Brought home a $9.99 Hobart CyberTig II welder

Nice score! I just scored a chain hoist on eBay for £12 when it sells new for £300, and I was pleased with that, but I think it's easily outdone by your score. I hope it all works okay - keep us informed!

By the way, why does a welder need a remote control? Is it so you can adjust the current while you're welding, or what? It seems a funny idea.

Almost like those Sun computer monitors which used to have a remote control. I hated those because I kept getting them free, but the remote was always missing. Now I have the later model which doesn't need a remote :-).

Chris

I definitely will keep you posted. Great job on the chain hoist.

That's right. Please understand that the depth of my TIG knowledge is limited to having read two thirds of of the free tig welding book by Miller. (highly recommended).

There are two advantages of this tig machine. One is that a whole tig cycle can be programmed. Preflooding by argon, arc start, upslope of the rising current, pulsed DC welding (not the same as squarewave AC, pulsed DN always flows in one direction), downslope and cooling can be all programmed.

Second is that amperage can be set locally, and current can be started and stopped locally. That's nice because I do not have to leave my work to change settings and do not have to leave electrode under power.

I'm working on the pilot for a new day time Soap Opera "When deals follow you home" Perhaps you would like to take a minor role? The major roles are reserved for those that break the axle on the trailer and need to hire a rigger to get it off the side of the road.

Have fun with your new toy. After you get it > I am back home after bringing in a hobart cybertig II welder. I won it

Now, if I was in a major role, all I would need in such a situation is bring my TIG welder and phase converter and my Onan DJE generator from home, and weld the trailer. :):)

Thanks... So far, it is outside the garage. I will post a little update right now.

Doesn't seem to be an issue with stick but with TIG I wouldn't be without my torch mounted slider. Typically as your work piece heats up you want to reduce the current. Much more apparent with aluminum since it's a better heat conductor than steel.

Ted

Add a Readywelder spoolgun and you can MIG weld from it too.

Ernie, that's very nice to know. Do these spoolguns know how to deal with a constant current power source?

Not exactly. I think that this is one of the few welders that don't like Readywelders. The problem comes from the fact that the output of the welder is programmable with a hot start, initial current, slope, then main current. It's not possible to get rid of the sequence and when I did try my Readywelder it wasn't possible for the welder to come up to full welding current fast enough to start the wire properly. Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Borrow one to try before buying one. I know that my Cybertig won't run my Readywelder.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Thanks. For now, I think, I will limit myself to stick and tig, which will cover most welding applications.

I hope the welder's okay. The chain hoist arrived today. Not such a great deal really; a bit of an anti-score. Some previous owner has obviously neglected to lubricate the mechanism so it's rather slack. Also, it's not as easy to use as others I've used in the past. Somehow I think I'll be looking for another. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

Chris

So far, it is. It powers up and responds to controls. I have not tried welding with it, since I have no leads, electrodes, etc etc. I will visit Farm and Fleet and Harbor Fright tomorrow (I became quite wary of Harbor Fright (intentional spelling) lately and will try to buy as much as I can, elsewhere). Many welding things I ordered via ebay and will get them next week or even later.

Yep... Happens to all of us... Definitely the case for me... Throwing away the bad stuff is a big challenge. If I do not do it, I would drown in useless stuff like unwanted hydraulic valves etc (anyone wants one?). But doing it is very sad.

My other bad experiences invole a lot of wasted time. For instance, I bought a compressor for $50, a single phase motor for $10, rewired it from 3 phase to 1 phase and sold for $140. I wasted something like 8 hours on it, which was way too much.

At least you are having fun, which is great.

Have you got any needle or pressure relief valves? I would need those if I were to build the hydraulic load tester for a phase convertor, and they might just be small enough to ship to England.

You probably learned something, even if you made little cash.

Chris

Not, not for hydraulics. I have some differential pressure switches though.

true enough...

Alright, never mind. Just thought I might otherwise make use of something heading towards the bin.

Chris

Hydraulic valves of the right kind are nearly always useful.

Welcome to my world.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

I tried selling it ebay, no one wanted it for $9.99 plus sensible shipping...

Haha... I am reading the manual for this cybertig now, it is quite impressive. A nice, programmable machine. I will think if there is any simple way to use it in a slightly automated manner, such as using some linear rails to move the torch slowly along a straight line (by hand but using rails), or some such.

You are right...

I don't follow ebay that much especially in the hydraulics section. I can't afford it for one thing. :-)

That's what the programmable drawer like both our machines have got was made for. Many of the functions are not needed for manual welding though some can be rather nice once you get used to them. I've never taken the time to figure it out but I believe that with some small amount of work it could be made to work the way modern inverter welders do. Tap button to start program for start of weld and then another tap to do the end sequence. I believe Ernie uses this when tig welding a lot.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX