A local place has a few older, reconditioned TIG machines, and they're about 1/2-1/3 the price of a new inverter machine would be with half the power.

Two I'm looking at are:

Hobart Cybertig Series 120
Miller 330A/BP

Both are 300A units with high freq, AC, and both polarity DC. Of course they're BIG and don't have many of the new features. I was wondering if any of you guys have experience with these two welders specifically, or ones very similar to them and compare them to the newer machines.

Thanks in advance.

 

Here's one of the ones I'm looking at

http://www.hobartwelders.com/om/0300/o353u_hob.pdf

Hobart Cybertig Series 120.. ???

 

I know Engloid is a big supporter of buying used, especially a machine of that class. They are very industrial and will last a long time, whether new or used.

 

Thanks Ross.. I'll bother him over at Fab-Forum.. sucks he got banned here!

 

Make sure you can use them. They might be 3-phase power (not sure if you have access to 3-phase). Old machines will last forever if you take care of them. My Miller MIG is about 20 yrs old and still going strong

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Paul_VR6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks Ross.. I'll bother him over at Fab-Forum.. sucks he got banned here!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Looking at his profile... he hasn't been banned for awhile now. Looked like it was taken off right away.

 

what is this far-forum you speak of can you send me a link????

 

http://www.fab-forum.com

 

i have a 1976 cybertig. it welds steel awsome once you figure out how the amp **** reads. my machine dosnt do AC. it has the setting but dosnt want to arc. but for the $800 shipped i paid for the machine it was an absolute steal. oh and i hope you have some extra room where your gonna put it cause it aint small.

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it. The CyberTig's I'm looking at are all AC/DC, you can tell because it has four sweet 70's style analog gauges on it instead of the two the DC has. Definitely not small but luckily it uses 230v single phase, which is what I have in the house.. 100A though, so I might have to upgrade my service or get separate out to the garage.

As far as Engloid, I haven't seen him around, so I thought he was still on the outs. Probably just pissed, I would be.

 

How much are they going for? Would you mind sharing your source? I have been looking but am too cheeep to shell out the $ for a brand new one.

I am somewhat local in NoVA. Thanks

 

Just a local industrial machine liquidator/wholesaler .. I don't know the name offhand but they're right up the road. Prices vary a bit on what's with them but looking at $1000-1500, some cheaper but they look rougher.

If your looking for online http://www.weldplus.com has a good inventory of bigger Miller AC/DC's and shipping wouldn't be too bad from OH.

 

I've been looking at the older hobarts a lot lately. they seem like really solid units. a lot of them have features that you dont normally find on older machines like pre-flow and pulse functions

 

i have an ancient Linde UCC-305 300Amp ac/dc tig and stick power supply. runs on 220 single phase and they seem to limp along forever but i feel its really only good at welding steel on DC. its a raw sinewave machine so they take massive amounts of current and dont have control over the arc the way newer machines do, especially for aluminum. when old machines break down its almost cheaper to buy a new one. invertors are much smaller, more efficient and have a more user adjustable arc.

my house lights dim when i hit the pedal and it cant weld aluminum for **** based on todays standards. DC straight polarity on steel is a breeze tho, it can almost keep up with a modern machine except prettyness is on the weldor and not from a pulser.

 

i have used these older syncrowave 300's a few times and they are powerhouses with modern features.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Miller-Syn...wItem

this one having a spoolgun makes it very valuable. consider that a mig/tig/arc all in one. 2k is a steal IMO. i think those are 3 phase only tho, double check.

 

A lot of the Sync 300s are 3ph but the 350 and 351's are typically 1ph 240v.

I have to agree that the one you posted is a smoking deal and I wish I had the money to lay down!

 

My physics dept at my school has a Hobart 300AC/DC TIG welder...its nutso nice. I personally think it lays better beads than my Lincoln 175 square wave AC/DC welder I have.

 

nutso= crazy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Paul_VR6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it. The CyberTig's I'm looking at are all AC/DC, you can tell because it has four sweet 70's style analog gauges on it instead of the two the DC has. Definitely not small but luckily it uses 230v single phase, which is what I have in the house.. 100A though, so I might have to upgrade my service or get separate out to the garage.

As far as Engloid, I haven't seen him around, so I thought he was still on the outs. Probably just pissed, I would be.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i have a machine with the 4 gauges, and it dosnt weld on ac. talked with many old time welders and theyve all said the old machines dont do ac very good if at all.

and i use a 60 amp breaker on mine and i havent once popped it. and ive cranked the power to the max to cut some holes in 1/4 plate when my oxy torch ran out of gas one night.

 

you are absolutely right, most old machines use unaltered sine wave AC, and they suck in comparison to todays modified square waves. youll usually only see settings for high frequency and stabilizer on the AC side. there is just no control over the arc with an old sine wave, and they are quite inneficient for todays standards. old machines seem best at DC straight polarity, welding steel all day long.

if you wanna do aluminum youre looking for a machine that can vary the percentage of electrode positive to electrode negative (as wide a range as possible) as well as the duration of electrode positive vs electrode negative. there are many other features, but thats the meat and potatoes.