Clearance stock of Mechpro 140amp Arc Welder for only $39.50.
Advertised in the Repco catalogue. Available in store from Mar 13.
Repco Stores Mechpro 140amp Arc Welder $39.50 EA
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It might be a piece of crap but it's perfect for a novice welder or someone who just wants to do a few quick jobs at home, you can't really complain for that price!
I have no doubt they are pieces of junk
i picked up one of there ~$200'ish mig welders from one of the last deals and have already put it through its paces (several hours of welding at full amps) and it works perfectly as expected. assuming these are similar quality id say tehy are worth every cent.
on the down side, unlike a lot of cheap arc welders it dosnt look like this one can be converted to a tig welder with one of the tig torch kits…. if thats important to anyone… but please double check caus im not speaking from experience only from what i can see in the pic
I bought the inverter-based stick welder that time round, still have the nagging feeling I should have got the MIG, but I assumed the quality & durabiity would be low for such a price…it's one thing to have a tool sitting around unused, quite another if it's unuseable.
i bought a cheap mig many many many years ago, after about 15 years of abuse i think the relay inside it started to get dodgy and wouldnt always start when you pulled the trigger. could have probably got it fixed but never bothered.
this arc and my mig are copper winding and not inverter types, less to go wrong. i have an ac/dc inverter tig (as well as a 100 year old* 200kg copper ac/dc CIG transtig). the inverter already dosnt work (after about 18 months) i would be more trusting of the copper ones.
*may have slightly over exaggerated its age for dramatic effect, but its OOOOLD
my concern with the mig was on the mechanical (i.e. wire feed) more than the electrical. But nice to hear you had a cheap one that lasted 15 years of abuse…you're maybe not as good at abuse as others. A relay should be really easy to fix/replace, if that's all was wrong.
Plus 1 for drama. :)
I'd guess RRP was ~$200, they've been on sale before with %50-%60 off for $89
Apparently in January it included a welding mask, chipping hammer/wire brush, electrodes and instructional DVD for your $39.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/129079
More info about the welder in that thread.Yep, This one got lots more interest than mine even though mine had more types…
Why did I get negged?
I was just stating that when I submitted the bargain there were more types of welders available and that the Arc also included the extras.Why did I get negged?
caus people are morons :)
you recon thats bad? 7 negs for asking a genuine question that other people also found helpful….
either way, fixed it for ya. i also bought my mig from your deal so a thanks from me anyway
Haha yep! No worries hope you enjoyed it anyway
You said 'fone', a good enough reason for a neg. :)
No extras (welding mask, chipping hammer/wire brush, electrodes) https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/129079#comment-1778517
Think I will go down and get one Thursday morning anyway, seems like there are enough positive comments to outweigh the risks!
It will have a crap duty cycle, meaning you won't be able to use it for too long before the transformer heats up and cuts the thermal overload and you'll need to wait for it to cool down. It is fan cooled so it won't be a long wait.
Great for home use and some light, occasional trade use. For $40 it's a steal.
says on the unit "fan cooled"
Yer but howmuch of a steal, an easy steal or a hard steal :D teheh
so whats the conclusion, should i buy or not. i am after some small home works, if it works then i will buy and important will it effect on wiring of home, can we use it or do we need some more strong wiring to use it.
if you need an arc welder for home use then yes buy it. they also have there mig welders cheap again. mig is easier to learn and quicker to weld with.
as for the power, my 150a mig just has a standard 10amp power lead (same as any other electrical equipment) so plugs into just any home wall socket. some larger welders have a 15amp plug and need a socket like the one air conditioners use. it dosnt say in teh ad if its 10amp or 15amp needed so you would want to either check with someone that has one or ask in store.
You can convert a 15A plug to a to 10 amp plug with a file - you could even just snap the earth pin off if you don't mind the 0.005% chance of getting a buzz off the case one day.
