEAPER than paying $700 for the AC/DC Lincoln red-box OEM welder (though not as powerful, as you end up with about 130-amps, give or take, in your 'homemade DC Lincoln). Here's the video... watch?v=_VL_ggERQjU
An excellent no nonsense video. I have a narrowboat and need to tackle a few minor jobs like putting a weather strip on my side hatches and other little non structural welds here and there. A DC welder will be just the job for these tasks. Thanks!
i have to agree the DC inverter welder is far superior,, easier to use, lighter, can be used as a TIG welder... but are very short lived ,even the best quality one's, where as the old AC transformer welders are basically bomb proof i have 3 all at least 45 years old and they never fail,,, but as david said for home use you should buy a DC, happy welding!!
OK, as a welding newbie I have just purchased a second hand A/C buzz box for the princely sum of £10 (you will always find me in the cheap seats if possible :-) ) and once I have the mask, rods, gloves and chipping hammer I am going to see just how hard it is to get decent welds with it. I figure that if it is crap I can write of the £10 and the other bits are re-usable with a DC inverter. A fabricator friend advises that buying good quality rods and setting the amps right for the job is the key (as is a steady hand so no booze binging the night before) - practice and experimentation are the order of the day at first. I will let you know if I set the garage alight !
£10 is a bargain. I got the SIP Weldmate for £15 is it didn't work, was just a loose connection. I'm sure you'll weld just fine on the AC welder, I too started with one. As everyone say it's all practise. The longer you spend doing it the easier and better the welds. DC just makes it a little easier. :)
No doubt DC welders are nicer but you have to give that AC welder a fair assessment by increasing the amperage. The DC welder is flowing current 100% of the time to the work with reverse polarity. The AC welder on the other hand has to alternate the flow of current back and forth so you're getting less heat to the work in a sense in the A.C. current flow. Crank up that AC welder to about 80 amps and it would help it much.
Ac back and forth along the rod is better for magnetic steel less drawn to magnatised steel so won`t shift to the magnectic area, but you can percificly get AC rods , Dc electric will be pulled towards any magnetic metal ,DC suppose to get a better penertration due to electricity goes down the rod and being drawn to the metal negative clamp on the metal better. I aint a welder only a hobbiest but I don`t own DC and always wanted to try, but would also like to own a Mig welder so I could do thinner metal welding as ark welder has its limits, aspecially AC,
Thats fair but some of your terminology was interesting 😂. I would reccomend using mich higher amps say... 115 assuming those were 2.5mm 6013s and gringing that rust off. Also use a new rod for the inverter welder as the half used rod was hotter and well... used thus making it easier to start an arc than with a new rod. However good video though hope u keep up on your welding👌
When it comes to ground cords shorter is better. A ground wire of 3 - 5 feet or 1 - - 1.5 meters maximum. A shorter ground will allow for an upgraded gun/ stinger cable. Keep in mind the longer and thicker your cables you will have some voltage drop. A/C is mostly good for aluminum stick maybe cast iron.
Looks very similar to the new welder I bought. It's also an all in one machine. I find it great being able to tack things up with the MIG then flip the switch and leads and finish off with stick.
@@DavidMcLuckie yes and up to 150 amps they are quite cheap between $200-300. Some have tig welding too. I have an old telwin mig welder which i bought second hand years ago and am looking forward to see the difference between a welder of 20+ years ago and the new generation welders.
You can buy a/c rods. It helps when using a/c. I've been told welding a piece of steel thats been magnetized is a use for a/c stick. I've used a/c stick on d/c. Welds good enough. An a/c machine is better for aluminum. Just get a d/c machine if you welding rust at home. Lol.
Heya! Stumbled on your vid; was trying to figure out if an AC welder was worth it just for aluminum ... think I've got my answer. Been welding with DC Inverters for roughly a decade, literally never used AC. should keep that AC for aluminum. Great video, thx for the demo!
Both. High voltage is what gets you a nice start. Expensive welders have a built in high voltage start. The AC problem is there is a chance you're starting at or on the AC wave as it passes through 0 volts.
I own a Lincoln 225 and a amico 160a. Lincoln is AC the other is DC. They both weld good has their own purpose. I believe most welder switch to inverter. I'm old school I prefer transformer welder
I had a cheap 220v DC welder. It was the first one I ever bought. It welded pretty good even in flux core mode. Shielding gas could be used as an option. I sold it and then later wanted a welder again. I got the cheapest one from Harbor Freight. That one is OK for metal no thicker than 1/8 inch thick to get all the way through it in a scenario where there is not gap between the joint. Now I have decided to make a stick welder, originally I was just gonna make it straight AC but decided against it due to everyone's input on DC being better. So now it will be an inverted stick welder.
