This one here.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/greenbank/power-tools/200amp-ac-tig-welder/1056575122
It could do some lovely things for us. I’d usually just go buy it and worry about money later but I’m especially skint at the moment. It’s a good deal, the torch and hoses and all that are there and it’s in working order except for the high frequency start, which i think we could probably work on a little with a service. Either way whether the HF start works or not, its well worth $150.
If you’re willing to commit to restoring it and getting it set up for members to use it, I will emphatically vote yes to reimburse you.
Hell, my $50 that would otherwise have gone to the other welder can go to it if you think its worth it.
We own an AC TIG machine now. It’s as old as the hills and in poor condition but all the bits are there. shouldn’t be too hard to make work properly again and it’s got a decent water cooled torch, flow meter and a bench top gas shutoff valve which are all useful and probably worth the $150 on their own.
As far as the machine is concerned it is a minor gamble as to whether it will work perfectly or not, but its nearly worth it for the few accessories we get with it.
Not personally a huge believer that this machine will work well as an actual welder given the age and condition (guessed only via photo however), but as rut4ger mentioned the accessories probably are worth a good percentage of $150 and given the age its probably a copper coil based design, so it could have upwards of $50 of copper inside if we are lucky. Besides 200amp with no high frequency start will probably do HSBNE fine on the off chance it doesn’t have other problems, and a water cooled torch is a really nice feature to have, and completely independent of the welder should we choose to scrap it.
I personally would like to see members place money in to purchase this…
Only just last meeting we voted on purchasing a welder that the space footed the entire bill for…
I’m sorry to have to jump up and down but money is going out faster than it’s coming in with all these unaccounted expenses…
The group footed the bill because bear saved us all twice that amount. I’m not demanding money off anyone, it was a good deal and I’m pretty sure I can show the bulk of the membership its worth the small expenditure. If not, well shit… guess I foot the bill.
I had a reputable repair person poke around with the welder today, he fixed a few dodgy connectors and added some insulation to a few leads that had faded and cracked over time. Blair and I found some suitable replacements for the old paper capacitors which should clear up the issue it had been having, then we can get the reputable repair person install them. Ill give Bear a call and see if we can borrow some TIG bits if he has them so we can fully troubleshoot it and make sure, but it all appears to be in good working order.
Im not trying to have a go at you personally @rut4ger, though…
Not having to pay for something doesn’t mean you had money in the bank to pay for something else.
What it really means in our current situation is that we are less poor than we could have been.
It was my suggestion that the space pay the gap that was required to get the welder with the already donated money. Thus allowing extra money to be placed in for safety equipment and tools at a later stage. Either everyone thought this was a bad idea or missed the intentions of the proposal.
Anyway the out outcome is still the same… We are running out of money…
On another note, I will personally place some money in for this welder…