Deal Or Did I Screw Up?

[Ambull01]

Just picked up the Hobart 210MVP from Tractor Supply. Ordered it online last night and the store called me a later while after saying it was missing the gun so they would give me $300 off of the price (it was listed for $950) if I still wanted it. Figured that was a pretty good deal so I said I'll take it then bought a new gun from Cyberweld for $107. Still a pretty good deal from the original price.

I found out the welder was returned by a customer that had no idea what he was doing. Somehow the wire melted in the tube and the manager had to pull some of it out. I didn't mention I too had no idea how to weld. The employee tells me since they have no idea what's wrong with it, they would sell it to me for $300. I tell them hell yes I'll take it since the new gun is on the way anyway. Figured if there's something else wrong with it the Hobart warranty will cover it. Did I screw up or is that a great deal? I'm hoping the previous customer didn't really screw it up. Waiting for my helmet and other stuff to arrive and I'll try to test it out.

Too bad I wasn't able to get a deal on the shielding gas and tank. That thing was expensive!!

[Ambull01]

Never mind, maybe not that great of a deal. Looked through the box and it's missing some stuff. The regulator gauge with hose, 230v plug, 0.30 contact tips, and the material thickness guide. Not sure how much all those items will be I think I'll still come out ahead. At this point though I would rather just have a brand new machine without all these freaking missing parts.

[M J D]

So all in you came out cheaper than you would have. Besides you have the cylinder now. Not really much to fail with that machine other than the gun and I'm sure that could have been repaired.

[Ambull01]

So all in you came out cheaper than you would have. Besides you have the cylinder now. Not really much to fail with that machine other than the gun and I'm sure that could have been repaired.

Yeah seems like it's still a good deal. The regulators look to be relatively inexpensive. The plug and other missing items will probably be around $40 or less I think. They gave me the gun too so, if I can get it running again, I'll be able to return the gun I ordered. Or just keep it just in case I screw up the gun lol.

[tapwelder]

Perhaps TSC can help with some missing accessories. Maybe warranty will cover a plug. Call hobart. Tell em you bought a return .... Who know what support they will provide.

Good luck.

Price for the machine is good.

Is there a liner in the gun / hose? Wouldnt the gun be warrantied?

[Ambull01]

Oh true, wasn't thinking about trying to call Hobart. I can't visibly see anything wrong with the gun or anything else but I also have no idea what to look for.

[tapwelder]

What wire melted on the tube? Welding or electrical? Look like you need a diffuser on the gun end?

[wb4rt]

Unscrew the tip from the gun (where welding wire comes out). If gun is still attached to welder, cut welding wire from spool taking care the rest of the wire doesn’t unroll. Then completely pull old wire from gun. Chances are good the gun is fine. May be as simple as wire melted to tip. Blow compressed air through gun liner, then reinstall gun by manual directions.

$300 for a basically new 210MVP is a great deal. If gun works, return new gun to Cyberweld and order regulator and MVP plug. Look inside cover for extra tips, I think there may be a place for tip storage there. If none, pick up a pack of .030.

Carefully go step by step through manual to set up. Make sure polarity is correct for gas setup.

If you have an experienced welder friend have him help you get it setup.

I believe you will be up to speed right away.

[Ambull01]

I'm not sure, they didn't know much at all about the machine. Damn I wish I knew at least something about these welding machines lol. I have the nozzle and what the manual describes as a "tip adapter." I believe that's the same thing as a diffuser.

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced MIG regulator/flowmeter? Or should I just try to find a Hobart branded replacement model?

[tapwelder]

Do you have flux core wire. If so, set up the machine to weld. Then you can asse what you truly need. TSC sales regulators. Again, I would check with hobart. You never know what they will do.

[wb4rt]

I'm not sure, they didn't know much at all about the machine. Damn I wish I knew at least something about these welding machines lol. I have the nozzle and what the manual describes as a "tip adapter." I believe that's the same thing as a diffuser.

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced MIG regulator/flowmeter? Or should I just try to find a Hobart branded replacement model?

https://usaweld.com/collections/flow...ucts/flowmeter

And you need hose. https://usaweld.com/collections/flow...cts/6-gas-hose

[danielplace]

The machine is good deal but they bent you over and broke it off in you on the gas.

You did not give them $454.98 for a 80 cu ft of C25. OMG !!!! Insanity. Don't use that. Take it back.

