Is a chinese welder for you?

[Rbeckett]

How about a quick discussion of "Offshore welding equipment" and the pros and cons of doing it. This thread is not about bashing or "buy American". it is only a comparison for hobbyist purposes. The off shore vendors have all come a long way since there introductions in the US. From a pretty unceremonious start with many DOA's and early production machines blowing up, to where they are now. These machines are not designed for a daily production welding environment but do some pretty good work for the home hobbyist at a pretty decent price. The current offerings from vendors such as Longevity and Everlast have actually turned the corner and have been arriving fully tested and verified to work. There are still some shipping damage issues but that is not really a vendor problem.

Is a chinese TIG welder for you? If you need to save a little cash and dont mind waiting for your unit to arrive then you might consider it. If you cannot afford to be without a welder for whatever period of time it takes to ship back and forth, then maybe a domestic unit would be better for you. The first consideration is of course shipping time. The second consideration is durability and the final consideration is the cost of shipping a unit under warranty. Shipping time for in stock units is actually pretty good from California to Florida, about 1 week door to door. Compared this to about 4 days from Miller from Georgia to Florida. Durability has improved 100 % since the introduction of these units and DOA are few and far between. Units just blowing the circuit boards is also less and less all of the time. The big three have there issues as well, but since they are much closer they have a quicker turn around if they have the parts in stock. The final consideration is shipping costs, if you have to ship a unit back more than once or twice any savings you might have realized is getting quickly eaten up by shipping costs. Fortunately the vendors have begun a testing program to avoid the DOA and random Blows up when plugged in issues. The big three also do not pay shipping costs so they are about equal. The big three do have local repair shops available so that is a plus for them.

So is it safe to buy one or not? Only you know what your check book ballance is, but you can save money if you investigate the off shore machines. Are they a perfect solution? No, but the big three have issues from time to time just like everybody else. That is what warranty is for. Is shipping and waiting a hassle? Yes, but since you are not depending on this to make a living then a little time is well worth the money saved.

So, if I was in the market to buy a new welder and was trying to save money while still getting a capable machine with multiple advanced features I would look long and hard at this approach. Many other forums will flame anybody who even suggests such an idea. But I for one don't really care about there opinion since they are not paying my bills or sleeping with me. There are several folk out there who have these units and are very happy with the performance and the price. Jody at Welding tips and tricks. com has had one nearly two years now and other than a misadjusted spark gap on the high frequency he has been very happy with the results he is getting so far. Take a look at his 4 part review of the Everlast Power Pro 256 Plasma, stick and tig machine. His comments are very enlightening and to the point. If it was a bad idea he would definately tell you so.

Just some food for thought. Please do not allow this thread to degenerate into a bashing fest. That is no tproductive at all. If you have actual experience please share it with the membership either pro or con. Keep it factual and clean and we can have a civil discussion about the merits of lesser expensive hobby based equipment.

Keep burnin,
Bob

 

[flatbelter]

Hi Bob,

I bought a Hobart Handler 180 MIG welder from Tractor Supply Co. a few years back and it stuck the relay contacts together after about a week of light usage. I hauled it back to TSC and they promptly refunded my money. (pulled cash right out of the till, great service)

I really hated being without a MIG welder so a couple of years latter I bought a new Hobart Handler 187 from TSC. This one has worked like a charm, so perhaps I just got a bad unit the first time out. I don't know. Neither unit was cheap, IIRC the 187 was ~$600 and the 180 was maybe $450.

Keep an eye on duty cycle (how long you can weld in 10 min, 20% duty = 2 min weld, 8 min cool off time)

Now the welder in my dad's shop is a whole 'nuther animal but it probably cost >four times what mine did, and has 3x the capabilities.

My general recommendation is to buy the tool that best satisfies your needs, both business and financial.

FB

 

[Ed.]

Hi, I have one of each, a Miller Auto Invision 456 for my MIG work (98% of my welding) and a imported Everlast 256 4-1 TIG AC/DC Plasma cutter MMAW, both welders are 3 phase, had a few issues with the Everlast, stopped plasma cutting, so opened it up at their request to check point gaps, whilst there I had a good look at the build. It is not in the manufacturing class of the brand name machines with some sloppy attention to detail during manufacture such as adhesive blobs on the cooling fan that had dripped on it, and a resister that had failed due to being too close to a capacitor, and later a second issue with the water cooled torch leaking.


However having said all that I am still happy with the imported machine for the following reasons:


A) Cost significantly less than the brand name equivalent, For the amount of TIG/MMAW and Plasma cutting and welding I do it was the difference between owning a TIG and not owning one as I couldn't justify buying a brand name machine for the small amount of use I would give it.

B) The Australian distributor service has been superb, in fact, above and beyond what is normally provided by any company I have dealt with.

C) First issue was sorted by them organising a courier to pick it up from me and deliver a new one to me at their expence, I am about 500 miles from their Sydney base, prompt telephone support even after hours and on weekends.

D) They sent a new torch to me at no expence and didn't even ask for the old one back.

E) 5 year warranty.

So to sum it all up, it will do me, so no downside or regrets to purchasing it. As I said the support has been superb unlike the support I get from the Miller distributor in OZ which could be described as woefull at best.

If I won Lotto or some like that I would probably buy a Fronius or something just because I could and not whether or not I needed it :biggrin:, but until then this one will do me, as it does what I want at a price I could justify.

This is just my experience with it and others may have had different outcomes so take it for what it's worth. Just my 2 cents worth and in case anyone is thinking... No , I do not have any affiliation what so ever with them, I am just one of their customers!

Cheers

Ed.

 

[hermetic]

chinese welders

One thing you have to watch out for is the aluminium transformer coils, which will not take the abuse that copper will take in its stride, if it doesnt specify copper wound transformer in the spec, ASK, and avoid ally wound transformers like the plague!!
Phil UK

 

[brucer]

I bought a Longevity Plasma cutter...

Theres a story to it so I'll start at the beginning...

Friend pulls in the driveway, says he has a 25amp bluepoint plasma for sale, going through divorce, needs the money.. he says $150 and its yours.. I bought it on the spot...

I had it for years, took good care of it, covered it when not in use, used it every now and then.. Let a friend borrow it, It turns up stolen from his garage.. Friend gets on ebay and buys me a replacement plasma exactly like it that looked nearly new, didnt have a scratch on it, even come in the original box.. I put it on ebay for $550 and sold it in two days.. I took that money and bought a Longevity 40i (pilot arc)plasma cutter.. I like it, I dont use it much yet. So far I've used it like 4 times and it works fine and it was definitely an upgrade from the 25amp bluepoint drag plasma..
I have like $250 invested in the Longevity unit, so it wont make or break me anyways.. It is an import machine, it looks good and works fine, consumables can be bought from harbor freight or any local welding supply..

I couldnt justify sinking $1500 in a plasma cutter that I use roughly a dozen times a year... I might put a different unit on my plasma table when I get it going, but I will put the longevity unit on the plasma table and see how it does.. If it does fine on the table it will stay on the table..