[TraditionalToolworks]

This is getting ridiculous!!!

A welder similar to the one discussed in this thread, for $19.99 shipped.

I don't know what to make of this. This seller has feedback for selling one of these recently but claims 250 sold. A similar stick welder seller also claims many sold but his feedback is mostly for shirts. Clearly a broker-speculator, not a welding shop. Is it worth the trouble to search for similar-price welders with more extensive feedback? Anybody here ever successfully received one of these $20 welders?

There are several similar listings for stick, tig, plasma cutter at the bottom of this page. Are these for real???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HITBOX-Digital-AC-DC-Aluminum-Welder-110-240V-PFC-HF-TIG-MMA-ARC-Welding-Machine/303570914871?_trkparms=aid%3D1110012%26algo%3DSPLICE.SOIPOST%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200420083544%26meid%3Ddf86a6d758794453b55f25ab363f3ef0%26pid%3D100008%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D3%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D303575060318%26itm%3D303570914871%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DPromotedSellersOtherItemsV2%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c100008.m2219

You can remove everything past the "?" after the item number, the rest of it is just tracking and search information.

That's a fraudulent listing. I reported it as such.

How about this one, an Amico plasma for $29.99 ??? I reported this also.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amico-APC-...50HF-50-Amp-Non-Touch-Pilot-Arc-Plasma-Cutter-Pro-115-230V-Cutting/303575084120

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

Call me old fashioned, I have learned not to buy product from China unless nowhere else exists to buy the same Chinese product that is already shipping from the U.S.

By the time you wait for the product it doesn't seem worth it to me. Waiting 2-3 weeks to get some crap products is not worth my time. I might as well just buy from someone who has already shipped the stuff to the U.S. and has the product to ship on hand.

In some cases it does cost more. I ordered some diamond wheel plates recently. I could have got them for almost half the price ($12 for 3 grits of 6" wheel plates) rather than the $24 w/tax and free shipping from the State I live in. Not worth my time to wait for 3 weeks to get them. At $24 for 3 x 6" diamond wheel plates is still dirt cheap. These are the style that attach to the side of a grinding wheel on a 6" bench grinder.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3PCS-6-Inc...Inch-Diamond-Coated-Flat-Lap-Wheel-Grinding-Disc-Grit-120-400-1200/303168447709

I didn't know they would ship from my State, it just says multiple warehouses.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

I wonder what Ebay will do about him.

They will close the auctions at minimum, but more likely remove is account. This is pretty common and has been going on more and more as it doesn't cost anything to sign up for Ebay accounts.

Recently there was a listing for a Primeweld welder for $20, and mechanic416 said they guys keeps posting with different accounts and Ebay continues to remove his auctions/accounts.

In the Primeweld auction there was over 200 previous sales also, but most all of them were for some type of clothing, just like the shirts you list as well.

This is definitely a fraudulent seller, IMO.

See this posting and the 2 posted after it which was about 1 month ago.

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?700179-Primeweld-AC-DC-Tig-225X&p=8744612#post8744612

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

That sounds like such a risk for a company. You now someone is going to do just that. I can see the lawsuit now.

That actually sounds moronic to me. There are no pigtails that are designed like that in the industry that I know of, it is standard to have the NEMA 6-50P on the machine cord and use a pigtail that goes from NEMA 50-6R -> NEMA 5-15P, if that is done a standard extension can be used also.

Even so, that doesn't really make sense as most welders will not run very well on a 15 amp 120v circuit, but that is commonly used for 20 amps as well, I guess you could use it on 30 amp 120v circuits, but those are pretty rare for most homes.

Perhaps, but I like it this way. I can get a standard 10 ga extension cord and use it with my 25' 8 ga 220v extension cord for some more length or I can use it on a standard 110v outlet.

But you could use a standard extension if you had an industry standard pigtail also, so I don't get it.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

I guess I'm missing something. I can plug the Yeswelder adapter into my NEMA-50R outlet and use a NEMA 5-15 extension cord to run 220v to the welder.
How would I run 220v to the welder using a NEMA 5-15 extension cord and an industry standard pigtail?

Maybe I'm misunderstand you then, if so my bad. I thought you were saying the welder had a 120v plug on it and that it had a pigtail with a 120v receptacle to a standard NEMA 50-6P so it could plug into a welding circuit. If so, this is absolutely moronic as that pigtail is not common in the industry and doesn't seem to make sense as the wire gauge is more likely smaller for the 120v plug, but maybe it uses large wire. None the less, you will always have a lower powered plug in the middle of the entire length.

On the more common pigtail you will always have the lower amperage on the 120v pigtail side, if I understand the Yeswelder adapter correctly you will always have 240v going through the 120v plug..

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

That is correct (unless you plug it into a 120v outlet).