Get a real bottle and go swap it for a C25 You will have less than $250 in it. https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...393826948.html

[Ambull01]

The machine is good deal but they bent you over and broke it off in you on the gas.

You did not give them $454.98 for a 80 cu ft of C25. OMG !!!! Insanity. Don't use that. Take it back.

Get a real bottle and go swap it for a C25 You will have less than $250 in it. https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...393826948.html

Oh **** I didn't notice that lol. What the hell!? I thought the $399 was for a full tank. Was so excited about getting $650 off of the welder I wasn't paying attention to the cylinder purchase. I wonder if you can return a gas cylinder. I'm going to call around and see what other places charge for a 80 cu ft tank filled with C25.

[Kelvin]

I'm going to call around and see what other places charge for a 80 cu ft tank filled with C25.

Look on ebay, too.

[Ambull01]

Yep I'll do that. I've been reading a lot of posts from this forum and others about trying to exchange tanks. Seems like some places are reluctant to accept tanks for various reasons (i.e. different brand, no diamond marking, out of date test, etc.). About to make some calls to verify refill policies too, just to be safe. Had no idea just buying a cylinder and shielding gas was so damn complicated.

Called a few places nearby. A smaller LWS (I think that's the acronym) sells the 80 cu. ft. cylinder for $250, full with C25. ARC3's 80 cu. ft. C25 filled cylinder is $306. The hell with Tractor Supply! Glad I got the deal on the welder but I may scratch them off of my list of stores and never go there again lol.

[danielplace]

Yep I'll do that. I've been reading a lot of posts from this forum and others about trying to exchange tanks. Seems like some places are reluctant to accept tanks for various reasons (i.e. different brand, no diamond marking, out of date test, etc.). About to make some calls to verify refill policies too, just to be safe. Had no idea just buying a cylinder and shielding gas was so damn complicated.

Called a few places nearby. A smaller LWS (I think that's the acronym) sells the 80 cu. ft. cylinder for $250, full with C25. ARC3's 80 cu. ft. C25 filled cylinder is $306. The hell with Tractor Supply! Glad I got the deal on the welder but I may scratch them off of my list of stores and never go there again lol.

Do not become a cash customer at the gas supplier. First thing to do is open a account with them.

80 cu ft are always customer owned so a lot less hassle buying them second hand or dealing with a lot of the BS you have read about.

You should really be looking for a 125 at least unless you need compact lighter weight tank.

https://www.amazon.com/125-75-Argon-...4217583&sr=8-2

They have 80's but a bit high,

https://www.amazon.com/75-Argon-Weld...4217583&sr=8-3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20166906879...sAAOSwpLNX~nFs

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25435402862...Cclp%3A2334524

[Ambull01]

Do not become a cash customer at the gas supplier. First thing to do is open a account with them.

80 cu ft are always customer owned so a lot less hassle buying them second hand or dealing with a lot of the BS you have read about.

You should really be looking for a 125 at least unless you need compact lighter weight tank.

https://www.amazon.com/125-75-Argon-...4217583&sr=8-2

They have 80's but a bit high,

https://www.amazon.com/75-Argon-Weld...4217583&sr=8-3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20166906879...sAAOSwpLNX~nFs

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25435402862...Cclp%3A2334524

Wow thanks for the tip.

125cf for $365, not too bad at all. So I guess that's why I read some threads where people mentioned their LWS places only sell the 80cf cylinders. I thought buying welding gas was going to be just like picking up a tank of propane for my grill lol. I don't specifically need the 80cf, just thought since I'm a total welding newb and just a hobbyist there would be no need for a bigger tank. Recently read the price of filling up a 125 vs 80 is really similar so hell, I may as well buy the bigger cylinder.

[tapwelder]

The bigger cylinder is the better value. But you gotta move the bigger cylinder for refill.

You cannot dismiss TSC forever. Especially if you plan to fabricate. They were an excellent source of bearings and pin and gears and chains.

[Ambull01]

The bigger cylinder is the better value. But you gotta move the bigger cylinder for refill.

You cannot dismiss TSC forever. Especially if you plan to fabricate. They were an excellent source of bearings and pin and gears and chains.

Yeah that's true. My comment of ignoring them forever was a bit of a knee jerk reaction, I'm just a bit frustrated with them at the moment. Figured they would do some kind of inventory of the box contents but evidently they didn't. Or someone did and failed to write down what was missing. It's also my damn fault for not going through the box myself before buying. Lesson learned.

