Small inverter welders?

[78Delta88]

claims to be second owner, bought this 3 yrs ago thinking he'd use it more, but hasn't since he has "Bobcat" on the truck (?). sent pics of under the lid and serial # sticker, very clean, including the laminated specs sheet and no paint scratches. unit appears to have been built in April 2007. says bottle still has a lot of gas. is also willing to show it works if you come to inspect (which I will)

the 180 ProMig is $850 at Lowes, minus 10% Vets discount so $770. $45 cheap HF cart, he added the bottle and regulator himself, bottle should still be cert'd. and 55" tall Argon/CO2 bottles aren't cheap

I've been on CL for several years looking as well as at swap meets, so I know how hard these good deals are hard to come by. and it's been online for almost 2 months? yeah, the math doesn't add up but sometimes this happens. but that's also why I'm here asking "WTF?"

Good question. What is actual cost of a bottle and regulator?

 

[86LK]

Good question. What is actual cost of a bottle and regulator?

buying a new welder the regulator comes with it, separately it's about $100. the bottles themselves aren't cheap, minimum of $150 for an empty bottle, a full bottle is $250+. when you trade it in past the cert date it's an extra $20. a simple exchange/refill for a full bottle around here is less than $100

you see why it's hard to figure out a counter offer price. how much would you discount a 15yr old lightly used welder that I can get new for about $800 w/tax included, while he wants 800 for used, with cheap welding cart, and bottle?
total new would be about $1100-1200 for equivalent. I'm thinking $650 is fair but obviously don't want to overpayalso don't want to buy a used-up welder nearing end-of-life

 

[565bbchevy]

Also remember the new welder comes with a warranty and you will be buying the used one "as is", so make sure you give it a good try and maybe bring your own scrap to test it's abilities.
I will say my Lincoln welder I bought 22 years ago that runs on 220 has worked flawlessly and I use it quite often and in project mode it seems like non stop
As I stated in post #9 I recently purchased the Century FC-90 and I am very happy with it being very portable and running off household current and welds up 1/4" on one pass.

 

[86LK]

Also remember the new welder comes with a warranty and you will be buying the used one "as is", so make sure you give it a good try and maybe bring your own scrap to test it's abilities.
I will say my Lincoln welder I bought 22 years ago that runs on 220 has worked flawlessly and I use it quite often and in project mode it seems like non stop
As I stated in post #9 I recently purchased the Century FC-90 and I am very happy with it being very portable and running off household current and welds up 1/4" on one pass.

as mentioned the paint and specs sheet are still glossy with no scratches visible in the pics. the only other thing I noticed different was the feed mechanism between then and now and the specs sheet has some different #'s on it for the various metal gauges, as if there had been improvements in setting appropriate speed and heat inductance.
trying to arrange a time with seller to go inspect sometime this week to take a look.

 

[565bbchevy]

as mentioned the paint and specs sheet are still glossy with no scratches visible in the pics. the only other thing I noticed different was the feed mechanism between then and now and the specs sheet has some different #'s on it for the various metal gauges, as if there had been improvements in setting appropriate speed and heat inductance.
trying to arrange a time with seller to go inspect sometime this week to take a look.

Are the adjustments for wire speed and amps infinite or do they have numbered settings?
I would still make sure you can use it and weld a couple passes on some scrap.

 

[Bonnewagon]

55" tall cylinder bottle

That's a pretty big bottle. I have an 80 and it is a lot to handle. It just fits the cart. It cost me over $200 and the guy gave me the jobber discount because he was a fisherman too. The HF cart is a good one except the paint peeled right off. So I ordered a couple of the Marquette AutoPro 90S welders at $125 each. I can't beat that price and they are backed by Lincoln. One came, the other is back-ordered. It is pretty nice, the cables are stout, and it is definitely not Chinesium like the under $100 models look. The 20-40 amp area of the dial is geared for a 1/16" 6013 rod and that is exactly what I use exclusively. I gave this one to my buddy and when the other comes in I can do a test.

 

[86LK]

Are the adjustments for wire speed and amps infinite or do they have numbered settings?
I would still make sure you can use it and weld a couple passes on some scrap.

PRO MIG® 180

The PRO MIG® 180 wire feeder welder is setup for welding thin steel, stainless or aluminum sheet metal with MIG or thicker steel with flux-cored welding.

www.lincolnelectric.com

 

[86LK]

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PRO MIG® 180

The PRO MIG® 180 wire feeder welder is setup for welding thin steel, stainless or aluminum sheet metal with MIG or thicker steel with flux-cored welding.

www.lincolnelectric.com

so the seller of this unit kept postponing and ended up selling to someone else, never told me he had a looker.

so I've been keeping my eyes open and found this yesterday...
Hobart Handler 140 120v

checked the serial number, maybe 9 yrs old. comes with cart, cutting torch goggles, two face masks including a Miller Classic, the small bottle, cover & manual, extra cutting tips and the feed wheel for different sized wires, and spools of wire (1 flux, 2 nonflux)

this thing is pretty much immaculate! he admitted to barely using it and said it was time to move on and let someone else get use from it.

posted price? $500. SOLD! not a great deal but a pretty damn good one considering the true cost of all the items is probably at least $850-900