@@DavidMcLuckie what fuse do you recommend also does plug have to be earthed ? My new Chinese one came with 2pin plug.thinking I should just swap for 3pin. What's your advice?
If you cranked up the amperage of the AC welder, that weld would've been a lot cleaner. cloggy unpenetrated welds and hard to start the ark. signs of low amperage
If you are new to your welding game i would reccomend a cheap 2nd hand yet€ name brand inverter welder like lincon, michigan, WIA ect since they are relatively cheap say 200 bucks while they are earthed properly and more reliable than a cheap Chinese machine
i bought myself a AC welder from Tradeweld, the small TX130 air cooled like your dc welder, welds exactly the same as your dc welder ;p, awesome review, thank you :)
Forgive me if I'm wrong here. But I was under the impression AC swapped polarity in line with the mains frequency? So there is no positive or negative like in a DC system.
I like AC better than DC. Bought a century 295 amp AC heavy duty welder burn any rod you name it including 6010 while most inverter struggle to weld 6010
Good video mate.....just l think AC welder is for welding aluminium...DC for carbon ...stainles...and other.....if you grind the rust weld going to be much bether...with DC....
Iv always used ac but recently I picked up cheap ebay dc And I haven't used my ac since The cycle time on the dc is amazing and with a 309 rod it's a pice of art work
Don't throw the AC machine . You still can make it more powerful with just add to it a DC bridge line up . model : MDQ400A1600V with just 25$ not include shipping because it's heavy and shipping change between country and another and speed method . It cost me more 15$ for shipping . Any way try it and you will get a supper AC / DC welding machine for old yours machine
doooper super bares hands you could and the electrode is on the metal. Ive had a shock of ac welder before dc is more powerful than ac if it got more amps and voltage
Can please someone tell me if u ever hear of a phocee'nne inverter welder? I bought it earlier and im a bit worried coz i cant see it in google or here in youtube...
Well, as the man said it was not a comprehensive comparison.. Firstly the welding rods.. A commonly used rod is the E6010. However it will not work at all well on a AC machine no matter what quality the machine.. If E6010 rods were being used here that would almost certainly be contributing to the problem with starting and maintaing an arc with the AC machine. I'd advise anyone reading this to go online and print off a electrode rod application chart.. On DC some rods work much better 'Electrode Positive' ( EP) and some vica versa 'Electrode Negative' ( EN ) where the polarity of the leads are swapped round , IE the welding Electrode connected to the negative terminal on the welder and the 'work' / earth lead to the positive terminal. I have an old school oil filled 250A AC arc welder.. It has literally welded up tanks at a now long gone Ordernance works. It did it well all day long for many years. It is a totally different beast to that SIP 'Bird shit dropper' that is featured in this video.. I also have a proper AC to DC rectifier unit that converts it's output to DC anyway if I need it.. Now, after all this I'm in no way knocking cheap inverter welders.. They are very affordable, small, feather weight ( imagine dragging a 120kg oil filled welder through mud to repair a gate on a farm ! ) and are more than adequate for hobby diy and semi pro work.. Just a couple of tips. If you buy a cheap inverter welder , before you even plug it in to the wall socket remove the outer casing and ensure that the casing is earthed. More than a few of these cheap inverter welders are fitted with a 2 core mains flex ! If you find that this is the case replace the power cord with 3 core after noting the Live & Neutral connections and attach the earth wire to the chassis /outer casing of the machine with a suitable nut and bolt.. This issue is much more likely in units when customers have ordered DIRECT from China. It is unlikely that far eastern welders bought from reputable UK stockists / importers will have this potentially dangerous non earthed issue.. Secondly- Storage.. Older AC welders are essentially just a transformer in a box .. They are devoid of any other electronic components including relays and circuit boards etc. Ensure that you store a inverter welder in a dry place as opposed to a damp workshop. Mine has the transformer immersed in a sealed tank of oil coolant so it is highly resistant to damp conditions. One more thing to all - Keep your welding rods stored in a dry place.. The flux coating on welding electrodes can become damp and cause more aggro. If you think yours may be damp stick them in a hot oven for 20 odd minutes to dry them out.. Hot rods spark up better too but watch your fingers !
Just bought one of these inverter welders impressed so far they start immediately on striking and works perfectly on low Amps for making my Scrapart projects ,also the arc seems more bright somehow , Early days but on first impressions quite impressed .what doe Inverter mean though does it men switching from AC to DC ? sorry just an amateur welder
The inverter is the part that takes the AC coming from the wall and makes it DC. The other kind (the big heavy ones) use a transformer that takes the AC from the wall and makes it AC you can weld with.
