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Grahame Collins
21st Mar 2008, 01:54 PM
Hi guys
Had to tell you.
I was in picking up SWMBO at her work.There was a Fronois plasma cutter belonging to a hire service on the counter ready to go out.

Seems it, like many other things took a swim in the floods.
Was it ruined?
No way, it was pulled apart ,washed with detergent and hose, was dried and assembled and tested.

All for the cost of the labor.
The boards are coated in Phenolic resin what ever the hell that is?

Thats quality and what you pay for.

The only broken one I have heard of, did not survive being driven over by a 200 ton dump truck.Then most things don't service being squashed by monster trucks.

Have a great Easter

Grahame

Fossil
21st Mar 2008, 06:03 PM
They are a very good quality unit, but then that is reflected in the price. You can waterproof any PCB with epoxy resin as a DIY project, and have have the same results.

I wish I could justify the cost of this though.
http://www.fronius.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-0AFF0106-53BEF4D4/fronius_international/hs.xsl/79_11124_ENG_HTML.htm

What is the "I know a bloke on a BB thats wife repairs Fronius welders" Discount worth Graham?

Thanks

Grahame Collins
21st Mar 2008, 08:06 PM
Well thanks a bunch Foss,
Here I was ,thinking I was all content having my little AC/DC 1700 Magicwave all paid for and everything.

But No someone has to come along a destroy my blissful ignorance and show me the new flash whiz bang model,

God this monster has 300 amps .What in the dickens would one burn with 300 amps ,telegraph poles?

Not only that but the digital read out reads out instruction in Whole words. Now I shall never be satisfied with the box communicating with me in PART words.
I paid about $4800 for the Magic wave 1700 with the torch.

I know a sheetie down the road who bought the next model up .He paid $7000. Knowing that prices go up and not down and this model is bigger again I am guessing around $9000. I would be happy to put in a good word for you.
Do I want it? Yes. Do I need it? No!



Grahame

Rossluck
21st Mar 2008, 08:27 PM
I'm enjoying learning about my little transpocket 1500 TIG. It does everything I need and is smarter than me. :2tsup:

Fossil
21st Mar 2008, 10:45 PM
God this monster has 300 amps .What in the dickens would one burn with 300 amps ,telegraph poles?Look at the duty cycle at 190amps :oo:, and yes I believe the ability to burn telegraph poles is an essential requirement for any welder. :p


Do I want it? Yes. Do I need it? No!
Unfortunately, my twenty year old stick "system" will have to continue to be ample for my needs. I am just getting a little weak these days to lug the monster around, although I have just given up the cancer sticks after fourty years, so if I am still alive next year, I might have some energy again!

Rossluck
22nd Mar 2008, 09:20 AM
Look at the duty cycle at 190amps :oo:, and yes I believe the ability to burn telegraph poles is an essential requirement for any welder. :p

Unfortunately, my twenty year old stick "system" will have to continue to be ample for my needs. I am just getting a little weak these days to lug the monster around, although I have just given up the cancer sticks after fourty years, so if I am still alive next year, I might have some energy again!

This is the issue, Fossil, and the main reason I bought an inverter. So many times I've wanted to make something and I've looked at the welder in the corner with it's tangle of leads, and I've thought of the weight of lugging it out and ... NOPE! But these inverters are amazing. The leads are heavier and much more of a nuisance than the unit.

As you get older these things do become more of an issue unfortunately. I buy and design everything in my workshop with a view to not bending over and lifting. I've discovered that when lifting is required I spend a lot of time just looking at the offending item. :wink:

Grahame Collins
22nd Mar 2008, 09:55 AM
Hi Guys,

How right you are Ross,
I am in the midst of a major reorganization of my shop and those sorts of issues are top of the pops.Anything thats too heavy (or will be too heavy as I advance towards my senior years ) is to get or has been given a set of castors.

Space and weight are major factors in my organization regime.
Ross,that little lunchbox welder of yours can run on the end of an 80 meter lead and not suffer voltage drop.

I watched the machine in action last week. yeah It makes you think 2 packs of rods weigh more than the machine.It out performs one 10 times its weight.

Grahame

Rossluck
22nd Mar 2008, 12:55 PM
Hi Guys,

How right you are Ross,
I am in the midst of a major reorganization of my shop and those sorts of issues are top of the pops.Anything thats too heavy (or will be too heavy as I advance towards my senior years ) is to get or has been given a set of castors.

Space and weight are major factors in my organization regime.
Ross,that little lunchbox welder of yours can run on the end of an 80 meter lead and not suffer voltage drop.

I watched the machine in action last week. yeah It makes you think 2 packs of rods weigh more than the machine.It out performs one 10 times its weight.

