S7 200 amp Inverter Welder review $99

bc

Well-known Member
Ok guys. Promised I'd buy one and review it. Looked at Amazing and saw a bunch of 160 amp ones and then found the S7 200 amp Inverter Welder for $99.99. They had a 250 in a Morphon brand but it was another extra 25 bux.

Executive summary of the review is that it gets an A grade.

S7 was the store it sold from but I found that name only in one place and that was a sticker on the stinger holder bracket. The model is MMA/ARC200 in 120v/220volt Power Mosfet/IGBT controlled, DC welding power source. Came in a generic box that said made in China. The 7 half page manual came in the typical pigeon English that a lot of chinese manuals come with but I could manage to translate to regular English. Example: "6. Suitable for job of high-altitude and outdoor and fitment of inside or outside" and "3. Measure voltage volume if it is in waved arrange by AVOmeter".

Weight with cords and leads was 12.4 lbs so very light. The main power cord with a 220 volt Nema 6-50 plug was 64" long and labeled " UL SJT 3/G 12awg 3.31mm2 - 105 degree C UV-1 300V". The 3.31mm squared is the same as 12 gauge. The adapter with a Nema 6-50 plug to regular 120v 3 prong was 19" long so a total of 83" of plug in. The adapter is better than what I've seen on trailers. The Nema 6-50 plug is the standard 50 amp welding plug with a round ground on top with a taller and shorter vertical blades.

The main lead is 62" long labeled 1 x 16mm2 plus an 8" stinger. 16 mm squared is 5 awg. The ground is 39" long labeled the same plus a 7" clamp. Quality of the stinger and clamp is decent and I've seen worse. I burnt a couple rods down to the stinger and it is still ok. The angle grooves for holding rods aren't the deepest but I may file those and add another one for the angle I like. The plugs on the leads were the twist lock type.

Description said it came with the above cables, a bracket, 2 extra lead plugs, and a strap. Everything was there except the strap which doesn't matter to me. Ordered it on Saturday and said I would get it on Tuesday. Monday I see it says arrived at post office in Windsor, CT and coming by USPS so I figure it will be late. Tuesday I get a notice from Amazing that it was misslabeled and may be lost and they would issue me a refund if it doesn't arrive in a day or two. I got it on Wednesday and it arrived by UPS second day air from Denver. Amazing still says it may be lost and I can get a refund. Just looked and it says it is out of stock and they don't know when one will come in. Go figure. It did come with a card for a 10 buck Amazing gift card if I post a review.

They do have a 50 Amp Inverter plasma cutter for $269 which I may consider based on this one. The bracket has some slots for holding the stinger but not sure it was made to hold the welder although there were two positions where I could hang the welder on it if I screwed the bracket into the wall.

Ran a series of tests but the pics are on my phone so I will upload those in a post underneath. All tests were on 110 volt. I had 3/32" rod in 6011 and 7018 and the same rods in 1/8". Tested on the bench inside on some 1" plate and some 1/4" plate. All bench tests were plugged into a 50' long 12 awg extension cord. Turned it up to 200 amp with 1/8" 6011 on AC and tried cutting through the 1/4" plate and it basically all melted back in. Ran a bead and it kicked the 30 amp breaker which also had lights and a stock tank heater on it. Dropped it down to around 104 amps and tried different rods. It welded OK but kept kicking the breaker getting up around 150 amps. Unplugged the stock tank heater and then plugged the welder into a power strip. Then it would kick the power strip breaker. I don't claim to be an expert welder who can make good beads but it welded just fine around 104 amps on the bench with 3/32" rod. You can change the twist lock leads to reverse the polarity. Not sure I noticed much difference in splatter between AC and DC polarity.

Next day I took it outside with a 25' 12 gauge extension cord in 4 degree weather and this time I was plugged into a different 30 amp breaker and unplugged the stock tank heater on it so nothing else was on the breaker. I have my blade that is still rusted tight. So I began running beads up and down the swivel area using 1/8" rod at 104 amps, 125 amps, and 150 amps on DC polarity. Got plenty of penetration on all welds. Thought there was more splatter than I remember from my big welder but it didn't really show. I had to remember to keep pushing the rod to maintain the right distance or it would quit. It has the hot strike ability and always started up welding as long as I had the amps cranked up. It used a higher amp setting than what I would use on the big 220v welder for 1/8" rod. I had a 4 ton comealong pulling on that blade on one side and chain and boomer pulling on the other side. With all those beads and heat it never broke free. Guess I'll have to do some cutting on it.

Tried a vertical weld on the other swivel part and it did allright even though I haven't tried vertical welding in years. Last test was 1/8" rod at 197 amps and it cut a slot in a bracket about the width of the rod. Did all this and it never kicked the breaker. I did go in a couple times to warm my fingers otherwise it was all done in about a half hour.

At some point I will take it to the garage and plug it into a 220volt plug with 50 amp breaker and see what it will do.

So can I take it out on a 50' 12 gauge extension cord and weld with 1/8" rod on a 30 amp breaker? Yes. I give it an A. Pics to follow.
 