But I love my dads Lincoln Buzz box too much 😆 I can lay a better bead on it with a 6011 than I can with my new dc welder that is about 20 times more expensive. Of course that's because I'm not use to dc yet, but come on, if you find a cheap Lincoln AC Buzz box, those things are a must lol
The transformer welder is more accurate than the inverter one.electronic parts get hot and the welder dont live for a long time and its hard to fix but the transformer live more and never fail.and its easy to fix
Hii , i agree dc inverter welders are the way to go for beginners, but for heavy duty cycles they can let u off, i do have many inverters but they tend to have issues on haeavy work like some components blowing off and like that, but that transformer shit is absolutely bullet proof whateva happens its always up for a rescue, also transformers eat a lot of power increasing our bills and inverters use quite less. just my 2 cents
My 3 MOT welder in series can weld better than that AC buzz box. AC isn't the problem. Sometimes, it's the manufacturer's fault for making AC SMAW look bad. My custom welder has more copper than an AC buzz boxes meaning that I get better control of the arc. Who needs fans when hydraulic oil can cool transformers faster?
So the Chinese one has a duty cycle of 60%, at 200 amps you can weld for 6 minutes then let it rest for 4. As for the SIP I can't find anything online and I gave the welder away to someone who needed it. But looking at similar machines it's about the same as the Chinese machine.
I am picking up my Amazon supplied Sungold 200 from the PO tomorrow. I'm happy to see how well it welded that angle iron. Lots of little projects to do now. What number was the stick you used? Thanks for the vid. New sub.
last time i used a AC welder i had it set to 135amps, i was using 3/32" 7018, i welded some 1"x1"x1/8" tube had no problems. the welds were vary flat and smooth, but then the power grid fluctuated and i had to turn it down to 80amps... some one was playing with the dam stove top in the house trying to make hash... i was not happy.
I would still buy the AC, simply because all the power electronics in the DC welder seem much more likely to fail than a simple old nasty transformer. Of course there are good and bad DC and AC transformers, but everything being the same (assuming I don't need portability) a AC welder seems a better buy for life choice.
Cheap Chinese welds great but you reckon it will be working next time you need it? Has it even got a 3 core mains lead? Many aren't even earthed and have paper, YES PAPER between circuit board and metal casing!!! For that money, especially for workshop use buy second hand Oxford, Cytringan, Pickhill type oil cooled AC, and if really fussy for DC buy/make a bridge rectifier. You'll strike an arc at much lower amps for a given rod size by using the 80v ocv terminal, and produce beautiful arc welds all day long. The humm is very muffled in comparison to a buzz box and just slightly louder than a fridge. Oh and did I mention that it really will weld all day long.
Nothing complicated about it at all, just an AC arc welder with 2 voltage options. Good luck sending a welder back to China. If you really want to buy one check out ones to avoid that have been stripped down on RUclips. Some are real deathtraps!
Hi. You're probably correct on all things. But like I said in the video, this isn't for welders. This is for guys like me who weld occasionally. I trawled welding forums looking for people who had made their own rectifiers for AC welders. I didn't find anyone who could/would show how to do it cheaply or easily. So for £99 on Amazon (so Amazon deals with the problems/returns) it is so much easier just to buy a cheap inverter welder and get welding.
I understand that, but there are good ones and bad ones. Does yours have an earth cable in the flex? There are some shockers out there. Like you I only weld occasionally, but the difference in welds between my 110a Oxford, and my 130a buzz box are night and day. Ideal in a workshop like yours and for as little as £50 on Ebay. You imply the difference in your welds is a direct result of the waveform, but if you tried an Oxford you'd realise that isn't necessarily the case.
I don't want to argue with you as you seem a nice chap. But you must have had a shot of a DC welder and thought, yeah that's easier to use. Again I did trawl welding forums reading all the 'Should I buy an AC or DC machine' posts. For what I was doing, it was DC all the way. I'm not welding pipe nor magnetised material. Heavy gauge metal with lots of penetration, that's a job for DC. Lastly, it's light as fuck. I can walk around welding fences all day. The SIP welder is like 30kg.
The AC buzzbox can put out decent welds, IF you have the skills to do it, your test was flawed by you using a small electrode with not enough amps on thick dirty steel, with no edge preparation, there is no way to get a decent weld in those conditions. Preparation is an essential part of welding, in fact more time is involved in prep than the welding.
I agree you should clean before you weld. But both machines were tested on the same rusty metal, which is not flawed. Flawed would be testing one on clean steel and the other on rusty steel and making a comparison. Which would you rather carry out to something you have to fix? The 30kg buzzbox or the 3kg inverter?
