You nailed it! No free lunch with the cheap import. My old Miller
Thunderbolt 225 has a 100% duty -cycle at 100A and about 80OCV.
Billh

"RoyJ" wrote in message
nk.net...
I pulled up the spec sheet for a typical imported 240 volt stick welder:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44568

and for the standard Lincoln "Tombstone" welder
http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...ature/e260.pdf

A few things to think about:
The Licolon has an Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) of 79 volts versus 50 volts
on the import. A high OCV is needed to start rods easily. A pro usually
doesn't care much, a newbie will be quite frustrated by the import
special.

The duty cycle on the Lincoln is 20% at the full rated 225 amps. They
don't have a curve but I suspect 100amps (about right range for 1/8" 6013
rod) has a duty cycle of 80% or better. ie just weld away. The duty cycle
on the import is 10% at 130 amps, wonder what it is at full output? 5%????
Duty cycles are rated in 10 minute periods, figure about 1 minute to burn
a rod. 10% means weld one rod, wait 9 minutes.

The shipping weight on the import is 58 pounds, the Lincoln comes in 124
pounds, more than double. Copper and iron in the core makes up the
difference.

Both of them will require you to purchase a helmet, the import does come
with a "shield" that requires you to hold in in place but they are a pain
to use.

Net: You get what you pay for. The import will do some jobs. It surely
won't do the other jobs the Lincoln will.

Art wrote:
Hello group.
After having no success finding a used, low cost (~$100) , 220V 1
phase, AC buzz box around my local area (S. FL) , I've (reluctantly)
began looking at some of the import welders. I've noticed many of the
imports appear to be the same machine being
sold under different brands. Are there any real differences between
these similar looking machines?

TIA for any comments.
Art

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