Thanks for the review--sounds like it's well worth $99--it doesn't take much welding to get that much value out of it. One question--you mention changing leads to reverse polarity, then said you couldn't tell much difference in spatter between AC and DC. Just trying to clarify that--does the welder switch between AC and DC or DC+ to DC- ? If DC+ and DC-, does it also have AC capability? Just curious--I typically use DC if available but there are times AC might be handy.
 
mvphoto70116.jpg


Unboxed on floor.

mvphoto70118.jpg


Having trouble with uploading from phone.
 
(quoted from post at 12:28:28 02/15/21) Thanks for the review--sounds like it's well worth $99--it doesn't take much welding to get that much value out of it. One question--you mention changing leads to reverse polarity, then said you couldn't tell much difference in spatter between AC and DC. Just trying to clarify that--does the welder switch between AC and DC or DC+ to DC- ? If DC+ and DC-, does it also have AC capability? Just curious--I typically use DC if available but there are times AC might be handy.

There is no polarity switch. Just a negative plug and positive plug on the front. Have to switch the leads to change polarity. Instructions say it is DC only. There is no AC. So where I said AC/DC I should have said DC+ and DC-. My bad.

Still trying to load pics. Guess the next test I'll take it in the house and try it on a 15 and or 20 amp breakers to see what size rod and amps it will run. After it warms up, maybe I could put the 2000 watt power supply on my pickup or tractor and see what it will weld. Suppose another test could be with an 100' 14 awg extension cord to see what it would do.
 
Mine seemed to weld like 75-80 amps when the readout showed about 170 amps when running on 240volts. Think the China dudes rate amperage a little differently-haha
 
(quoted from post at 15:11:13 02/15/21) Mine seemed to weld like 75-80 amps when the readout showed about 170 amps when running on 240volts. Think the China dudes rate amperage a little differently-haha

yea, they use metric current, not standard....
 
bc,


You need to get a chart that tells you the initial amperage settings for the rod size you
are using. 200 amps will probably burn a 3/16 in. rod.

You have 110 and 220 volt mains? @ 240 volt 50 amp service, my ac buzz box will burn a
3/32 for set @ 60 amp setting. You should be able to do the same, or close to it, with your
machine. 3/32 for @ 200 amps is way too many amps, the rod should glow red and melt away,

Guido.
 
(quoted from post at 17:19:40 02/15/21) bc,


You need to get a chart that tells you the initial amperage settings for the rod size you
are using. 200 amps will probably burn a 3/16 in. rod.

You have 110 and 220 volt mains? @ 240 volt 50 amp service, my ac buzz box will burn a
3/32 for set @ 60 amp setting. You should be able to do the same, or close to it, with your
machine. 3/32 for @ 200 amps is way too many amps, the rod should glow red and melt away,

Guido.

Guido, it might do 3/16" rod but I don't have any except maybe some old stuff laying around. Have to look. I was doing all that with 120v. After it warms up, I'll move over to the garage with the 240v plug. I'll be happy if I can burn 1/8" rod on the 120v since that old dual voltage welder from HF just wants to burn 1/16" rod on 120v. Maybe I can chart it after it warms up. Just seems like I was welding with 1/8" rod on the big welder for around 90 to 100 amps but I prefer to run to hot.

There is technical data sheet for the various welders they have from 110 amp, 140, 160, 200, 250, 300, and 400 mma/arc inverter welders.

Here goes for this one. MMA/ARC200; power voltage: single phase AC220v/110v +- 15%; rate input current 31.8A; No-load voltage 62; Output current adjustment arrange 20-200A; Rate output voltage 28v; Duty cycle 60%; Efficiency 85%; Power factor 0.93; No load loss 40W;

Of course a real welder who knows what he is doing could do a better review. I was just playing around running beads and didn't try to weld anything together.
 

Did you find the S7 one or a different one? I looked the other day and it was out of stock. Looked just now and they show one for double the price, 199. There were some other brands and various amp ratings.

I dug out a 1500 watt msw inverter. Plan to hook it to a car battery and see how many amps the inverter welder will weld with. Either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I've been looking at a 50 amp inverter plasma cutter. However I don't want any type of plasma cutter that doesn't have a built in air compressors. Compressors are cheap so I don't see why they can't build them in and not cost an arm and a leg. Don't think they need a whole lot of volume or pressure.
 
Same welder same $10 coupon. Shipping address was Hola Cindy,1800 Worldwide Blvd, Herbon Ky 41048 . I just checked still in stock still $99 .I have never weld was surprised with help from my nephew I was welding.
 

Great. I found them on amazing with hola cindy. Opens up a whole new world of welding for people when you don't have to spend a small fortune to get started.

My next project is a plasma cutter. They have one for 276 but an air compressor is needed and who wants to drag around both. For about that price they have combo tig, mma/stick, and plasma cutting. But to get a combined air compressor, the price jumps way up. Good luck and have fun.
 

Used this S7 200 amp Inverter welder again today to repair the stump guard on my rotary mower. Had an old coffee can with some 3/16" 7024 rod standing in there that has been in the shed for over 25 years. Ran a few beads with the 1/8" 7018 rod and cranked it up to 149 amps since it was sticking a little. Tried the bigger 7024 and it started welding just fine laying down a wide bead with no splatter, etc. Welded up all the cracks with it and it worked great with no shutdown. A few times it didn't want to strike an arc but figured out it was the cheap ground clamp. Once I scraped the ground clamp around on the stump guard, then it welded great.
 

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