22 replies to this topic

[Phil-R]

Pay with PayPal and and you open a case to say it's "Not as Described" In theory you can send it back and get a full refund.Even if he doesn't respond in about a week, ebay normally settle in the buyer's favour so you should get the money put back into you're account. I've had to do this with lots with smaller stuff, but nothing of any real value.

 

Has he got decent feedback? Not many sellers would risk bad feedback to knowingly sell junk

 

It sounds like you'll be picking it up, so as long as you get to meet him at his house and not in a car park somewhere, it's not like he can do a runner.

 

EDIT: - Tough call without seeing the ad.

Edited by chrome, 23 November 2014 - 10:36 PM.

[Icey]

If you don't have much money, why risk what you have on an unknown eBay purchase (not to mention the hassle)? Why not save a little more and just buy a new one from MachineMart or similar?

 

If you can test it before you hand over your cash then great but I'm too burned by idiots to keep rolling those dice.

[M J W J]

I once tried a Sip 90 and it worked for 4 minutes, then needed 15 minutes to cool down before it would weld again - useless piece of junk.

 

I'm with cooper man. I have one and its not a very good welder. I have had to modify the wire feed to get it anywhere near reasonable to use but its still not brilliant.

 

Only good thing about mine is that I paid a fraction of the retail price.

 

I agree with others who say buy a clarke 151 TE. They are a bit more powerful than a 135 so you can weld thicker stuff if you need to. Also buy a proper regulator and a bottle of gas. Those disposable ones work out expensive after you have used a few of them.

[benm]

Just went through this ordeal myself, ended up getting VERY lucky and getting one localish on Gumtree a clarke 160en, bought a regulator, pub co2 gas bottle and some Gas wire and its fantastic.. set £20 aside to buy a auto dimming mask, it'll make your life much easier.. but be carefull what amp one you buy you can only run so many amps on single phase (normal house plug) without causing problems

this is the one I have

 

https://www.machinem...RC-clarke 160en

 

 

Good luck!

[Phil-R]

Not the most important point on this thread by a long shot, but (depending on cost and availability) try an Argon mix (80% - 95% argon). Pure CO2 and pure argon will work great, but a 95% mix is a little bit smoother and neater when welding thin stuff. 

[nz_seamless]

Don't cheap out and get a budget helmet - it's your eyes and if you damage them you will regret it long after the sting of a more expensive helmet.

I have used cheap ones that occasionally didn't do the job and now I have a Miller that does exactly what it should, every time. I regret nothing.

[Icey]

We did the welding mask review for Mini Mag a few years ago and the one we all agreed offered the best performance vs cost was this one:

http://www.thewelder...ing-Helmet.html

(apologies for the raw link, on the mobile).

I still have the Miller Digital Performance from that and its still going strong but if I had to replace it, it would be with the one above.

Edit: Blimey, that review was in 2009, how time flies...

http://m.minimag.co....t-welding-masks

Edited by Icey, 24 November 2014 - 11:53 PM.

[Ben_O]

Don't cheap out and get a budget helmet - it's your eyes and if you damage them you will regret it long after the sting of a more expensive helmet.

I have used cheap ones that occasionally didn't do the job and now I have a Miller that does exactly what it should, every time. I regret nothing.

Very good advice.

 

I have three auto dimming helmets. One is battery powered but stopped working after i replaced the battery and the other 2 are solar. Unfortunately one got damaged and stopped working and the one i was left with doesn't always dim down but i have ignored it and carried on.

 

Arc eye is no fun at all, luckily i have only suffered a couple of minor cases since using the dodgy helmet but that's down to my own stupidity and not being able to wait to get another.

 

I had one bad case of arc eye and it felt like someone had thrown a handful of sand in my eyes and the thing is, it comes on all of a sudden often hours after exposure.

 

You would think i would have learnt my lesson the first time.

I have now though and will be sorting myself out a new one this week

 

Ben

Ben