Best welding advice video on you tube, straight talking and to the point, just what i was looking for after watching endless confusing videos. well done sir, regards from steve, bournemouth, england.
fucking love this guy
I got the Sungold inverter welder to try out, based on your video, rather than the AC buzz box. I have been happy using it to repair my cracked lawnmower deck, some gates, and other hardware. I've been able to focus less on striking and keeping an arc and more on applying good welding technique to make neat beads.
Haha.
Loved it.
I worked as a Blacksmiths apprentice and got to say Inverter welders were the game changer.
Using bloody Transformer welders were like flicking a Rottweilers balls! Any chance it would jump up and bite you.I never liked holding a thin plastic handle with the national Grid buzzing through it!
I felt in charge with the Inverter .
Coolest trick you can do, is to take an old Lincoln 225 (red box) and add a 300-Amp rectifier to it...making it DC!!! Cost you $30, plus a bit of AC wiring knowledge, some terminal ends, a quick trip to Amazon, and about 1-hour of work.
Then, if you know enough, you can even make this 'AC/DC' switchable!!! LOT CHEAPER than paying $700 for the AC/DC Lincoln red-box OEM welder (though not as powerful, as you end up with about 130-amps, give or take, in your 'homemade DC Lincoln). Here's the video... watch?v=_VL_ggERQjU
They are far more efficient.
Nothing beats the classic! AC is the Best!!
I expect you still drive around in a steam car at 4 mph.
Mine does both
An excellent no nonsense video. I have a narrowboat and need to tackle a few minor jobs like putting a weather strip on my side hatches and other little non structural welds here and there. A DC welder will be just the job for these tasks. Thanks!
"equally rusty metal" ”cheapest, nastiest rod lying around the shop"
without a doubt, this IS a real life comparison!
With bits missing :(
This is the number 1 video about Igbt Welder...Thanks for sharing. GOD BLESS U.
i have to agree the DC inverter welder is far superior,, easier to use, lighter, can be used as a TIG welder... but are very short lived ,even the best quality one's, where as the old AC transformer welders are basically bomb proof i have 3 all at least 45 years old and they never fail,,, but as david said for home use you should buy a DC, happy welding!!
That ending was just perfect, and the glass bottle, I'll say it's just a sponsor, so, great video!
Thanks dude for this vid, You focki'n made me decide which one to buy.
Thanks so much for this awesome basic video, help me decide what to buy
OK, as a welding newbie I have just purchased a second hand A/C buzz box for the princely sum of £10 (you will always find me in the cheap seats if possible :-) ) and once I have the mask, rods, gloves and chipping hammer I am going to see just how hard it is to get decent welds with it. I figure that if it is crap I can write of the £10 and the other bits are re-usable with a DC inverter. A fabricator friend advises that buying good quality rods and setting the amps right for the job is the key (as is a steady hand so no booze binging the night before) - practice and experimentation are the order of the day at first. I will let you know if I set the garage alight !
£10 is a bargain. I got the SIP Weldmate for £15 is it didn't work, was just a loose connection. I'm sure you'll weld just fine on the AC welder, I too started with one. As everyone say it's all practise. The longer you spend doing it the easier and better the welds. DC just makes it a little easier. :)
You cracked me up @ 7:37 lol "Sweet Mother baby Jesus" :)
No need to change polarity on the ac machine, but sometimes have to on the DC.
No doubt DC welders are nicer but you have to give that AC welder a fair assessment by increasing the amperage. The DC welder is flowing current 100% of the time to the work with reverse polarity. The AC welder on the other hand has to alternate the flow of current back and forth so you're getting less heat to the work in a sense in the A.C. current flow. Crank up that AC welder to about 80 amps and it would help it much.
I think.... LOL
Ac back and forth along the rod is better for magnetic steel less drawn to magnatised steel so won`t shift to the magnectic area, but you can percificly get AC rods , Dc electric will be pulled towards any magnetic metal ,DC suppose to get a better penertration due to electricity goes down the rod and being drawn to the metal negative clamp on the metal better.
I aint a welder only a hobbiest but I don`t own DC and always wanted to try,
but would also like to own a Mig welder so I could do thinner metal welding as ark welder has its limits, aspecially AC,
Grounds keeper Willie?
Thats fair but some of your terminology was interesting 😂. I would reccomend using mich higher amps say... 115 assuming those were 2.5mm 6013s and gringing that rust off. Also use a new rod for the inverter welder as the half used rod was hotter and well... used thus making it easier to start an arc than with a new rod. However good video though hope u keep up on your welding👌
Gotta love a good Ole buzz box. I personally prefer the DC inverter welders though but that is just personal preference I suppose.