So the 125cf tank is going to be a no go I believe. Just called two places near me and they will not fill/exchange tanks that were not sold by them and they seemed to be a leery of customer owned tanks that are bigger than 80cf. I'm already learning a great deal about welding/welding gas and haven't plugged the welder in yet lol. The bright side is that with all this hassle I'm dealing with, it's making me more determined than ever to learn how to weld and stick with it

[Ambull01]

Either the previous owner or the Tractor Supply folks unscrewed the bolt at the end of the gun cable (not sure what you call it lol). Not sure why someone would unscrew it that part. Someone must have have pulled the cable/liner out a bit too so I had to take the gun apart, unscrew the gun nozzle and pull the liner from the gun end a bit. Should have looked up how to fix it first but just went ahead and did it. Hopefully that fixes that part of it.

[Ambull01]

Okay the gun works, everything seems good. Just did a test weld with flux wire. Had to do it with my eyes closed, helmet hasn’t come in yet lol. Thanks for the advice/help everyone. I’ll stop all my crazy questions now.

[SlowBlues]

Sounds like a pretty damn good deal concerning the welder itself, and the gun!

Mig guns are relatively simple, and parts for major brands are usually pretty widely available. If you do ever need a replacement I like the htp america guns.

As for gas bottles - I bought all my home bottles from offerup (craigslist type app, check out fb marketplace, etc). Many shops or independent welders here will sell bottles at an in between price of retail vs what they get at volume. It works out great.

My Local Welding Supply (shout out to california tool and welding supply) has never given me any hassle for filling even large cylinders. Hopefully you can find one that is small timer friendly.

[whtbaron]

I know you were itching to try it out, but don't weld with your eyes closed... you will still get flashed.

[tapwelder]

Not sure what you meant by pulling the liner back? Typically the liner is crammed in there tight.

[Ambull01]

Sounds like a pretty damn good deal concerning the welder itself, and the gun!

Mig guns are relatively simple, and parts for major brands are usually pretty widely available. If you do ever need a replacement I like the htp america guns.

As for gas bottles - I bought all my home bottles from offerup (craigslist type app, check out fb marketplace, etc). Many shops or independent welders here will sell bottles at an in between price of retail vs what they get at volume. It works out great.

My Local Welding Supply (shout out to california tool and welding supply) has never given me any hassle for filling even large cylinders. Hopefully you can find one that is small timer friendly.

I know, I can't believe they sold me this thing for $300! Everything looks brand new except for a little splatter/melted wire in the nozzle which I'm hoping I can scrape off. I'm thinking they screwed up and was supposed to take $300 off the purchase price, not sell it for $300. Thanks for that HTP America recommendation, I'll make note of it for the future if I ever need a new gun.

I should have done the Craigslist route for the bottle but I was getting a little tired of all the run around. Figured since I bought the 80cu ft bottle from Arc3 I'll have no issue with getting it filled/exchanged there. Guy at Tractor Supply said they would agree to exchange the bottle even though it's not a Thoroughbred brand as long as the bottles are the same dimensions.

I know you were itching to try it out, but don't weld with your eyes closed... you will still get flashed.

Yeah I know, was a pretty stupid thing to do. I just did a really quick trigger pull on some new steel I bought just to test the gun. Now I can return/cancel the gun I ordered. I'm so grateful of stupid people like myself that buy welders and have no clue how to use them lol. I hope one day soon I can find a Miller that someone clueless person bought and messed up the tip. I'm already coveting the blue machines although I see "Miller" on several places on this Hobart welder. Guess that's what happens when the same company owns both brands, some parts are used on both.

I'm jealous of all your welders. Why do you have so many of them?

Not sure what you meant by pulling the liner back? Typically the liner is crammed in there tight.

You see that first pic I posted above, the blue part sticking out? I'm assuming that's the liner. That bolt is supposed to be screwed into that brass part but someone unscrewed it. Then they probably tried to either pull the cable out from the machine and pulled the liner out a bit or they pulled it with their hands. Not really sure what happened honestly. I just had to take apart the handle and unscrewed the gun's swan neck to pull the liner up a little and reassembled.

I think the spool tension wasn't set properly (at least from what I saw on YouTube lol) so I tightened that a bit. The wire was looked a little loose/unraveled when I squeezing the trigger to test the gun. Everything seems to be good to go now so I'll wait until my helmet and other crap arrives then cut up the metal sheets I bought into coupons and practice a bit. Should have just bought the helmet from the Harbor Freight store instead of ordering online, didn't realize it would take so long to ship.