Cheap Inverter Welder

Hdonly · Feb 5, 2021

When I first saw a youtube video on one of these, I though "No way". I just had to get one and try it. Well,,,,,,,It does actually work. And pretty good, I must say. I burned several rods in a row trying to overheat it. Not a hiccup. I used it the other day to build the rear mount for one side on my front end loader for my Ford Jubilee. It works as good as my old 250amp transformer welder. Will it last? I don't know, but it cost less than $100. We shall see.

super99 · Feb 5, 2021

Do those need a special rod or will normal welding rods work?

JCinKY · Feb 5, 2021

I needed to weld some bucket teeth on a skid steer for my dad. He was going to borrow my uncles (his brothers) welder; an old Lincoln buzz box. Or so I thought.

Im not much of a stick welder, but when he handed me this tiny little inverter welder, I was skeptical. The thing was the size of a lunchbox and around 15lbs.

Needless to say the bucket teeth are on, holding fine, and the welds are holding great. It didnt have progressive start so I needed high amps to strike an arc, but then it burned a little hot.

Never hit the duty cycle in 2 hrs of work.

The welder was a Hit Box. Check them out on Amazon. Yeah theyre from China, but at around $129, Im going to buy one.

woodbutcher · Feb 5, 2021

I bought an inverter stick welder off of Ebay. I use the same E6011 rods I use with my Lincoln tombstone welder. I may get rid of the tombstone. The little one is probably all I'll need.

Butch

woodbutcher · Feb 5, 2021

Correction: I bought mine from Harbor freight.

Hdonly · Feb 5, 2021

(quoted from post at 09:51:59 02/05/21) Do those need a special rod or will normal welding rods work?

I have used 6011, 6013 and 7018 so far. I used 3/32" rods but I am now confident that it will burn 1/8" rods as well.

da.bees · Feb 5, 2021

I believe inverters are here to stay and judging by what a $100 one will
do,a $500 machine will likly burn rods the size of your fingers and a 5
horsepower engine drive weighing 100 pounds do everything an SA200 will.

JF in MI · Feb 5, 2021

I got a similar one of those (120v) about 9 years ago and I agree its fantastic. Its my "go to" portable welder (where I don't have a 220 outlet or a PIA to roll around the big
machine) and I've done lots of work with it.

Ken Macfarlane · Feb 5, 2021

Just a heads up, I went through 3 of those hitbox welders that where dead on arrival or died in first couple of minutes. Got frustrated and asked for refund on the last one. I've read lots of other folks
had good luck. 1 of mine clearly had been returned before I got it so maybe an amazon warehouse problem.

RM-MN · Feb 5, 2021

I have one of those cheap inverter welders. I set it for 200 amps and used 5/32 rods, one after another as fast as I could burn one up and load the next. No problems. What does it take to make one shut down from overheating?

RM-MN · Feb 5, 2021

Banggood has a 250 amp inverter welder for under $70 from their USA warehouse and claim to have them shipped in 24 hours. You would also need leads for the welder.

bc · Feb 6, 2021

Now you guys did it. Convinced me to order one from Amazing. S7 brand 200 amp inverter welder for 99.99. Has cables and converter plug to 220. Going to try it on 110 with 1/8" 7018 and 6011 and see what happens. Comes in Tuesday. Going to crank it up and see if I can cut/burn through some quarter inch plate with the rod also. Will update next Wednesday. Seems like if they can get 200 amps out (probably not true) then they could do a plasma welder for the same price.

dlbuck · Feb 7, 2021

I will be very interested to read your review.

hanovertom · Feb 9, 2021

is s7 the brand?

bc · Feb 9, 2021

(quoted from post at 09:37:46 02/09/21) is s7 the brand?

As near as I can tell. They have an S7 store on Amazing. On the front it just says ARC-200. Info below calls it our S7 MMA ARC welding machine. Yellow & black front and tan on the sides.

Product info say mfr is Win-win. Part # WSF-01. Weight 13.59 lbs.

No doubt it is a chinese knockoff where they can just put a different sticker where it says ARC-200. As near as I can tell it doesn't say S7 on the welder itself.

Shipping info says I am to get it today as promised when ordered on Saturday. But it says the package left the carrier facility in Windsor, CT yesterday at 12:14 pm by USPS so I have my doubts about getting it today.

Hdonly · Feb 9, 2021

Deciding which one to buy is tough. There are about a gazillion of them out there. Kinda like crap shooting. You pays your money, you rolls the dice. I have watched a ton of youtube videos and read about them on different forums. Some work extremely well. Some are DOA. I picked the one I did because it looked about the same as one on youtube that got a good review. I looked at the ebay listing where I got mine and it is not the same one anymore. Who knows. Roll the dice! Oh, I forgot to add, the actual one I received was not the exact same one that was pictured when I ordered it. Here are pictures of the one I ordered vs the one I got.

Cheap Inverter Welder

Hdonly

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super99

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JCinKY

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woodbutcher

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woodbutcher

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Hdonly

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da.bees

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JF in MI

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Ken Macfarlane

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RM-MN

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bc

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dlbuck

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bc

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Hdonly

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