When it comes to ground cords shorter is better. A ground wire of 3 - 5 feet or 1 - - 1.5 meters maximum. A shorter ground will allow for an upgraded gun/ stinger cable. Keep in mind the longer and thicker your cables you will have some voltage drop.
A/C is mostly good for aluminum stick maybe cast iron.
Thinking of buying a reboot 150. Its a mig, flux core and stick DC welder in one machine
Looks very similar to the new welder I bought. It's also an all in one machine. I find it great being able to tack things up with the MIG then flip the switch and leads and finish off with stick.
@@DavidMcLuckie yes and up to 150 amps they are quite cheap between $200-300. Some have tig welding too. I have an old telwin mig welder which i bought second hand years ago and am looking forward to see the difference between a welder of 20+ years ago and the new generation welders.
Hi, Can the orange welder be used for permanent jewellery?
What was the output voltage of each welder
What type of rod where you using
You can buy a/c rods. It helps when using a/c. I've been told welding a piece of steel thats been magnetized is a use for a/c stick. I've used a/c stick on d/c. Welds good enough. An a/c machine is better for aluminum.
Just get a d/c machine if you welding rust at home. Lol.
Most of the time I'm fixing rusty metal. Rarely do I get to weld new clean metal. :)
I wonder if a marine battery is a better choice than an AC welder; they cost about the same new.
HaHaHa @ 6:40 ....AC is a CUUNT to start ! ...HaHaHa !!!
Great video, you Crack me up, you sound just like Chief Engineer Scott from the Enterprise
Heya! Stumbled on your vid; was trying to figure out if an AC welder was worth it just for aluminum ... think I've got my answer.
Been welding with DC Inverters for roughly a decade, literally never used AC. should keep that AC for aluminum. Great video, thx for the demo!
for stick welding Aluminum you want DC anyways using E4043 rods DC (electrode positive) only not a AC stick welder
I'd rather go spool gun with my everlast mig for aluminum. I hear stick welding aluminum is difficult.
Stick or arc welding aluminum works better on an inverter than on a transformer welder.
@@safcforme
That's the warm beer talking..lol
What s is price of dc welder
The one I bought was just under £100.
How do the welders' voltages compare ?
I suspect the ease of striking is nothing to do with AC/DC but is a result of being a higher voltage.
Both. High voltage is what gets you a nice start. Expensive welders have a built in high voltage start. The AC problem is there is a chance you're starting at or on the AC wave as it passes through 0 volts.
@@DavidMcLuckie At 50-60 Hz, it's not going to be long before you get a peak voltage !
Any idea what output voltage and amps are while DC? Or the range?
Sounds daft but ive a clarke 26te arc welder. How do i tell if its AC or DC
I own a Lincoln 225 and a amico 160a. Lincoln is AC the other is DC. They both weld good has their own purpose. I believe most welder switch to inverter. I'm old school I prefer transformer welder
Great comparison video. Thank you.
I had a cheap 220v DC welder. It was the first one I ever bought. It welded pretty good even in flux core mode. Shielding gas could be used as an option. I sold it and then later wanted a welder again. I got the cheapest one from Harbor Freight. That one is OK for metal no thicker than 1/8 inch thick to get all the way through it in a scenario where there is not gap between the joint.
Now I have decided to make a stick welder, originally I was just gonna make it straight AC but decided against it due to everyone's input on DC being better. So now it will be an inverted stick welder.
thank you for testing the sungold, thats made up my mind to get 1 for my handyman business.
As someone else pointed out, just check the fuse as at full power it might be overrating a standard UK plug.
@@DavidMcLuckie what fuse do you recommend also does plug have to be earthed ? My new Chinese one came with 2pin plug.thinking I should just swap for 3pin. What's your advice?
My custom welder can make rutile electrodes like 6013 and 7014 deeply penetrate metal while making TIG like beads.
If you cranked up the amperage of the AC welder, that weld would've been a lot cleaner. cloggy unpenetrated welds and hard to start the ark. signs of low amperage
Best argument yet for get a DC welder
Good video.Im now thinking about a dc. I've never welded before maybe this would be good to start out on.Thank you..
G.R, Dray same here I'm learning to arc weld at mo. Did you purchase one ?
If you are new to your welding game i would reccomend a cheap 2nd hand yet€ name brand inverter welder like lincon, michigan, WIA ect since they are relatively cheap say 200 bucks while they are earthed properly and more reliable than a cheap Chinese machine
I got myself a €40 ac buzzbox 90A and it scared the crap out of me. constant sticking and jumping around ... now i want a mig inverter ...