But here's the bigger worry. 120v extension cords are common in small sizes only good for 15 amps. Seems very easy for someone to say, "Hey, I need to get my welder over to there, I'll just plug it into this extension I have!", and then plug that into the pigtail and into a 240v circuit. Just something to be aware of.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

I think shootr has the flux125 HF...

Gotta give him some credit for that...that machine would be like running the 100 yard dash in flip-flops.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

Try yes welder website if you are looking for their brand if you like the 205ds I would honestly suggest the mig 250

That does look like a better machine, but oddly there is no manual on the site for it, where there is for the 205ds.

Looks like a better display and more adjustments as well as more power at the expense of not having 120v operation, which I am not sure why anyone would use 120v unless they just didn't have 240v. The thing with the 120v circuit is that it needs a lot of amps, which is not commonly available on 120v circuits in most homes, so most welders tend to pop the breakers. I'm not in the market for a welder, but they sure are cheap. They seem to have a niche carved into multi-process machines, the 250 tig ac/dc seems mediocre in comparison with the Primeweld 225. Slighly more amps, slightly less price, but no CK Worldwide torch.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

Manual sucks that comes with it. It does 120/220 but only comes with 220 plug in no adapter max 30v wfs of approximately 592 no tig torch with it but accepts one I have from my Vulcan omnipro 220 an doesn't come with knurled rollers for fluxcore wire. I have modified it to accept up to .052 wire an it works decently for all I do . Inductance goes from -10 to 10 hot start an burn back with mig

Does it allow adjustment for wirefeed speed?

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

It's wfs is in m/min so basically an it goes form 2m/min to 15m/min

Does it let you select that in increments of 1m/min?

That would be a huge advantage over the 205ds, IMO, since it sounded like the 205ds would only allow the user to set the size of the wire and determine the feed based on that.

If the 250 allows that to be set, it would be more than worth the extra $50.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

Adjustments are available in .1m/min example can adjust it from 1.2 to 2.1 an adjust volts depending on what you desire

That seems like a heck of an upgrade for only $50.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

Dang, wish I had known this. I probably would have bought it instead.

Maybe they would let you upgrade since they told you otherwise?

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

Thanks... not the same vendor but I ordered one from Taiwan... i'm still looking around though for something that might get here a little quicker...

Getting hard to tell where some of this stuff comes from, especially on Amazon, some vendors are drop shipping from China now as well...

I don't see how getting any type of welding supplies from China is gonna play out well in the current situation. I ordered a tig torch head off Amazon, after the order was done it told me it would arrive Aug.-Sept. Vendor won't reply to questions, no tracking info provided, but says it shipped. Sold by Vaorwne but company is HN Direct. Yeah, it was cheap, but who cares if it takes 2 months to get to me?

FWIW, here's one at Baker Gas but doesn't say if it's knurled or not.

https://bakersgas.com/products/thermalarcdriverollkit-023-030-vgroove-7977036

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

I have ordered from ebay stuff out of china, a 3/4X12 tap fitting a dremel collar and a couple hard to find toyota parts.. I haven't been taken yet and the shipping was about 2 weeks for all as I recall...

I've ordered a number of things that were shipped from China and 2 weeks is FAST, IMO. I wouldn't expect 2 weeks by any means nowadays with the flight limitations. I did once get some stuff in about a week and a half, but that doesn't happen anymore, and the Trade War with China can only be expected to get worse, IMO.

Shipping from China seems random now, with fewer planes flying the route.

Exactly and only expect it to continue to get worse. I would think that Taiwan might be easier, but it is still China in theory.

I just requested, and got, an Ebay refund for a flashlight ordered May 14.The expected delivery window ended June 24. According to its tracking # it was handed to an airline in Singapore on May 23.

Was thinking about doing a refund on my tig torch head, but it's so cheap, it was like $12.50 w/shipping. I saw a place that would ship from the US though, so may contact Amazon and see if I can just refund as the seller won't respond. I've been waiting to give them one of the worse reviews on the planet.

I don't even know where it's at, it could be anywhere, it just says shipped 2 days after I ordered it.

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

If you have a tracking number

That's the problem, no tracking number and in my orders on Amazon it tells me there is no tracking info and I should contact the seller.

Of course the seller is useless.

If I had a tracking number I could look it up, yeah, I get that much...I think this shows that Amazon is getting the wave of china-drop-ship vendors like Ebay has for several years. Used to be that Amazon one could expect good service. Those days are gone. Funny though, I recently bought some 30mm diamond discs for my Dremel, 10 pieces for $12 w/shipping. It was scheduled out for August delivery but shipped from Compton, CA and arrived in less than a week. Go figure. I ordered that after the tig torch head. You can barely buy diamond in America, none of the small 30mm sizes.

I have other tig torches, but it's the principal. There's a reason I wanted this one.

With so much welding equipment made in China, things don't look good.