You can convert a 15A plug to a to 10 amp plug with a file
you can…. but its pretty like mega illegal… you can also make a short cord with a female 15a socket and a male 10a socket like the one i have… but thats also somewhat mega illegal… or you can just cut off the 15a socket and put a 10a plus in its place… but… thats right.. you guessed it…. illegal..
but all of them i would do before snapping the earth off completely.. if your unlucky enough to touch something metal while its got even a small short you can lock onto it and not let go….. ive been hit by 240v more than once and its not nice… tho ive been quite lucky. some people hit by 240v have not survived to discredit you on OzB :)
i bought one from the previous deal. it did not include electrodes or dvd. but hey, can't complain for the price.
does the job of light work around the house. it does trip out the power lead i use on it, but i find if i lower the amps, i can get enough time between trips to do a line of bead.
If I wanted to make a metal box, large enough for say my mother in law to fit inside, would it be ready by 6 o'clock tonight without tripping the power?
that would mostly depend.
being that its your mother in law you would want to use some pretty thick metal to prevent possible escape. this is going to mean you will be using up quite a lot of electrodes specially on the cross bracing and corner strengthening. you also have to factor in going to repco and the lineup for $40 welders.
in this case, just to be safe, i would pick up 2 welders and call on the help of a mate to construct the box in time for her arrival. you dont wana mess this up and suffer a bad experience with the MIL
You should be able to weld for 10-12mins before it overheats, then probably the same amount of time to cooldown.
Might pick one up as a spare.
How do I use a Arc welder?
The same way we learn everything these days…. YouTube.
Ah, a great opportunity to learn to weld!
I shall be picking this up. Thanks!Anybody know if this will work on aluminium?
while it is technically possible with special rods i believe, i certainly wouldnt do it. from what i understand its incredibly difficult and the outcome is not very good
you can mig weld alu tho i have also never tried this. the results are again not great (have a look at some of the ugly welds on teh back of an alu bullbar sometime)
preferably to weld alu you use an AC tig welder (which is different to a normal "cheap" DC tig for steel/stainless etc.). welding alu is a pig of a job and requires a load of heat because alu conducts heat so well. everythings needs to be super spotlessly clean or you get imperfection that you have to stop welding, grind out and start again. even the oils in your skin can cause issues.
all that being said, i did teach myself to tig and i do a reasonably good job at it so if you really are keen then jump in and try. oh and you also need to use very expensive pure argon for tig welding.Thanks, yeah ive been watching some of these videos online and it does look like a pain in the ass.
I just need something for prototyping with aluminium. The welds dont need to look nice, they just need to hold together. Might end up just riveting the joins.
I faced the same decision. Using this alu channel with these braces I framed up a cat run. Ignore my rotated brace; when I tightened the screws, it also turned the brace a few degrees. Main thing is the channels line up, as these plastic corner protectors will hide the shame.
Not pictured are 1/8" screws, washers and nuts of which I've used 200+ so far. I've spent $30 on those braces alone! Could have saved money buying this $40 (+helmet, rods etc) welder for the joints, but it's risky like nosdan said.
Plus this way, it can be dismantled.
Sounds good. Need to weld some new front gate brackets as my mother in law ripped the gates off.
Any idea if this would be good to use to weld a line/join on a piece of H beam?
I have NFI what I'm doing with welding, but basically when my retaining wall was built as part of my house construction, the d/heads cut the H-beam down an extra length. (Therefore screwing my garden edge)At the moment I've used some JB-Weld to add the extra height of 1 sleeper to the existing H-beam but would prefer this sucker be properly welded on.
Would this welder suit the job? Only have to do a few of these H-Beams. (And it's only holding back some of my garden soil and not actually a structural piece).
:)
while it would, if you have no experience with arc welders they are a bit of a bitch to learn. and welding well (actually making 2 pieces of metal stick together) is not easy. a mig would be a lot easier to learn but you still have to learn to use it. if this is the only job you have have you thought of trying to get a professional welder in to weld it for you if you dont know anyone else with a welder?
alternately, grab a mig or arc and a pile of scrap metal of the same thickness as your trying to weld and just go at it till you can do a reasonable job. thats how i learnt originally (since done tafe courses etc as well as done it for a job)
Cheers for the quick reply Nosdan.
It's the only piece I have to weld.
Will probably grab some scrap to learn the basics. (Wouldn't mind learning it either to be honest).I CBF paying someone as the callout and charge will probably be 4-5 times the price of this thing anyway!