As AVE wisely says, learn stick frist. Once you can stick weld everything else is easy.
Sir me i ask you if the dc welder is not harm for appliances during use dc welder? im from philipines..
'But it's a c#$% to start' 🤣 hahaha that's my favorite word too
i bought myself a AC welder from Tradeweld, the small TX130 air cooled like your dc welder, welds exactly the same as your dc welder ;p, awesome review, thank you :)
Did you have the ground clamp as positive and electrode negative? If not, it will work even better that way!
Forgive me if I'm wrong here. But I was under the impression AC swapped polarity in line with the mains frequency? So there is no positive or negative like in a DC system.
on the DC welder
@@DavidMcLuckie
The buzz of ac is familiar to me i weld on a Lincoln 180 welder it’s 59 years old but going strong
Inverter for me everytime now smoother start .better weld and also less noisy
I'd like a demo on that Jack daniels by the Dc welder
Does this go the same for gasless wire feed welders?
Unless you specifically need the ability to weld AC, DC just makes your life easier. So, yes. :)
I like AC better than DC. Bought a century 295 amp AC heavy duty welder burn any rod you name it including 6010 while most inverter struggle to weld 6010
Good video mate.....just l think AC welder is for welding aluminium...DC for carbon ...stainles...and other.....if you grind the rust weld going to be much bether...with DC....
That's TIG.
I could break those with my teeth lol
You are right you are not a welding genius , but you are right about DC been better than AC
Iv always used ac but recently I picked up cheap ebay dc
And I haven't used my ac since
The cycle time on the dc is amazing and with a 309 rod it's a pice of art work
what rod are you using here?
Thing that'll happen with the DC set is arc blow, it's a pain.
Great video....funny and informative!
You had the A/C welder set too low.
Don't throw the AC machine . You still can make it more powerful with just add to it a DC bridge line up . model : MDQ400A1600V with just 25$ not include shipping because it's heavy and shipping change between country and another and speed method . It cost me more 15$ for shipping .
Any way try it and you will get a supper AC / DC welding machine for old yours machine
DC weld is best thanks
After AC have to say DC Inverter welders rule ,would'nt go back to ac much cleaner start up and weld bead
HELP..!?!? bought a new cheap welding machine and it blows the fuse the moment I turn it on. What could it be
Could be anything really. Ideally, you'd be returning it.
can you get electricuted if you hold the metal you are welding using this machine?
doooper super bares hands you could and the electrode is on the metal. Ive had a shock of ac welder before dc is more powerful than ac if it got more amps and voltage
I've had a little dunt before. But it was raining, I was wet, my gloves were wet, actually everything was wet. But it's only about 50 volts.
oh... alright... thanks guys...
oh... alright... thanks guys...
You can buy rectifier and put in the ac welder
I did just that - ruclips.net/video/8w8aVU8pyNo/видео.html . But for someone looking to buy, I'd go for the DC everytime.
Yes DC is better by far light , cheep , and you can change polarity which will give better penetration 👍🏻😊
Can please someone tell me if u ever hear of a phocee'nne inverter welder? I bought it earlier and im a bit worried coz i cant see it in google or here in youtube...
Thats 80-90 amps for nice weld imo, thx for the comparisons
Well, as the man said it was not a comprehensive comparison.. Firstly the welding rods.. A commonly used rod is the E6010. However it will not work at all well on a AC machine no matter what quality the machine.. If E6010 rods were being used here that would almost certainly be contributing to the problem with starting and maintaing an arc with the AC machine.
I'd advise anyone reading this to go online and print off a electrode rod application chart.. On DC some rods work much better 'Electrode Positive' ( EP) and some vica versa 'Electrode Negative' ( EN ) where the polarity of the leads are swapped round , IE the welding Electrode connected to the negative terminal on the welder and the 'work' / earth lead to the positive terminal.
I have an old school oil filled 250A AC arc welder.. It has literally welded up tanks at a now long gone Ordernance works. It did it well all day long for many years. It is a totally different beast to that SIP 'Bird shit dropper' that is featured in this video.. I also have a proper AC to DC rectifier unit that converts it's output to DC anyway if I need it..
Now, after all this I'm in no way knocking cheap inverter welders.. They are very affordable, small, feather weight ( imagine dragging a 120kg oil filled welder through mud to repair a gate on a farm ! ) and are more than adequate for hobby diy and semi pro work..
