Thread: BOC Smootharc 185 AC DC TIG

I'm ashamed to say I ran my 250A ac/dc tig on a 15amp plug for a whole year as I was learning mostly below 100amps. First project I did that was up at 230 amps, and after a while it became gutless, similar to your description. The threads on the screws for the connectors inside the 15 amp plug had eroded away so the wire was not held firmly. I fitted the 32 amp plug I had been too lazy to fit before and everything was good again. I hope its as simple as that. Even if you have a 32 amp plug, maybe just check the screws are tight.

Unfortunately, (perhaps fortunately), all the supply cable and plug connections seem perfect.
This machine has had virtually no usage other than my 1 hour play with it and the owners few attempts, which were sufficient to cover the electrode with crap.
All leads and plugs exhibited normal temperatures and the power point was a dedicated supply, admittedly running 15A hardware, but this is the same supply that runs the Cigweld with no issues. Thinking back, the torch did not even seem to heat up much.
At a guess, I would say that the power delivered was at best 70% of that indicated. I would love to put it alongside another 185 and compare them.

Can you get your hands on a tong tester and check the current while welding.
My limited experience with BOC gear is that it is generally pretty good.
If you want to try the tong test route and can't source one locally send me a PM and I would be happy to loan you mine. I will post it to you and you can send it back when you have finished.

Thanks for the kind offer.
Where the whole thing sits at present is the machine which is less than a month old is throwing the same error code at random.
The owner is going to take it back and request a new one or at the very least to run another one along side it to gauge perfrmance.
I had a similar experience with a BOC 550 multi process welder where it would break down with predictable regularity (whenever there was an urgent job on). Three times it was proclaimed to be fixed. The fourth we demanded a new machine. Voila! Problems gone for good.

Any luck finding out if this was bad machine or they are all garbage? seems like a good value TIG and would hardly need the high end.

Only other machine with any name is the Everlast 185 but that has no pulse (but does have a foot pedal control available)

The welder has been returned for a refund and I believe that the owner is pretty keen on a little Lincoln AC DC tig.
Based on what my welder repairman had to say about the BOC gear, I would probably buy other brands in preference. Some have had a good run from them though.

thanks

Sounds a bit like a luck of the draw, id give it ago but after more research i think i really need to get a machine with a foot pedal if I'm going to play with ally.

sounds like a foot pedal would be more important than pulse.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

Based on what my welder repairman had to say about the BOC gear, I would probably buy other brands in preference. Some have had a good run from them though.

It depends on the price range of the BOC kit. The lower end stuff is of Chinese origin whereas the upper range kit is re-badged name brand stuff. My Smootharc Elite TIG is a re-badged EWM machine from Germany but these days they are up over the $5k mark, I think previously they sold re-badged Kempii equipment as well.

Having said that, I've never had a problem returning anything to BOC at my local depot but I have heard from others that they've had troubles. It seems to depend on the branch staff you encounter.

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

sounds like a foot pedal would be more important than pulse.

If you can have one or the other then the pedal will be more useful, you can pulse with pedal to an extent anyway.