New Welder!

Jan 25, 2005 3 Replies

After 25 years or so of (ab)use, my old SIP 140 called it a day. Looking around for something a bit more heavy duty, I did some web searching, and bought a used and refurbished 180 amp oil filled jobbie from a company in Leicester. It arrived yesterday while I was at work, shrink wrapped and on its own little pallet! Now I'm not a seven stone weakling but it was real struggle to lft it off the pallet, this thing holds 4.5 gallons of oil, and is b****y heavy. Its a Pickhill Bantam, and I think the 180 amp rating is continuous, not intermittent, which would account for its size. It also has a 75 amp output for charging car batteries, not that I'm going to try it on mine!! The first job, after fitting a mains plug, will be to try and get some angle iron to make a trolley for it......



Regards



Philip T-E



I nearly got one of those the other day, also to replace my old SIP 140 (bought in 1976 for £40 with a Black & Decker industrial 4 1/2 inch angle grinder that is still on the original brushes! Only bit of B&D stuff I ever had that lasted past a month - however I digress...) Let us know how the "proper" welder compares to the SIP - mine is virtually a single current setting welder these days!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- snipped-for-privacy@boltblue.com John Lloyd - Cymru/Wales

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I must agree. I picked up a s/h 140A Oxford (real amps and no voltage drop) but serious welding blows the fuse after a while. Its now got its own 16A socket. regards Roland

In defence of the SIP140, it must be understood that it was one of the first small non-commercial machines that you could buy in the late 1960's and early

1970's, and gave a lot of use to folks who didn't need a professional welder.

We have had one from 1972, and it is still in use. Apart from a bit of intermittent mains cabling, has been very reliable. If I need anything bigger I can always borrow a bigger oil-filled unit from Vince :-)) (He also has a BIG Miller ali welder as well)

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email Address: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web Pages for Engine Preservation:

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