Fair deal on welder from friend?

[Top Secret]

Got a question for you guys. Friend of mine wants to sell me his MIG welder for $900. It's a Thermal Arc Fabricator 250 amp (220v, obviously)

 

Comes with a half-full (big) tank of Argon, wire, gun, and his auto-darkening helmet (Not the harbour freight one). Everything I need, really.

 

Sound fair to you guys?

 

The gun is a Tweco...

[grumpyvette]

if its WORKS thats a more than decent price, just make sure you know the facts, the tanks not RENTED or OUT OF DATE on the tank shows (ITS NOT NEEDING TO BE RE-CERTIFIED..that can cost you an extra few dollars)and you test weld a few pieces BEFORE buying the combo

 

http://reviews.ebay.com/Mig-Welders_W0QQugidZ10000000000014197

 

http://www.thermadyne.com/thermalarc/content/view/99/258/

[tannji]

The Fabricator 250 is a couple years old, but sold for $1700 or so new. I just sold the same machine yesterday as a demo model... The guy really needed a Miller 212 or Lincoln 215, but he wasn't able to walk away from the Fabricator for $1000.... more machine for less money. It has a very nice arc and is well built. There was a random issue with some of the mainboards in those machines, but it was a pretty bad problem that usually showed up right away when you used it, if your friend has put any significant hours on this machine you should be good to go. I don't remember off the top of my head what the low amperage is on the the 250, but I do have several customers using it for autobody and sheet metal work. At $900 in good condition I would jump on it.

[Top Secret]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I was confirmed that the welder is a Fabricator 210, not the 250 as I had thought.

 

The spec sheet says it does 250 amps, however.

 

Bad, fair, good, great deal? The tank is owned, not rented or leased and 1/2 full of Argon. And it comes with the auto-darkening helmet and a retarded amount of wire, haha.

 

The welder will be used for auto-fabrication / dune buggy fab type stuff. I doubt I'll ever need to do anything over 1/2''.

 

Looks like a 40% duty cycle at 210 amps, pretty impressive in my opinion.

 

60% at 176

 

But yeah, final word? Thanks again guys.

[grumpyvette]

still a decent deal for a 210 with the extras

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Thermal-Arc-Fabricator-210-Mig-Welder_W0QQitemZ160013840298QQihZ006QQcategoryZ113743QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

 

new no extras sells for about $1200

BTW those LARGE mig wire rolls go for about $60-$70 each for mild steel wire, the full size shop argon TANK sells for about $200 and $40 to fill

 

BTW when you DO start welding STAINLESS STEEL, GET THE CORRECT STAINLESS WIRE, it costs a good deal more but the resulting weld quality is worth it

[Top Secret]

still a decent deal for a 210 with the extras

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Thermal-Arc-Fabricator-210-Mig-Welder_W0QQitemZ160013840298QQihZ006QQcategoryZ113743QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

 

new no extras sells for about $1200

BTW those LARGE mig wire rolls go for about $60-$70 each for mild steel wire, the full size shop argon TANK sells for about $200 and $40 to fill

 

BTW when you DO start welding STAINLESS STEEL, GET THE CORRECT STAINLESS WIRE, it costs a good deal more but the resulting weld quality is worth it

 

Roger that. Is there anything on a Z that is SS? Bad dog rails are mild, correct?

 

Thank you for your help good sirs, I appreciate it.

[tannji]

The 210 is still a good machine... just not a steal like the 250 would have been. I would still jump on it, you are not likely to get another deal quite as good. = )