Gold mine or money pit?

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I’m not much for buying welders or other power equipment at auction, you just never know what you will get that way.  However, these came up locally and I admit to being interested.  2 Lots, each have the following:2 Miller Elecric MFG. Co. Dialarc 250 AC/DC welders and 1 Airco Heliweld High Frequency Arc StabilizerBidding will start at $25, so unless the bidding gets insane they should be relatively inexpensive to pick up.  If anyone knows about these machines I would like some information.  Specifically, should I bother bidding on these?  Will it be worth the time and money to repair them if needed? Attached ImagesLast edited by rwmccormack; 08-15-2013 at 09:48 AM.
Reply:To make it even more interesting, these are on the auction block as well:W.F.Wells and Sons Inc.  Horizontal bandsawGreaves Klusman and Co.  TablesawMonarch American Sawmill  PlanerThe bids for each will also start at $25.  Looks like this could be a fun auction to attend. Attached Images
Reply:Buy them, anything under $100 ea and you can make money on them, even the value of the copper transformers is significant. Bandsaw is a great buy for a metal guy and I'm sure you could get a couple hundred each for the planer ( actually looks like a big jointer) and table saw, might be 3ph equipment so check the motor plates for that, if they are 3ph its usually not too hard to find a single phase motor to throw on.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangqBuy them, anything under $100 ea and you can make money on them, even the value of the copper transformers is significant. Bandsaw is a great buy for a metal guy and I'm sure you could get a couple hundred each for the planer ( actually looks like a big jointer) and table saw, might be 3ph equipment so check the motor plates for that, if they are 3ph its usually not too hard to find a single phase motor to throw on.
Reply:Dialarc 250s are great welders.  Those are the older white face ones.I've seen Dialarcs selling for $225. (cheap) and up.  More commonly $450. or so, without leads."USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:Originally Posted by OldendumDialarc 250s are great welders.  Those are the older white face ones.I've seen Dialarcs selling for $225. (cheap) and up.  More commonly $450. or so, without leads.
Reply:I've tracked a number of those at auction and they usually bring pretty good money so don't be surprised if they get bid up.  If not, good!
Reply:Go for it, we buy Lincoln CV300's by the pallet for about $200 a piece.  Kind of frustrating when one fails a control board (about $400) and the company wont buy it because is "twice what we paid for the entire welder".  I think out of 10 welders two work properly.  But they all put in a good 10 years and we don't treat them well.I also have a bunch of 80's vintage dial-arc 300's.  They are good welders with copper would transformers.  Again down to only two that work.  I would fix the others but no need.  Carbon-arc gouging seems to kill them.  Parts support for these old machines is awesome so no matter what is wrong (as long as you don't fry a transformer) you're only a couple of hundred dollars away from being back online.The copper wound dial-arc welders are worth at least $200 in scrap but probably closer to $400.Last edited by 76GMC1500; 08-15-2013 at 11:36 AM.
Reply:Miller dialarc is THE BEST transformer machine out there! Go for it! You can sell em quick for $500 each
Reply:There is a guy on CL around here that has been trying to sell a 3-phase model for nearly a year with no luck.  He is even asking a reasonable price.  Its just that unless you're in a big shop with 3-phase power, its useless.  You can't have 3-phase power in a residential structure, so that eliminates every hobbyist as a potential customer.  Yes, you can probably use a phase converter, but add that to the price and its not such a good deal any more.Hemi-T"Ignorance can be fixed, but stupid is forever."Hobart BetaMig 2510Everlast PowerPro 256 TigMiller Radiator-1 Tig cooler
Reply:Originally Posted by Hemi-TThere is a guy on CL around here that has been trying to sell a 3-phase model for nearly a year with no luck.  He is even asking a reasonable price.  Its just that unless you're in a big shop with 3-phase power, its useless.  You can't have 3-phase power in a residential structure, so that eliminates every hobbyist as a potential customer.  Yes, you can probably use a phase converter, but add that to the price and its not such a good deal any more.
Reply:I bought a DialArc for $350,then sold a ThunderBolt for $150.Awesome machine!I would definitely check if they are Single Phase machines before I bid.
Reply:According to the data plates, they are Miller DialArc 250 AC/DC welders which require 115/230 volts, Amperes 1/.5, 50/60 hz., single phase