Frustration, disappointment, money blown off the scale

[ericmark]

I am an electrician who worked with welders setting up pre-heating, and stress relief, and also repairing welding machines and welding with them just enough to test my repairs, I was taught how to weld with stick and gas, during my apprenticeship, but that was in the 70s, and not really don't any structural welding after I left my apprenticeship.

We have in essence three electric welders. AC at 50 Hz it not really that smooth, and needs some skill, the heat is 50/50 between the stick and the material being welded, which means not very good for welding aluminium and the like. Using an engine or inverter we also get welders using more like 600 Hz, it feels like DC, but it is still 50/50 heat wise. But a lot easier to use. Then we have DC, originally we used a rotary unit, the rotating mass resulted in a very smooth weld, and the heat is split 25/75 and one can select if the work or the stick has the most heat, used with stoving, not really sure how it all works something to do with welding up hill or down hill.

For all the above, all you need is welding set, and the leads.

Then we move to TIG and MIG, that's tungsten inert gas, and metal inert gas, the TIG uses a tungsten tip, and is very like welding with gas, and we have something like an ignition coil to start the spark, I used to repair those units, then we have MIG where a fill wire is auto fed to the work while you weld. With TIG you manually feed the filler wire, just like gas welding.

I think the extra bit you are talking about is the equipment to use TIG or MIG, what you have does not need any extras to stick weld.

 

[endecotp]

Please indicate a domestic shower drawing 375 amps

The welder won’t be drawing 375 Amps, or anything like that much.

I guess that’s the current that it delivers at a low voltage, not what it draws from the mains at 240 Volts.

If this were the only issue with your purchase then we should discuss it further - but I understand the more fundamental issue is that you don’t have all the parts you need, so the question of the power supply requirements is immaterial.

 

[stevie888]

Thanks stevie888. My TIG Welder didn't sell on eBay auction. To break even, I had had to set a reserve price. Just doing that (setting a reserve price) subjected my listing to eBay listing fees that I had to pay even though the welder did not sell. Unfortunately, that was throwing money away. Meanwhile, I am having a hard time believing I bought this TIG Welder as bad spending, but the prognosis is fraught. Thanks for your input.

I'm confused OP. You only posted on Saturday but you now say it's been on Ebay long enough to not get sold? And you pulled it because you had to get your money back: I've never used Ebay but surely you get longer than that.

You've made an expensive mistake thinking you had a real bargain for a bit of kit totally inapproriate for a beginner and that you can't use. You need to get rid of it, take the hit and vow not to do anything like this again.

We've all done daft things: move on.

 

[JohnD]

To break even, I had had to set a reserve price.

To sell it, you have to sell it for what it will fetch. God did not give you an entitlement to break even.

You can set a low start price, and accept it might sell at that price.

 

[cdbe]

Presumably you've tried these?

Otherwise re-enter it into the same auction you bought it from - someone else must have bid just a bit less than you so you'll likely get most of your money back.

Personality I'd stick it on eBay as a buy it now for 1/3 of retail and wait. Probably a good purchase as a spare unit.

 

[speedyharry]

Thanks, everybody for your interest. I feel I need to enhance my original post so you will be able to help me better.

I am clueless about electrical welding but had an introduction to oxyacetylene welding back in 1980. Wanting to learn to do electric welding, I bought at British auction on 17 November 2023 a Lincoln Electric TIG and stick Aspect 375 K3945-1, brand new, still in box for a fraction of advertised price (currently $11,000).

The part of the name '375' is to do with its power, 375 amps. It therefore can't be plugged into the domestic power supply but requires special installation, an isolated work area and electromagnetic shielding. It was delivered to my front door room by two strong lads where it has remained unused. The makers have stated that its serial number is authentic and that I can sell it with a new 3-year guarantee.

You'd think this would be snapped up on price alone as I have sought only to recoup my outgoings. I have offered it to numerous Lincoln Electric welder dealers (including Westermans) and put it on mainstream selling sites including eBay auction. There has not been even a nibble, but my listing costs have increased my original outlay by half again. I got no answer from a popular heritage railway and numerous others. I am beginning to think I bought a lemon. That brings me to suspect Lincoln Electric's strategy of selling this welder K3945-1 as unusable without the "ReadyPak" K3946-2, This however, must be bought in combination with K3945-1 (the part I already have) and the price of the two combined is $13,000.

So, can those who know about electric TIG welding steer me towards the essentials needed to make a TIG welder work so I can offer a saleable product. Thank you All again.

 

[speedyharry]

To sell it, you have to sell it for what it will fetch. God did not give you an entitlement to break even.

You can set a low start price, and accept it might sell at that price.

However, a reserve price is not necessarily a high price. The reserve was what could be fetched at auction, simply the price I had paid at auction myself. God does entitle you not to sell at a loss

 

[denso13]

So, can those who know about electric TIG welding steer me towards the essentials needed to make a TIG welder work so I can offer a saleable product.

See what you don't have which is included in the "ReadyPak" and order those bits separately. Pricey though.

 

[denso13]

I bought at British auction on 17 November 2023 a Lincoln Electric TIG and stick Aspect 375 K3945-1, brand new, still in box for a fraction of advertised price (currently $11,000).

If something is too good to be true. it usually is.

 

[stevie888]

"God does entitle you not to sell at a loss"

In what universe??

Get real mate This has sat in your front room for more than 2 years, you've huffed and puffed and spent another grand trying to get rid because you're entitled not to make a loss??

You asked in post 1 for us to be gentle: kinda difficult with your apparent mindset.

 

[speedyharry]

See what you don't have which is included in the "ReadyPak" and order those bits separately. Pricey though.

Thanks. I have added up all the priced items in the ReadyPak and would be reluctant to obtain them all. I would like help to decide which of them are essential. Take it as read that if there was included an item called 'high voltage sky hook' I would not know whether or not it was essential, convenient or merely decorative. Somebody help me, please!

 

[speedyharry]

"God does entitle you not to sell at a loss"

In what universe??

Get real mate This has sat in your front room for more than 2 years, you've huffed and puffed and spent another grand trying to get rid because you're entitled not to make a loss??

You asked in post 1 for us to be gentle: kinda difficult with your apparent mindset.

Just because God has let you stray onto precarious soil doesn't mean he isn't gentle with the rest of us.

 

[Lower]

Why do you think you need the 'Ready Pak' in order to sell the TIG plant. The 'Ready Pak' is the TIG plant you already have along with a water cooler for a water cooled torch, the torch and cable, a gas valve, ground cable, pedal, wheeled cart etc.

This is not a DIY welding plant. It's 3 phase so very unlikely to be able to be used at home. Any commercial welder will understand what else they need to make the plant functional. When we buy welding plants, we buy the bare plant as you've bought as everything else is pretty much a consumable.

You should be looking to sell it to a professional, not a DIYer.

 

[endecotp]

Somebody help me, please!

It seems clear that no-one here knows enough about welding to help with your question of which bits are "essential". Maybe you could find some other forum where, for example, car mechanics hang out? Or some other trade? Maybe someone here could recommend somewhere.

Regarding the whole "how much should I be able to sell it for?" discussion - did you know that eBay can show you "completed items only" (or "sold only"), and show you what other items have actually sold for recently? I just did a "sold items" search for welders, and there are plenty in the few-hundred-pounds range, and a couple over a thousand. They are mostly, but not all, smaller units than yours.