Grahame

They're a great welder. I now own the Liquidarc 170i MIG and this Fronius, and I hope they last me till the end.

Fronius Australia seem like a good bunch. Because I bought the unit second hand I sent them a fax asking for the manual. 15 minutes later it arrived as a PDF attachment. :2tsup:

scooter
23rd Mar 2008, 09:03 PM
Grahame, phenolic resin is the same stuff as the old "bakelite", also used for high pressure laminates like laminex & formica.


Cheers................Sean

hux
25th Mar 2008, 09:27 AM
I saw one of these at an auction last week....3Ph and had both torches and leads for MIg and TIG

http://www.fronius.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-0AFF0106-6D4B6333/fronius_international/hs.xsl/79_4641_ENG_HTML.htm

I reckon it would be worth mega $$$ as it went for @ $6k from memory - everything else went for SFA....like an EMF 250 TIG for $50 (man am I glad I don't have 3 phase it removes the temptations)

Chris Parks
28th Mar 2008, 10:22 PM
The graduations on the choke of my stick welder go to 450 amps:2tsup: It came out of Cockatoo Island and is dated 1941 and painted battleship grey. The cost? $60 and the lend of a backhoe to get it in to my workshop basemant.

Grahame Collins
29th Mar 2008, 12:40 AM
Can you strip it, put detergent on it and water blast it?

Grahame

Fossil
30th Mar 2008, 10:36 AM
The graduations on the choke of my stick welder go to 450 amps:2tsup: It came out of Cockatoo Island and is dated 1941 and painted battleship grey. The cost? $60 and the lend of a backhoe to get it in to my workshop basemant.

I'll raise you 150 amps. :p

I have one of those old dogs which came out of the rail yards in Sydney when they closed down. 600amps, and enough copper to......Ummmm... do something useful with I guess.

Grahame Collins
30th Mar 2008, 05:26 PM
Come on now! Do I hear more?
The bidding is becoming quite spirited now!

Surely there must be one of you who has an old Lincoln Electric sub arc power power source laying about.

The 1200 amps it pulls is just the thing the dull the lights during Earth hour, snigger!

Sorry ! I could not help myself there, boys.
Grahame

Chris Parks
31st Mar 2008, 01:40 PM
I'll raise you 150 amps. :p

I have one of those old dogs which came out of the rail yards in Sydney when they closed down. 600amps, and enough copper to......Ummmm... do something useful with I guess.

I seriously considered scrapping mine the last time I had to move it just for the copper that must be in it. I wonder if I did that whether I could afford one of those new inverter thingies. I must go into a welding shop and see what they are all about.

Fossil
31st Mar 2008, 02:28 PM
Mine must weight 90kgs or so. It needs two strong guys to lift it off the ground. It's been sitting in a dark corner of the shed for the past 15 years because I didn't have enough juice to run it. I have upgraded my shed supply so I might fire it up. I used to do my own structural welding on heavy steel, many years ago, which is why I picked it up, but back then I ran my construction business from an industrial premises with plenty of power.

I wonder how much copper would be in it. At $6.75/kg scrap, I might get a few hundred for it?

blouis79
31st Mar 2008, 06:58 PM
Well thanks a bunch Foss,
Here I was ,thinking I was all content having my little AC/DC 1700 Magicwave all paid for and everything.

[...]
I paid about $4800 for the Magic wave 1700 with the torch.
[...]
Grahame

I presume that's an extra special price. I have been quoted $5940.

Grahame Collins
31st Mar 2008, 07:34 PM
Hi blouis79

Thats the price I paid two years back.Bear in mind SWMBO boss gave me a good price.I have done a couple of demos for his customers.

Not that he needs them for the lunch box models. I think he has sold more of them than any other dealer.

He calls them lunchbox welders cos thats how they get pinched from mine sites.The get walked out in lunch boxes-eskies I suppose.
Grahame

blouis79
22nd Apr 2008, 08:52 PM
FYI
BobTheWelder has keen prices on Fronius for those interested like Grahame:

Magic wave 1700 job G/W/F Tig AC/Dc Inverter RRP $6259.00 incl GST... BTW $4894.25 incl GST

MAGIC WAVE 2200 AC/DC TIG WELDER *....Power source only
Market price: AUD $6919.00
Our price: AUD $5739.25 save 17%

blouis79
27th May 2008, 01:08 PM
Grahame, phenolic resin is the same stuff as the old "bakelite", also used for high pressure laminates like laminex & formica.


Cheers................Sean

BTW, phenolic resin is a "thermosetting" plastic (as opposed to thermoplastic). ie once formed, it is unmeltable. so it is heat resistant (but prone to failure by fracture rather than plastic deformation).