Just a couple of tips. If you buy a cheap inverter welder , before you even plug it in to the wall socket remove the outer casing and ensure that the casing is earthed. More than a few of these cheap inverter welders are fitted with a 2 core mains flex ! If you find that this is the case replace the power cord with 3 core after noting the Live & Neutral connections and attach the earth wire to the chassis /outer casing of the machine with a suitable nut and bolt.. This issue is much more likely in units when customers have ordered DIRECT from China. It is unlikely that far eastern welders bought from reputable UK stockists / importers will have this potentially dangerous non earthed issue..
Secondly- Storage.. Older AC welders are essentially just a transformer in a box .. They are devoid of any other electronic components including relays and circuit boards etc. Ensure that you store a inverter welder in a dry place as opposed to a damp workshop. Mine has the transformer immersed in a sealed tank of oil coolant so it is highly resistant to damp conditions.
One more thing to all - Keep your welding rods stored in a dry place.. The flux coating on welding electrodes can become damp and cause more aggro. If you think yours may be damp stick them in a hot oven for 20 odd minutes to dry them out.. Hot rods spark up better too but watch your fingers !
Hello
Could you tell me plz what's the best and the cheapest welding kind for corners of server cabinet sheet plate 1mm (mass production).
Thnx
I'm not a fabrication or welding expert but I think a MIG welder would be what you want.
Spot welder would do ya,
Just bought one of these inverter welders impressed so far they start immediately on striking and works perfectly on low Amps for making my Scrapart projects ,also the arc seems more bright somehow , Early days but on first impressions quite impressed .what doe Inverter mean though does it men switching from AC to DC ? sorry just an amateur welder
The inverter is the part that takes the AC coming from the wall and makes it DC. The other kind (the big heavy ones) use a transformer that takes the AC from the wall and makes it AC you can weld with.
cheers
For me ac welder is the best
But I love my dads Lincoln Buzz box too much 😆
I can lay a better bead on it with a 6011 than I can with my new dc welder that is about 20 times more expensive. Of course that's because I'm not use to dc yet, but come on, if you find a cheap Lincoln AC Buzz box, those things are a must lol
The transformer welder is more accurate than the inverter one.electronic parts get hot and the welder dont live for a long time and its hard to fix but the transformer live more and never fail.and its easy to fix
DC rods don't work well on an ac welder. Ac also has it's upsides like welding aluminum.
It's also good for preventing arc blow
Hii , i agree dc inverter welders are the way to go for beginners, but for heavy duty cycles they can let u off, i do have many inverters but they tend to have issues on haeavy work like some components blowing off and like that, but that transformer shit is absolutely bullet proof whateva happens its always up for a rescue, also transformers eat a lot of power increasing our bills and inverters use quite less.
just my 2 cents
I wish I had a generator so I can dedicate my welding time with the 4 MOT welder that I just made.
thanks for clearly demonstrate this , that was usefull to better know !!
I'm glad it's not just me being shite, the huge old BOC AC unit i've been using is also a cunt to start too.
I brought a lincoln electric 225 ac welder I got so much out of it I works on a dime
dc welder doesnt have a transformer?
That one doesn't. It uses electronics to change the voltage and output as DC. Some older DC welder still use a transformer.
My 3 MOT welder in series can weld better than that AC buzz box. AC isn't the problem. Sometimes, it's the manufacturer's fault for making AC SMAW look bad.
My custom welder has more copper than an AC buzz boxes meaning that I get better control of the arc. Who needs fans when hydraulic oil can cool transformers faster?
I got to compare my Everlast inverter welder to a transformer welder. As a hobbyist I liked the Everlast hands down. No comparison in my view.
I'd love the new Everlast multiprocess machine, AC-DC tig, stick and mig all in one unit.
You can hold the electrode so it's not so shaky
That was entirely my fault. I should have set it up better for filming around. But I'd still recommend anyone starting to weld to pick a DC machine.
Lol! Great tutorial. Thank you, it helped me make up my mind as to what to go with. Definitely not Chinese made 😁
Great review ,which of the two welders can you weld the longest with . I'm on the look out for a welder just now .
That's an excellent question. I can have a look at the duty cycles if you like.
David McLuckie if you would, thanks .
So the Chinese one has a duty cycle of 60%, at 200 amps you can weld for 6 minutes then let it rest for 4. As for the SIP I can't find anything online and I gave the welder away to someone who needed it. But looking at similar machines it's about the same as the Chinese machine.
I bought an Aldi Inverter brilliant welders for the money and made in England
casper1240 REALLY !?? that’s impressive
"The AC welds, but it's a C*** to start!" Hahaha... SOLD, I'm binning my shitty Clarke buzz-box and getting a DC welder.
" IT's a cunt to start". that is pure gold.. A+++.
