Weldcorp Inverter Arc

[Burnsy]

Looking to flog my old transarc 140 and replace it with an inverter unit to allow better portability and save a bit of space in the workshop while I'm at it. would love a kemmpi but can't justify that so am looking at brand name units around 140 amps. Cigweld, lincoln and boc all made in china, weldcorp made in Italy. There is little to no info on the welcorps on the net. Has anyone got any experience with them?

[Legion]

Can't speak for the Weldcorp but the little BOCs have a good name on here. I had one, sold it and got a 140A Kemppi but it's sitting unused now that I got a $$$$ tig. The BOC was great. The Kemppi nicer, but only if you have the $ and the incremental $ increase not really worth it. You're probably not interested in paying Kemppi $ but if you were, you could have mine, it's basically new with maybe a few dozen arc hours on it. If you are patient, the BOCs go on sale about twice a year, saving in the order of $100 from memory. Why did I get the Kemppi? I liked the idea of the digital amp readout and there was some discussion on here about indicated amp output of some inverters vs. actual amp output, with the BOC as one of the example units. I thought the Finnish quality Kemppi might be more accurate. In reality, the result you get is more dependent on the operator than the machine so it was kind of irrelevant but I felt with the Kemppi you had a better idea going into a new weld what was going to happen rather than needing to do test welds first. You'd probably be happy enough with the BOC given its intended use. I didn't really answer your question, but there are a few thoughts that might help you out from my experience with two different 130-140A inverters.

[BobL]

. . . In reality, the result you get is more dependent on the operator than the machine . . . . .

Watching BIL with 40 years experience and more recently one of the guys at the mens shed (A boiler maker with 50 years experience) using a basic stick machine and their welds are works of art.

[Burnsy]

Your right Bob, with the right skills there is nothing wrong with my old trnsarc but i have a big carport out of 3mm and 4mm rhs to weld up so can justify the change to a nice small inverter unit at the moment. Also, working as a D&T teacher now so can claim part on tax if I use it at work which I will likely do from time to time to let the kids see the difference between welding with the old farmschool stick welder and a new inverter.

Legion, there have been a few Kemmpi's on gumtree of late one for $300 that i was tempted by but it looked to have been used commercially (which most probably have been) and they are supposedly very expensive to repair if the card goes in them so i did not want to risk it. Been camping lately?

[Legion]

Not since Easter. Up the NW coast as usual, with the hordes.

I'm thinking of building a new camper next year, something for myswag or the trailer forum.

[Karl Robbers]

What is your budget?
Lincoln make 2 ranges of inverter welders, the industrial class Invertec and the Power Craft which is the cheaper of the two. I have an Invertec 170S and am very happy with it.
My gut feeling is that the weldcorps are probably a bit of a hardware store special, but as you say, they really don't put much info out there.

[Burnsy]

What is your budget?
Lincoln make 2 ranges of inverter welders, the industrial class Invertec and the Power Craft which is the cheaper of the two. I have an Invertec 170S and am very happy with it.
My gut feeling is that the weldcorps are probably a bit of a hardware store special, but as you say, they really don't put much info out there.

Looking at the Powercraft range of Lincolns. Basically the name brand entry level ones which all seem to be around $300-400 for 140amps depending on what promotion is running.

[LordBug]

I've got one of the Weldcorp 140 inverters, it's a great little unit and I'm plenty happy with it. Haven't done anything particularly strenuous with it, but it sparks up nicely and lays a good bead when I do it right. With a little care I can easily weld steel drum thickness sheets, and it's got enough heat for thicker stuff.

Looks like you can get a Cigweld 170 for a bit over $300 (My search of Bunnings online is showing the 140 Weldcorp isn't there at the moment?), could also look at Everlast or Token Tools for a bit more than that from memory.

