My new welder

[Canada_CT230]

Hey,

Update...I couldn't get that Dayton AC/DC welder.

Anyways...I found a 230A AC welder locally for $75. Good price and looked in good shape but I haven't seen it work / tested it.

The guy said he bought it for his cabin building docks. He hasn't used it in years since that project and was cleaning up. I took his word that it works. Plus I figured that there is not much that could go wrong with it.

The welder I got is a Mastercraft (Canadian Tire) 230A AC welder. I think this might be made by Century for Candian Tire. I want to try and confirm who makes this house brand welder.

I cleaned it up a little on the inside and outside. Everything looks normal inside and I'll try it as soon as I wire in the 50A plug in the garage. I already upgraded my circuit breaker panel the other day and now have a 50A breaker in there for a welder circuit.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I assume that you used the correct sized wire for the 50 amp circuit relative to the distance from the breaker box.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The welder looks like new. PO must have stored it / used it in well protected space. Not much to go wrong with them except maybe a lightning strike that burns out the transformer. If it doesnt smell burnt, then it is likely OK. Congratulations on your find.

 

[grsthegreat]

That looks amazingly like my old Century ac/dc unit. It died about 3 months back, but served me for nearly 15 years

 

[k0ua]

Yep looks just like a Century, Well sorry the AC/DC deal fell thru, but you should be able to get a lot of good out of this one, especially for $75

James K0UA

 

[Canada_CT230]

I assume that you used the correct sized wire for the 50 amp circuit relative to the distance from the breaker box.

yes it will be...when it gets installed

 

[bearcreek paul]

Nice find for 75$ you can't go wrong.You will get a life time of use and if you want to upgrade you will get what you paid for it.

 

[Thomas]

Heck of deal congrats.
You have more than enough for any hot glueing for home projects.

 

[Canada_CT230]

HOORRAY...It works! I wired the 240V in the garage today and connected the line to the panel. The 50A line and welder test successful.

I grabbed an old rusty piece of steel, a 1/8" - 7014 rod from the open box (came w/ welder) and fired it up to about 125A. I played around laying a bead and making a puddle of molten steel. It has an easier arc strike than other welders that I've used. It held the arc very nicely and was easy to control. Pretty nice with the auto-darkening helmet too!

Now for the first project...a welder cart.

 

[rankrank1]

HOORRAY...It works! I wired the 240V in the garage today and connected the line to the panel. The 50A line and welder test successful.

I grabbed an old rusty piece of steel, a 1/8" - 7014 rod from the open box (came w/ welder) and fired it up to about 125A. I played around laying a bead and making a puddle of molten steel. It has an easier arc strike than other welders that I've used. It held the arc very nicely and was easy to control. Pretty nice with the auto-darkening helmet too!

Now for the first project...a welder cart.

You will find that you love 7014 on an AC buzzbox. By far the easiest rod to run on AC is 7014 IMOP. It almost welds by itself which is why many call it idiot rod and it has very nice weld appearance to boot. Best of all is that it does not require rod oven storage.

Tip 7014 usually likes a few more amps than the rule of thumb for amp setting based on rod diameter in decimels. (e.g rule thumb says 1/8" which is 0.125" would like a setting somewhere around 125 amps. 7014 will almost always like a slightly higher setting like say 135-140 or so for sweet spot).