Simder Arc200s 120 amp Stick/Tig welder test and review! It's tiny!

[@BigIz27]

Great video. Explains a lot. I took this to work. I let the professional welder use it. it kept throwing breakers. He threw it away. Good thing I got it back because I had the settings all wrong.

[@intiaboats]

Thanks for doing the review! I'm a retired steelworker who was looking for a cheap stick-welder & bought a Simder arc 200 from someone. If it allows me to burn hot enough to use up to 1/8" 7018, it'll serve it's intended purpose. Single knob on unit;I'll have to see if the amp control can be depressed for other settings; thanks to you addressing that feature. Then, again, I only paid $50 canadian - equal to about 50 cents U.S. 🙄 - so, I'm "hoping", not "expecting".

[@3rdpig]

If you're an experienced stick welder I'm betting you can get it to run 1/8" 7018, specially if you plug it into 220v. On 110v, you might have to drop to 3/32". I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know what you think after you've had a chance to run it. I gave mine away and I'm sort of regretting it. It's not like I have any lack of welders, but that was just so small and handy to keep in the back of my Jeep. Good luck!

[@patrickugorcak]

Great video Chuck. There is also currently a 20% off deal on this item on Amazon. Along with your discount the price of this welder is less than $90. BTW, your welding skills are really improving with all the product testing you’ve been doing.

[@3rdpig]

That's a smoking deal for a little welder like this. Honestly, to take out on small jobs I haven't seen anything better than this along with a small stash of 6011, 6013 and 7018. I need to try some 7014 too, a couple of people I know swear by it. As far as my welding skills it's funny, the welding school I went to emphasized stick welding because they knew any job you applied for would give you a stick test. And sure enough, I practiced on test plates for weeks, then applied for a job and took a test on a stick machine (vertical, multi pass, uphand 7018 on 1/2" plate), got the job and then never touched another stick machine for several years, it was all MIG and flux core wire welding. Thanks for watching!

[@morbydvisns]

just picked one up for $74.99 before tax on Amazon. Can't wait to get to know it!

[@Backswell]

Hey Chuck! Cool video, is there a way to make this machine less likely to trip a breaker? Would using a low setting and thin rods negate the issue? I'm very new to the world of welding, thanks

[@3rdpig]

I'm not sure there's anything you can do to the machine itself, but using a thinner rod and a lower amperage would certainly help. The big thing you can do is plug the welder directly into a wall outlet and not into an extension or a multi plug outlet with it's own breaker, or a surge protector. Another thing that helped me a lot was to replace the breaker with a quality one from an electrical supply house. I had an electrician tell me that the breakers you find in places like Home Depot or Lowe's are crap. I don't know if that's true or not, but I'm having a lot less problems with breakers tripping since taking his advice.

[@jamesr.9239]

Recently bought one of these as a portable alternative to my bigger multi process unit. It is in fact a great little machine....on 220 volt only. On 115 , it will not get you more than a couple inches of weld before popping a breaker , even with a 20 amp circuit and turned down to low limit per rod . This negates its portability usefulness and why I will be returning it. Too bad because I really wanted to like and keep this machine.

[@3rdpig]

If it's an old or cheap breaker you might want to replace it with a new, high quality breaker, that solved a lot of my problems with the 110v welders and plasma cutters. After swapping it out I can run it at 80-85 amps without tripping the breaker. Which is fine for me doing small repairs and making brackets and such.

[@jamesr.9239]

@@3rdpig Gonna give that a try . thanks

[@tomk2468]

Thanks!

[@3rdpig]

You're welcome Tom, thanks for watching and contributing!

[@kenken-sr2vq]

How accurate is the display readings with an amp meter after you fixed it to 120v? And does it have hot start?

[@3rdpig]

It has hot start. I didn't test amperage output at the time of the review, but in a few weeks I'm going to do a 1 year update and will be sure to have it in that video.

[@livinglifemyway7349]

What size cable is used and is it all copper or copper clad aluminum wire? oh, does the jacket insulation of the cable burn easy? I had a yeswelder that some sparkd landed on and burn almost right through it. thanks

[@3rdpig]

The cables are 1x16mm2 and they're copper clad aluminum. They're typical of what's on all the inexpensive Chinese welders and plasma cutters I've got, and I think I've got 5 now. And to be honest, I've dumped all the ground clamps and stingers in one box and I'm a bit fuzzy on which set came with which welder. Some of them are 1x25mm2, but those are copper clad aluminum too. I don't think it's reasonable to expect a sub $200 welder to come with $100+ worth of solid copper cables. That being said, I've yet to have a problem with the cables, including the insulation, but I'm a pretty light duty kind of welder these days, which is what these cheap welders and cutters are for, really.

[@ZERONEINNOVATIONS]

I think they changed the amperage information on ARC-200S amazon page, but ARC-200 page still says 200A to trick customers. I don't like it..

[@3rdpig]

I don't like it either. I called them on it which is why they told me the process to set it right which I showed in the video. They also told me the newer version would be set from the factory. But apparently they didn't really care for me talking about it which is probably why they haven't sent me any more products to test. Their products are taking a beating from a lot of youtube reviewers, including Project Farm. I think he got a lemon because I tried what he did and mine didn't burn up, but still, he's got over a million subs and that had to hurt.

[@ZERONEINNOVATIONS]

@@3rdpig Thankyou for reply and updates!

[@JayRoberts-pv1ht]

Was that on a 20 amp 120 volt breaker

[@3rdpig]

Yes. Did I screw up and say something else? I try to watch the video and add text corrections, but I'm far from perfect. Even further if you listen to my wife. lol

[@Driftdavillian]

Does this weld ac & DC?

[@3rdpig]

DC only.

[@alanwhitaker1320]

How does it do on 220?

[@3rdpig]

Really well. It's a lot hotter and easier to strike and maintain an arc on 220. All the dual voltage welders and plasma cutters I've got run an order of magnitude hotter and better on 220. Which isn't really a surprise. What's more of a surprise to me is which run good on a 20 amp 110 circuit without constantly popping the breaker and which are all but unusable on 110.

[@lowspeed2000]

@@3rdpig You're saying it's unusable on 110?