Thread: transarc 141 help

Hi welder,
With those circumstances ,I would saw its a candidate for the tip given the previous history .
Even if you have it looked at ,its likely you have to pay at least an inspection fee as repairers won't do this for nothing.
Possibly its somthing simple but I have no electric or electronic experience or knowledge to advise you.
I can say that last time you got off cheap at $140.

Inverters are lovely bits of gear but you now understand the down side.
When they stuff up, its likely to cost you dollars, once you let the blue smoke out of the bustards.

On the question of its replacement ,I offer my standard statement on welder purchases,:

• well known or respected brand,
• good warranty
• availble spares
• good after sales service
• can the vendor repair them or has acess to repairers that can

cheers
Grahame

thanks Grahame i will have a look at boc and the other welding shops today. im not sure if i can afford another inverter so i might buy an transformer type.

well i had a look at the tool shops today i am really liking the unimig welders as they have a 3 year warranty they are asking $330 for the 140 amp model. but i can get the unimig 170 at sydney tools for $340 how do unimigs compare to Chinese inverters the local tool shop has a miller falls for 160 amp welder for $300

Hi ,
Its me being cynical again, but you can bet London to a brick that Miller falls has nothing to do with the venerable "Millers Falls Tool Company" or Miller Welding Equipment".

I am surprised that the machines are not blue.

While it is normal to seek value for money, some of the products out there are deceptive and it can be a minefield for those with little experience or knowledge to sort through them.

With your Unimig theres a physical shop to return to if there is something wrong within the warranty period.
Good luck with whatever way you go.

Grahame

Originally Posted by welder

well i had a look at the tool shops today i am really liking the unimig welders as they have a 3 year warranty they are asking $330 for the 140 amp model. but i can get the unimig 170 at sydney tools for $340 how do unimigs compare to Chinese inverters the local tool shop has a miller falls for 160 amp welder for $300

Unimig machines are chinese, they have a Jasic logo on the top corner. The only non chinese products sold by unimig are the esseti machines.

By the way from your description of welding for 5cm then cutting out with high pitch hum....... open up your welder and resolder your high frequency rectification diode on the output of the transformer. This is what is causing your issue, you have a hot joint on it.

John

hi guys thanks for the advice i am aware that "miller falls" is not a part of either milller or the old miller falls of america but rather a cheap Chinese rip off brand i was also aware that the unimigs were also Chinese but cash is really tight in not even sure i can afford $330 let alone $1330 for brand name.

What are you planning to use it for? If not for TIG and I didn't have a lot of $$$ to play with I would just buy an old transformer based cigweld transarc from ebay, should be able to pick one up for $50 or so.

well i have not ruled that out but i think my power supply is not powerful enough for a transformer at full ball and i hoped i could use my tig gear i bought for the broken inverter

Just a quick note on the unimig/jasic inverter arc welders. For most of these types of machine they will offer a 10 amp 130/140 machine and a 15 amp 160/170 amp machine for a little more, but if you are going to run them off a 10 amp supply the machines are virtually the same. I see no point of payin the extra for the 160/170 if you are going to use it off a 10 amps supply as you will only be able to get 140 or so amps from 10 amp supply. Just a thought...hope it helps.

Few people have unimig welders and say they are a good machine so i would go for it if you have the money.

Sorry not bad mouthing the unimig inverters just saying that if your only going to use off a 10 amp supply maybe not worth spending the extra on a 15 amp and changing the plug/filing down the earth as so many people do.

i was thinking of doing the plug trick the cable running to the shed is a 25 amp with a 20 amp breaker in the box so i have the capacity for 15 amp put i dont really want to get a sparky to install new power points.

Originally Posted by welder

i was thinking of doing the plug trick the cable running to the shed is a 25 amp with a 20 amp breaker in the box so i have the capacity for 15 amp put i dont really want to get a sparky to install new power points.

Not to go flogging a dead horse, but a typical 10A GPO circuit is usually protected by a 16A breaker - in some cases 20A if the sparky deemed it appropriate - the internal wiring's capcity is derated if it's under insulation, if not he may choose to use a 20A breaker.

Thus you can draw up to 16A (or 20A as per above) from a 10A socket, depending on other loads on the same circuit, but as mentioned when this subject arises, the socket itself is only rated to carry 10A, thus a risk of melting/fire at the socket.

If you only run at max amps once in a blue moon, and aren't running a high duty cycle, in most cases you'll probably have no problems. However, the exception tends to prove the rule, and turning around after finishing a weld to see acrid smoke pouring from the power point should be a risk that one considers before making this choice.

hi guys well i ended up buying a unimig 170