miller thunderbolt 225 ac/dc

[becker_atc]

Pawn shop up the road has one of these. Its a bit older and exterior looks well used. He said he put a plug on it and tested it in back of the shop and says 24 hr money back if doesn't work.

Has some leads maybe (15 ft). Says would take $150 out the door.

Looks like this BUT not as nice

 

[laser3kw]

that would be a decent deal. And it has the wheel kit.
You can also put an air cooled tig torch on it and do scratch start tig welding (no aluminum). Of course you would need argon gas and regulator.
Of course, you have to dicker with the pawn shop. Tell him if it helps him out, you could throw him a c note and help clear it off his books.

 

[BD1]

That in my area for a AC / DC would be gone at that price. Many average $250.00 on the low side to $400.00 on the high. Buy it and plug it in for test run.

 

[stratman977]

I would buy it if it's in good working condition. Been looking for one for a while and Ive never seen a ac/dc machine sell for less than double that.

 

[johnny5c]

I usually see the AC only model for around $200 so jump on it.

 

[justanengineer]

What size leads does it have? If theyre good and heavy and in good shape, something like 2/0, it might be worth it. If its got the cheapie thin diameter ~#2, its a $100 welder at most.

Realistically, its a low end AC/DC stick machine, theyve been making the same basic machine (albeit a bit cheaper) for quite a few decades now. IME, the Lincoln AC/DC machines bring quite a bit more money, many claim they weld better/smoother. If I wanted a small dedicated stick only machine, Id be looking at an old Idealarc.

 

[becker_atc]

No room for idealarc. I never see the Lincoln cracker box ac/dc machines used. If I need a bigger better machine we have that at the farm (3hours away).

Only things I see in my budget right now are old centurys on cl that's ac only. Or a hf machine. I don't think will be doing much heavy fab with it any how.

 

[oldwino]

Hellofadeal
you can't touch an AC-DC unit (ether Lincoln or Miller) for under 375 here and they are still rare.

 

[zkling]

What do you plan on doing with it? Do you need a stick welder? They are a nice machine, very basic and hard to kill. Also pretty heavy for their size, draw quite a bit of power and are process limited. IMHO that is not a bad price at all for that machine ready to run, as long as it will fill your needs.

 

[Rogue1987]

Great price.

 

[sparky7]

Yup go buy it thats a great price.

And the ac/dc model is way harder to find, probably because they are bulletproof and no one in their right mind would get rid of one

 

[justanengineer]

No room for idealarc. I never see the Lincoln cracker box ac/dc machines used.

Just to clarify, the newer Idealarcs are a lot larger. I was suggesting the early Idealarc models as shown below, theyre about the size of the common Lincoln tombstone on the front (I think thats what you mean by cracker box), just a bit deeper (think cube rather than rectangle). JMHO, but theyre dam nice and Id much rather have one than a Thunderbolt. If the Thunderbolt is your best shot locally tho, go for it.

 

[Farmall450]

People want more than that for AC tombstones around here.

 

[John in OH]

Assuming it is fully functional, for $150 grab it and run! That's a good price of a small AC/DC machine. It probably has only a 20% duty cycle so you can't weld for long periods of time without letting the machine cool down a bit, but that just gives you more time to stop and sip a cool one yourself!

 

[pipsters]

In my area, AC only Lincolns are going for $200-$250 on CL and they can be bought new for $270 w/ a 10% coupon at Home Depot.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Here in Sonoma County I swooped up my Thunderbolt XL for $ 350; and it does AC / DC
Going to set it up for stick only applications; think it might bode well with a digital display mod performed by yours truly for current output / voltage

Adam

 

[zkling]

Here in Sonoma County I swooped up my Thunderbolt XL for $ 350; and it does AC / DC
Going to set it up for stick only applications; think it might bode well with a digital display mod performed by yours truly for current output / voltage

Adam

I'm curious, what realistic, end of the day benefit do you think a digital display will have on a basic stick welder? :

Did you give up on the syncrowave?

 

[sberry]

These are very good, its well worth the price.

 

[Farmall450]

That in my area for a AC / DC would be gone at that price. Many average $250.00 on the low side to $400.00 on the high. Buy it and plug it in for test run.

Agreed. That's in AC tombstone range around here.

 

[Farmall450]

People want more than that for AC tombstones around here.

Didn't realize this was an old post.

A digital display on a stick welder really doesn't seem useful IMO.

 

[sberry]

Despite other peoples experience the AC/DC in this class are "all that" and then some. They are highly under rated in terms of duty cycle and the only thing an Idealarc or Dialarc has over it is more top end power.
This is especially true for a first time buyer, all the way up to someone with excavating company and even then it would have its place.
The arc is so good on these that in a blind test I suspect only a miniscule few could ever tell the difference in this and a machine used on a power plant, put it on the other side of the wall and never tell.
The fundamental improvement here would be operator skill,,, way larger factor than the machine even at expert level, some fresh rods on the verts and preclean the plate would help a lot too.
This is a lot like riding a bike,,, my brain says I still can do it but you do lose motor skills not used. It would take a little practice, about a week to 10 days and a dozen rods a time to come up to speed.
In general fab and equipment repair like we do supreme quality is not needed.

 

[great white tj]

That is a very good price for that welder,I looked over two years for a AC/DC welder here in Fl. They just don't come up for sale much. Most welders I know have four or more welders in there shop, """sale that AC/DC unit""" hell no it stays here.

 

[Fcvapor05]

That'd be a steal in this area. I paid a lot more than that for my welder.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I'm curious, what realistic, end of the day benefit do you think a digital display will have on a basic stick welder? :

Did you give up on the syncrowave?

Hi There Zkling

The Synchro is doing just fine! A very smooth bead at that! I am very happy; the $ 600 board that went into it was money well spent. The meters seem to be a little sticky; they hang after the arc is struck until the next arc begins but other than that I am in hog heaven with that machine. Now it is time to get some cabinet grade wood and finish out the cart.

Re: The digital - I saw that on the Miller 304 and thought that this was cool; since I do like to tinker I think I can find a way to integrate a pair of digital meters into the panel for a coolness factor above all else. Just to be a little different. Now that school is out and I am just addressing side jobs and my day gig at the utility company, I have some weekend time to do smaller projects like this.

I am training a newbie friend of mine to weld here in town. I have found that the digital display on some of the units that we train on help him with a reference point more than anything else.

Plus.. I like to tinker

Adam