Which Welder?

[searcyfarms]

I wasn't aware of one mark I was trying to get moark willy to answer since he seems to have a great idea on what would work best for 1500 so I was curious

 

[MoArk Willy]

ok so moark willy so in your opinion what would you get with your $1500 arc/mig/plasma ?

I gave it some thought. Keep in mind that I am an occasional welder...maybe hobby.
The Hobart 190 Mig would be my first piece.
Then the Everlast Powerarc 200 or 210.
And nothing fancy for the plasma cutter. Just the Amico 50
Those would bring me in the $1400 to $1600 range.
I have a small Amico stick welder now and I can't complain about it whatsoever.
I've used the Miller 212 at my last place of employment. Fine welder....overpriced in my opinion. You still play for the name in many situations.....I believe that is one of them.
We never used a stick welder in the shop but had a huge Miller generator / welder on a welding cart with a set of tanks for those jobs too big to drag to the shop.

 

[otlski]

Lincoln has a +$400 rebate on the 210 MP bringing its price down to $1000. I bought one and it arrived today :cool2: Hopefully this weekend I will give it a go. Thanks again for all the advice you all gave me on this thread.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I gave it some thought. Keep in mind that I am an occasional welder...maybe hobby.
The Hobart 190 Mig would be my first piece.
Then the Everlast Powerarc 200 or 210.
And nothing fancy for the plasma cutter. Just the Amico 50
Those would bring me in the $1400 to $1600 range.
I have a small Amico stick welder now and I can't complain about it whatsoever.
I've used the Miller 212 at my last place of employment. Fine welder....overpriced in my opinion. You still play for the name in many situations.....I believe that is one of them.
We never used a stick welder in the shop but had a huge Miller generator / welder on a welding cart with a set of tanks for those jobs too big to drag to the shop.

The Amico products I hear a lot of complaints from customers. They are fine until they aren't. Those cheap plasma are usually MOSFET with a 1 year warranty. Nothing special. Though a good value, the Hobart 190 is fairly low in performance and duty cycle. The Power i-MIG 200 or 200E offer better performance features, duty cycle and warranty.

 

[searcyfarms]

well congrats - im VERY curious on how that works especially on stick mode - I only own a 225 Lincoln and it sings with 7014 but not so much with 6011/6013 and I cant keep a 7018 AC even lit - the flux core mig is ok but I wasn't impressed, tried a 140 handler - my neighbor has a linde fanless mig and it seems to work nice - quietest thing ive ever heard run - I am mostly a necessity welder, broke something and need it fixed right away - I have a torch for cutting but my two bottles were last filled in 2005 so don't use it a lot obviously = curious to see how your new one runs, I would like to try dc arc sometime - I don't think me and mr mig would get along unless we were totally welding only in my barn due to the elements.

 

[MoArk Willy]

The Amico products I hear a lot of complaints from customers. They are fine until they aren't..

You know that nothing you say about a competitor can be taken seriously....right?
Kind of a cheap shot.

 

[yomax4]

Most TBN users on here are somewhat unaware of the inner workings or various components that make up the welding and cutting equipment of today. That's why they ask for opinion. I don't see a lot of cheap shots in these discussions although there is plenty of room to do so. There is a lot of Junk out there ( in my opinion ) That's where warranty and research comes into play. Use Google, Ask questions on TBN but warranty should be a factor in the decision. If you buy a new piece of welding equipment with a one year warranty would common sense tell you that it's just as robust as a machine with a 5 yr warranty? Tried and true products have decent warranties while Used or disposable products do not. I'd rather buy a higher end unit used that a low cost low quality unit new.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

You know that nothing you say about a competitor can be taken seriously....right?
Kind of a cheap shot.

So, the Hobart isn't a good value? I said that. I have a lot of customers that come to us after their AMICO products break. That's all. I actually just went to look them up. They only have a 1 year warranty. 90 days if you really use them in a commercial application..and that definition is up to them. I try to take helping customers seriously. What does it benefit if I give out bad advice just to make a sale? I've been here on this forum a long time now and if I gave out bad advice, just to make a sale, I wouldn't be around very long. I've not just pushed our product and have survived other sponsorship of this forum. I've actually tried to have good input outside of our machine sales. Not everyone agrees with me. I can live with that. But what I say isn't just chaff in the wind.

 

[MoArk Willy]

I'm not about to argue with you. I think your product is a good product and someday I may own one.
I'm just saying that Ford dealer will criticize a Chevrolet and vice versa. That's expected.
I just didn't expect to hear it in a forum which is not welder specific, from a representative of a specific company.
Certainly you can offer and explain the features and benefits of your product without cutting down others...hearsay or not.

 

[otlski]

well congrats - im VERY curious on how that works especially on stick mode - I only own a 225 Lincoln and it sings with 7014 but not so much with 6011/6013 and I cant keep a 7018 AC even lit - the flux core mig is ok but I wasn't impressed, tried a 140 handler - my neighbor has a linde fanless mig and it seems to work nice - quietest thing ive ever heard run - I am mostly a necessity welder, broke something and need it fixed right away - I have a torch for cutting but my two bottles were last filled in 2005 so don't use it a lot obviously = curious to see how your new one runs, I would like to try dc arc sometime - I don't think me and mr mig would get along unless we were totally welding only in my barn due to the elements.

I am absolutely terrible at stick; definitely would be a bad judge for how it performs. I first tried stick welding when I was 13 years old and that day I thought "so this is why they call it stick", the rod was stuck down every time. I'm not much better these days. I will give it a try though.