Welder advice

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I am new to posting on here, but I have been checking the forum out for awhile. I just finished my welding classes at the local community college, and am now looking to buy a welder. I found a Lincoln 350 TIG welder that is about 8 years old for sale and was wondering what you guys thought it would be worth. It comes with cooler, torch, and foot pedal and is in good working condition.
Reply:I would look for a smaller machine or something inverter-based.   If it is a transformer machine it may require more power than you can provide.
Reply:FWIW: My Syncrowave 250 (transformer) TIG pulls 96 amps per the owners manual. I never use it up there, but I wonder what it takes just to start / idle.9-11-2001......We Will Never ForgetRetired desk jockey. Hobby weldor with a little training. Craftsman O/A---Flat, Vert, Ovhd, Horz. Miller Syncrowave 250
Reply:Inverters are the way to go. I have an ARCON 400 amp unit that in a pinch I have run off of a 30 amp...yes THIRTY AMP breaker. I welded 1/8 7018 for well over an hour with NO issues. ARCON calls for the use of a 50AMP breaker for full ouput of 400 AMPS on sigle phase. Just goes to show how great inverters are especially for the home owner who wants to weld and not break the bank on the electric bill or the cost of running a feed line, breaker ect... to power their welder.I have a few welders kicking around the shop let me know what price range you are looking at and I will see if I have anything that fits your needs.'Mike
Reply:Id say, price should dictate this purchase. If all works well with it and the price is right then sure why not. For me if the price is over $1500, then Id say no. For less you can get more. This isnt as portable as an inverter machine will be. It will draw more amps, but will have the duty cycle most inverter machines of comparable wont. If youre looking for something to toy around with, you may want something smaller and less expensive (notice I didnt type "cheap") Think about what you think you might be working on that requires a welder. Will you need the power to weld heavier metals (over1/4" in a pass) Will you be working on aluminum (a DC inverter wont be able to tig that) How much room will you have for the machine? Whats your budget? If it were me, Id think about those and pick something a bit larger than my needs. It would suck to plink down any amount only to find a couple months later it was too small for you. If you can afford and think you might need an AC welder, then get one. Look at the inverters, there are some nice options in them now and a good used machine is still a good machine if it fits your needs.
Reply:I agree with the guys, the welder is probably worth $1200- 2000. Especially when considering if bottles/ consumables come with it. But.... that's a LOT of welder. You'll never want for anything bigger, but you may not be able to put in enough power to weld over 200amps with a transformer machine. For the synchro 300 at the boat shop, it was set up running on single phase power, and had 125amps going to it. Switched it over to 3 phase power, and it still called for an 80amp breaker. Now, it never uses even 65 amps of 3 phase, but it would regularly draw 90 amps welding big aluminum on single phase. And that would dump a household power supply in short order.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.