I have been seeing these HHO generators on eBay lately (I am sure
they have been available for a while but they are new to me) and I am
wondering if anyone uses one of these eBay torches. Is decent? I
realize you get what you pay for, but this is one of those purchases
where a wrong choice could end badly and not just wasted time in a
return line…
Here is a link to what I am talking about:
[Item number: 250745748028, eBay link removed. Sorry no eBay links
on Orchid]
From the look of the photo, you can see the electrolyte tank and the
fuel reserve tank but I don’t see a water reservoir, I am not sure
how this enters the machine.
The Hydroflux welder has a gas output of 45 liters per hour, the
machine listed above has an output of 60 liters per hour.
Including shipping on one of these machines it would cost a little
over $400 which looks really good compared to the $1,300 (not
including shipping) that the Hydroflux welder costs.
Anyway, if anyone has any experience with one of these eBay machines
I am eager to hear about it (I bet there are bunch of you out there
who would like to know as well).
The EBAY ad states that this machine is NOT powerful enough to weld
metal. It is to be used for acrylics. The ad states you need at
least 180L/hr to weld metal. Looking at the specs, I would suspect
that there is no water reservoir, you charge the electrolyte chamber
for each use. This machine would have no use in my shop.
It says right on the page, “if you want to weld/thawing metal,please
contact us, you need the output more than 180L/Hr we have several
model from 60L/H to 400L/H”
But I’ve learned my lesson the hard way and I NEVER (again) buy
anything on eBay.
Hi, water is fed in via the cap on the top into the electrolyte tank,
you just keep topping it up as you use it. The tank on the front is
the bubbler ( blowback arrester and flame temperature control). Water
in the bubbler give the hottest flame, too hot for most jobs and the
torch tips burn out faster. I fill the bubbler with MEK which give a
nice flame temperature for working on silver. I would check if it’s
fan cooled if you want to use it all day. Some cheep units aren’t fan
cooled and you can only operate for a short time before being left
off to cool down. Maybe only a problem if you use large tips. On an
18awg tip my microweld will be clicking on and off all the time.
I purchased a water torch on ebay about a year ago and replaced my
acetylene/air torch set up in my condo with it for safety reasons.
So far, it’s been great and I’ve had no issues soldering with it,
other than melting a few pieces in the beginning when I was getting
adjusted to the high heat! I use it primarily for creating pendants,
bezel settings, earrings and rings, but have even made the
occasional cuff bracelet with no problems. It definitely takes a
little getting used to as it offers a higher heat, but much, much
smaller torch tips so it’s a more localized heat. It would depend on
what you are working with, but for smaller projects it’s very quick
and efficient. I’ve found that with this torch, the surfaces I
solder on (heat sink block vs. heat reflective) make a huge
difference as well as far as the success rate of soldering different
sized pieces.
I should also mention that I primarily work with sterling silver and
fine silver, and am not sure of how this torch would handle gold or
other alternative metals, though I have done a very small amount of
gold-fill wire soldering and it’s been fine.
One compartment, the one in the main body, is for the electrolyte
solution and distilled water, and the other (the cell) takes a small
amount of denatured alcohol and distilled water. Apparantly you can
also add boric acid (for flux purposes) into the cell, but I have
yet to try this and have just been fluxing my pieces instead.
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask as I am happy to
answer here or offline.
But I've learned my lesson the hard way and I NEVER (again) buy
anything on eBay."
Well - as I sell on eBay (NOT jewelry) - I do hope you will re-think
that! lol! You DO have to carefully read everything before bidding,
and message the seller with questions in advance. Some are great to
work with if you have issues, some are words I can’t repeat here…
There ARE good buys in certain areas on eBay - IF you are careful.
My husband buys a lot on eBay, and has only been less than pleased
once.