:)
The H beam will be galvanised, make sure you grind the gal right back where you're welding else it will be even harder to arc ;)
make sure you grind the gal right back
best practice says of course you are correct… im certainly not disputing that…. tho i have never and i still weld it just fine. it does give off some pretty funky poisons smoke (which in its self might explain a few things about me…)
Would you advise a person new to welding to grind the gal back when they're learning to weld? I would, as it makes it easier to start, a cleaner weld, and much less smoke. Welding gal is ok on tube steel as it's applied electrically and is much thinner. Those H beams are hot dipped a lot of the time and it's pretty thick…I'd hate to be teaching someone to weld it.
Great deal if you can get one, but I can't understand all the negative comments as it's less than $40??? You get what you pay for and for odd jobs around the house these will be fine.
What are some of the purposes people are buying this for? What are you planning to repair/build with it?
I'm really keen to just get it, cause it will be handy some day in the future, but really can't think of much to use it on.
What are some of the purposes people are buying this for?
erm…. for joining one piece of metal to erm… well.. another piece of metal? mostly…
so far ive built a rather large heavy duty grow bed stand for a mate (to hold some 2.4 ton)
some metal supports for a shelf outside to hang an outdoor oven on
future plans are some exhaust modifications on my car and some other metal stands around the house here.
mind you i have the mig and not the arc. mig is a bit easier specially on thinner metals. a bit more of an all rounder.
I have a similar model to this one. great for small jobs. I welded a sliding driveway gate frame using it.
thinking of getting this automatic mask as using an old school mask is a bit of a drag.
Those masks are great they make it much easier especially when tacking.
Ok I will buy one :) Now where to buy cheap mask, chipping hammer and electrodes?
get the automask as above. chipping hammer and electrodes from bunnings or masters.
imho id get an adjustable shade mask. if you get a known brand one its also usually easier to get replacement plastic covers for the lenses which need replacing often (they get sparks in them and also get clouded with other crap)
last one i got was a CIG one for about $60 iirc. adjustable for how much light it takes to change (needed for indoor or outdoor differences) the speed in which is changes from dark to light again (needed for stop/start welding often) as well as darkness from din8 to din13 (or what ever the hell they call it) which helps when welding inside or outside, nite or day etc… its the "darkness" factor when it changes to dark. if its to dark say in a shed you cant see where your welding or to bright when your outside during the day time you hurt your eyes.
generally the better ones you can also get things like magnifying glasses for inside the helmet which make a huge difference when your old like me :D
It's good to have a welding mask for solar eclipses.
OK. Looks like an Ozito one I bought from Bunnings last year.
Duty cycle is (as stated above) about 10-12 minutes. Striking an arc is reasonably easy - I am a beginner.
Easily good enough for any budding DIYer wanting to try their hand at welding. Mine came with a welding 'mask' and a chipping hammer. Dunno about this one.I don't own one of these, but the name is cool. For what reasons should I own one for, any suggestions?
Cheers for the advice, what's a good price for electrodes and chipping hammer?
no stock at any of the stores i tried
Did you ask them to get you one in? I just asked at the desk, they took my details and said it will be there tomorrow.
forget what it was now but it was from one of these repco deals lately and had to do exactly the same thing. go to the counter and ask, they check the computer and allocate you one from the warehouse which gets in same day if your early enough or next day if you order later in the afternoon.
No stock in Ballarat as expected, "Sorry sir"…. 20 mins later, wife goes in … "no stock, but we will gladly order you one in and call you when its ready" hmmmmmmmm. Ah well, if I get one I'll be a happy camper. Good find by OP.
I called my local and they have their last one on hold for me :) $40, can't go wrong…
Ended up buying one. Will be good to learn a new skill.
I also have been planning on builing myself a rig for my G27 wheel. Should save me $500-999 as I already have a spare race seat.
Next question is whether I go ugly with some square tubing, or get myself a pipe bender… or perhaps make one from an old hydraulic car jack now I have a welder lol
Had none in stock, but paid and there was one waiting for me the following morning. Also grabbed the chipping hammer, leather apron and mask they had on clearance.
I used an abandoned rowing machine for the base. Bolted the "table" uprights (for the wheel) to the lugs on that.
I have no doubt they are pieces of junk, but for 40 bucks! I assume it meets all required safety / electrical regs as well. Anyone know what the price was before?