Depending on what your plans are, I'd just go with wherever you can get the best warranty

[Karl Robbers]

With the cheaper entry level models, they are best viewed as a throw away once their warranty expires. That is not meant to be a derogatory comment, but more a statement of reality.
There is a large engineering firm around my way that runs the Cigwelds as site machines. Once they fail, it's a one way trip to welder heaven and why wouldn't you. A site machine gets a hard life and with labour at $75-80/Hr to repair them, a new machine at $300 or less with bulk discount looks really attractive.
These site machines probably burn more electrodes in one week than a farm/ handyman machine burns in a lifetime.
You can get a MagMate 140 for around $170 at the moment with an 18 month warranty. That's $113/yr assuming it dies at 18 months and one day.
Just checking out evilbay and found this. Seriously worth a look as it is the industrial spec machine.

Cigweld Proffessional 141VRD Plant Best Vale Stick Welder ON THE Market | eBay
If you plan on using the welder in a school, then the VRD could well be an advantage from an OH&S perspective. On the subject of VRD's, the Lincoln Invertec range has a VRD that can be turned off via an internal switch which is an interesting feature.
Personally, I am anything but a fan of BOC gear. The last 4 machines, (2 large industrial Migs, one stick inverter and one AC DC tig), I have used have been very unimpressive.
If I were buying at present, I would certainly look very hard at the Cigweld 141VRD. It has Lift arc Tig capability too.

[Grahame Collins]

The electrical repair shop works on 1/2 value ,so if the welder costs $300 and the repair is over $150 they deem it a write off and not worth economical repair.
If not interested in a welder that is a potential throwaway the Invertec welders are good value and like Karl have used it and loved it. Priced currently around $1220 in might be too rich for some .

Grahame

[Karl Robbers]

The electrical repair shop works on 1/2 value ,so if the welder costs $300 and the repair is over $150 they deem it a write off and not worth economical repair.
If not interested in a welder that is a potential throwaway the Invertec welders are good value and like Karl have used it and loved it. Priced currently around $1220 in might be too rich for some .

Grahame

Dead right on the 50% cut off point. The local agent for cigweld doesn't even bother with warranty repairs on the weldskill range of inverters to the best of my knowledge. Any issues and it's welder heaven for them. I guess a machine that retails for $300, probably costs less than $150 when it hits our shores, so that would drop the 50% point to $75, which would be almost enough for the welder repairer to remove the cover and have a look.
I remember my first welder, a CIG Compact 2, horrid little beast that it was. It retailed for between $159 and $202 depending on where you looked back in 1985. Now look at what the same $200 buys. Not even remotely in the same class, in fact probably more like what $1000 would have bought back in '85.
The Lincolns sure are top class gear, even the cheaper Powercraft range holds it's own against the competition.

[Karl Robbers]

The electrical repair shop works on 1/2 value ,so if the welder costs $300 and the repair is over $150 they deem it a write off and not worth economical repair.
If not interested in a welder that is a potential throwaway the Invertec welders are good value and like Karl have used it and loved it. Priced currently around $1220 in might be too rich for some .

Grahame

Dead right on the 50% cut off point. The local agent for cigweld doesn't even bother with warranty repairs on the weldskill range of inverters to the best of my knowledge. Any issues and it's welder heaven for them. I guess a machine that retails for $300, probably costs less than $150 when it hits our shores, so that would drop the 50% point to $75, which would be almost enough for the welder repairer to remove the cover and have a look.
I remember my first welder, a CIG Compact 2, horrid little beast that it was. It retailed for between $159 and $202 depending on where you looked back in 1985. Now look at what the same $200 buys. Not even remotely in the same class, in fact probably more like what $1000 would have bought back in '85.
The Lincolns sure are top class gear, even the cheaper Powercraft range holds it's own against the competition.

[bobsreturn2003]

purchased a token tools inverter off ebay about 3 years ago , sling it over your shoulder and up the ladder . the old arc got carried around with a wheel barrow . have found it an excellent machine .although i got longer leads ,as i was used to having them on the other , cig was rebranding them at one stage .

[Burnsy]

Just to follow up I ended up getting a Lincoln Powercraft 130. $300 and I am very happy with it. A mate who runs a big fabrication shop uses them for site welders as they have VRD so meet the standards required by many big businesses. If they are good enough for him to run commercially that was enough for me.