Idealarc 250 at a steal

I talked to the guy, it is 4 years old and comes with leads. I asked him about the low price - he says they are "down sizing"

MSRP for that machine is about $1700 for the power source, goes for about $1400 on ebay.

This is just my luck. I've been looking for a used welder for months - finally bought a 32 year old Idealarc Tig 300/300 last Saturday.

Of course on Monday the perfect machine for my needs - this modern Idealarc 250 - comes on craigslist. Timing is everything

He listed it for $600 on Monday, re-posted today for $350. If he was any closer to me I'd buy it on spec.

• Idealarc Whitman Mass

I type in "Lincoln Idealarc" in the search box on e-Bay every week or two to see what they're selling for. What I've noticed is that they frequently don't get any bids if they're listed as pickup only, and even sometimes when the seller will ship. They're very heavy. When they do sell they often go for much less than what they're worth. I think people don't know what good welders they are. Lincoln buzzboxes on e-Bay often sell for almost as much as they would cost new---on one or two occasions I've seen the price bid plus the stated shipping go higher than what I could go over to Home Depot and buy one for. I can only guess that it's because they're so well known and have a reputation for reliability. An Idealarc is in a whole different league from a buzzbox, hands down the nicest welding single phase welder I've ever used. But people like to go with what they know.

All the best, Stan

I did not ask whether it was single or 3-phase, but from the Lincoln web site, I think all the Idealarc 250s are single phase.

I did have the thought, same as 135 Fan did below - this may be a very hot machine.

I almost had on old tombsone AC/DC machine last week for $150, but was not quick enough.

I think I am going to like the machine I bought just fine, but this deal I wrote about would have saved me about $750, and would have done all I need to do (as opposed to what I might like to do with the TIG).