Out of interest, how long did the welder last or is it still running?
Still running, used it the other day.
@@DavidMcLuckie cheers. There's a few of those about.
@@DavidMcLuckie A while back I bought a £40 straight arc welder from Lidl which isn't bad for the money, though welding 1mm stuff is fun.
AC welds .... but its a cant to start .... 😄hahaha That's Gold! Great vid, thanks Mate 😄
I've been welding with A/c for 40 years old school does the job, that said D.C is great
thank you ....you clear my concept about to buy...
I am picking up my Amazon supplied Sungold 200 from the PO tomorrow. I'm happy to see how well it welded that angle iron. Lots of little projects to do now. What number was the stick you used? Thanks for the vid. New sub.
I've literally got the same ac stick welder lol
Thanks for the video! Seems like I have got the same AC machine, though rebranded Luna Svets W150.. Did you use AC sticks for the AC machine?
The sticks I had were marked AC/DC. So should have worked ok for both machines. The AC machine isn't bad, it's just big and heavy.
Thank you :) will give it a try soon :)
Thanks
last time i used a AC welder i had it set to 135amps, i was using 3/32" 7018, i welded some 1"x1"x1/8" tube had no problems. the welds were vary flat and smooth, but then the power grid fluctuated and i had to turn it down to 80amps... some one was playing with the dam stove top in the house trying to make hash... i was not happy.
I would still buy the AC, simply because all the power electronics in the DC welder seem much more likely to fail than a simple old nasty transformer. Of course there are good and bad DC and AC transformers, but everything being the same (assuming I don't need portability) a AC welder seems a better buy for life choice.
That seems a fairly reasonable argument for AC. Like you say, if you don't need portability then weight isn't an issue.
i think you need more current, all 3 welds need improvement, it takes practice
Was thinking of buying that very same Sungold. Is it still working and would you recommend it?
Used it yesterday. Still working. If it's still under £100 I'd recommend it.
Thanks for replying.
Cheap Chinese welds great but you reckon it will be working next time you need it? Has it even got a 3 core mains lead? Many aren't even earthed and have paper, YES PAPER between circuit board and metal casing!!! For that money, especially for workshop use buy second hand Oxford, Cytringan, Pickhill type oil cooled AC, and if really fussy for DC buy/make a bridge rectifier. You'll strike an arc at much lower amps for a given rod size by using the 80v ocv terminal, and produce beautiful arc welds all day long. The humm is very muffled in comparison to a buzz box and just slightly louder than a fridge. Oh and did I mention that it really will weld all day long.
Matthew Jenkins that sounds complicated as fuck. I'm just going to buy the Chinese one, and if it doesn't work I'll send it back.
Nothing complicated about it at all, just an AC arc welder with 2 voltage options. Good luck sending a welder back to China. If you really want to buy one check out ones to avoid that have been stripped down on RUclips. Some are real deathtraps!
Hi. You're probably correct on all things. But like I said in the video, this isn't for welders. This is for guys like me who weld occasionally. I trawled welding forums looking for people who had made their own rectifiers for AC welders. I didn't find anyone who could/would show how to do it cheaply or easily. So for £99 on Amazon (so Amazon deals with the problems/returns) it is so much easier just to buy a cheap inverter welder and get welding.
I understand that, but there are good ones and bad ones. Does yours have an earth cable in the flex? There are some shockers out there. Like you I only weld occasionally, but the difference in welds between my 110a Oxford, and my 130a buzz box are night and day. Ideal in a workshop like yours and for as little as £50 on Ebay. You imply the difference in your welds is a direct result of the waveform, but if you tried an Oxford you'd realise that isn't necessarily the case.
I don't want to argue with you as you seem a nice chap. But you must have had a shot of a DC welder and thought, yeah that's easier to use.
Again I did trawl welding forums reading all the 'Should I buy an AC or DC machine' posts. For what I was doing, it was DC all the way. I'm not welding pipe nor magnetised material. Heavy gauge metal with lots of penetration, that's a job for DC.
Lastly, it's light as fuck. I can walk around welding fences all day. The SIP welder is like 30kg.
The AC buzzbox can put out decent welds, IF you have the skills to do it, your test was flawed by you using a small electrode with not enough amps on thick dirty steel, with no edge preparation, there is no way to get a decent weld in those conditions. Preparation is an essential part of welding, in fact more time is involved in prep than the welding.
I agree you should clean before you weld. But both machines were tested on the same rusty metal, which is not flawed. Flawed would be testing one on clean steel and the other on rusty steel and making a comparison.
Which would you rather carry out to something you have to fix? The 30kg buzzbox or the 3kg inverter?