Hitbox AC/DC welder from Amazon - Worth a try?

Should I get one of these on Prime or save up 10x as much before starting to learn TIG?

  • Sure, why not. What do you have to loose

    Votes: 7 63.6%

  • Maybe, but it'll probaly be a boondogle

    Votes: 2 18.2%

  • Forget it, just junk that'll waste your time

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Total voters
    11
markba633csi said:
Actually most of them use IGBTs now (insulated gate bipolar transistor) but the real problem is they don't overrate them enough
They cheap out- rated properly and conservatively they should last for decades
The big storage capacitors are another weak link for the same reasons
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My use should be pretty low, I enjoy welding but want my eyes to work well for many years to come.

If it burns out after the warranty is up I'll either replace with another cheapie or upgrade if I have the cash available.

If I want to use a better unit for whatever reason I think I can rent whatever is needed.

John
 
One thing to consider when getting these offers is that there a scammers out there who spoof a legit vendor with ridiculously low pricing. They take your money and don't deliver. I have seen this primarily on Facebook ads but they can pop up anywhere.

If you see an offer like this, copy the description and go to a known good instance of the vendor's website. If it has the same offer there, it is most likely legit. Otherwise it was probably a scam.
 
RJSakowski said:
One thing to consider when getting these offers is that there a scammers out there who spoof a legit vendor with ridiculously low pricing. They take your money and don't deliver. I have seen this primarily on Facebook ads but they can pop up anywhere.

If you see an offer like this, copy the description and go to a known good instance of the vendor's website. If it has the same offer there, it is most likely legit. Otherwise it was probably a scam.
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I came on this one while searching Amazon, the same deal is on the "official" Hitbox store. Purchased through Amazon with my AMEX card so I think I'm pretty well covered here.

Thanks for the heads up though, scammers are everywhere.

John
 
455dan said:
If I was buying an affordable AC TIG it would be the Primeweld TIG225X with the CK worldwide torch included. 3 year warranty and that includes shipping both ways. They still have darn near perfect feedback I mean how many times do you see an amazon 4.8 feedback with Over 1200 reviews
The weld quality that some guys get out of it is amazing.

My problem with the HF welders is the warranty.
90 days on something simple is one thing, a high current switch mode power supply is another thing if a problem develops out of the 90 day warranty.


Maybe some day for a new AC TIG, I am still using a refrigerator sized Ancient Lincoln Idealarc TIG 300 300 for AC TIG, even though it is only a sine wave machine she can sure crank out the amps.
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I am, personally, a Lincoln guy myself. I talked myself into buying a Northern welder years ago, yellow box, and it worked great until one of the plastic feed gears stripped and I could not find a part. Northern, for all their "we back our stuff" would not help and they had erroneously said it was built by Lincoln; so I fixed it in the best manner I knew, I went and bought a Lincoln MIG with a spool gun, expensive? YES, worth it? YES, every last penny.
 
verbotenwhisky said:
I am, personally, a Lincoln guy myself. I talked myself into buying a Northern welder years ago, yellow box, and it worked great until one of the plastic feed gears stripped and I could not find a part. Northern, for all their "we back our stuff" would not help and they had erroneously said it was built by Lincoln; so I fixed it in the best manner I knew, I went and bought a Lincoln MIG with a spool gun, expensive? YES, worth it? YES, every last penny.
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So, I'll start saving my pennies so I can get one of the red or blue welders eventually. I had a Millermatic 150 MIG back in Michigan which worked pretty well once I got it tuned up. I paid $500 for it and later found out it was an "orphan" machine.

Definitely appreciate good tools, but it's the operator that makes them work good regardless.

John
 
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