Just ordered my first Longevity today

[arcamm]

:cool2: :cool2: After two years of research and reading a million web posts I finally ordered a Weldall 200PI today.

I just finished building my shop, something I've dreamed about for 30 years. One of my goals was to make it as efficient as possible, maximize space, minimize expense. Everything is compact, on wheels and multi-use if possible. Three-in-one lathe instead of a separate lathe and mill, soda blaster that converts to a sand blaster instead of two blasters, well you get the picture. That's what attracted me to muti-use welders. They cost less than individual machines and take up less space. I discovered the Longevity stuff when I joined this forum looking for welding equipment.

One of the things that has impressed me about Longevity is how much the company works to take care of people and after two years of watching the forum here, it still seems to be the case. All equipment is going to have issues, but it's how well the stuff is backed up that's important. Any warranty, no mater how long, is meaningless if it's not backed up and Longevity seems to back theirs up. Not to mention that the owners seem happy with the equipment. I know every owner I've talked to personally sure is.

I guess what really did it for me was reading about and seeing the video of a Longevity cutter on a Torch mate CNC table. That is an area I'm very interested in and had wondered if maybe one of these units would work on a CNC table. Now I know.

Well, if you look at an item on their web page, there is a button to make a reasonable offer. So today, I clicked that button and made an offer. I wondered if I would never hear from them, and a while later I get a phone call. Caller ID said "Longevity Global". Being some what of a skeptic, I figured I was in for a big "up-sell" or a "you've got to be kidding", but no, I was told my offer was reasonable and it was accepted. It turns out they are having a sale right now, so my timing was good. Simon said my unit should be shipped on Monday! Wow!

Now the hard part begins! Waiting.........

[pistolnoon]

I bought mine in March and did not forsee using it as much as I have been and the amount of local work I am now looking at the Tigweld 315 for the future, you know the gears are turning.You will enjoy it.

[longevity-inc.com]

arcamm,

Thanks for the order. We appreciate the nice words and your choice to go with LONGEVITY. We are here 6 days a week should you have any questions or concerns.

Your tracking number will be available shortly.

Thanks again,

Simon

[arcamm]

No problem and thanks for the fast shipping! I got my tracking number so now it's all up to UPS. It gives me time to get the electical work done. But I still wish it would get here tomorrow!

[Oldiron2]

:cool2: :cool2: After two years of research and reading a million web posts I finally ordered a Weldall 200PI today.
.....
.....
Now the hard part begins! Waiting.........

:dizzy: I don't see the point of posts like these; if you ordered it from them, I'd expect that they would already know, and I personally doubt that many others here really care, especially today when other things are on the minds of most. :confused:

Just seems like way too much 'advertising' being thrown around the site recently...

[dabar39]

:dizzy: I don't see the point of posts like these; if you ordered it from them, I'd expect that they would already know, and I personally doubt that many others here really care, especially today when other things are on the minds of most. :confused:

Just seems like way too much 'advertising' being thrown around the site recently...

The next post is going to be pictures of how well the unit was packed and then comes the post with pictures where he takes the covers off to say how impressed he is blah...blah...blah.... All these posts smell like nothing more than scripted SPAM to me.

[arcamm]

:dizzy: I don't see the point of posts like these; if you ordered it from them, I'd expect that they would already know, and I personally doubt that many others here really care, especially today when other things are on the minds of most. :confused:

Just seems like way too much 'advertising' being thrown around the site recently...

Then why did you read it? And more puzzling, why did you respond to it?

You don't have to answer, I sure you have more important things to think about.

[arcamm]

The next post is going to be pictures of how well the unit was packed and then comes the post with pictures where he takes the covers off to say how impressed he is blah...blah...blah.... All these posts smell like nothing more than scripted SPAM to me.

Actually, I was going to video the whole thing, I just have to be ready when the UPS truck arrives.

If my post is "scripted spam", then what the heck is yours? Un-scripted spam?

[arcamm]

The next post is going to be pictures of how well the unit was packed and then comes the post with pictures where he takes the covers off to say how impressed he is blah...blah...blah.... All these posts smell like nothing more than scripted SPAM to me.

Actually, I was going to video the whole thing, I just have to be ready when the UPS truck arrives.

If my post is "scripted spam", then what the heck is yours? Un-scripted spam?

[dabar39]

Actually, I was going to video the whole thing, I just have to be ready when the UPS truck arrives.

If my post is "scripted spam", then what the heck is yours? Un-scripted spam?

No, actually my post was nothing more than reality.

It seems that everytime there is a negative thread about one of these chi-com welders, all of a sudden, there is a person who just has to overly excitedly post up the fact that they just bought one of these Chi-com welders and just can't wait for it to arrive and how good customer service is BEFORE they even have the machine in hand.

The next post is from the same person showing the welder being delivered and how well the packaging was done.

The next thing we see is the new purchaser taking the covers off of his newly acquired welder to show just how well the inside of the machine is built and to tell us again how good the customer service is BEFORE they actually plug the unit into the wall.

Then about two or three months later we get to watch the thread go downhill real quick when Johnnyhomewelder has a problem with his machine that he was so bragging about before it even arrived at his door step.

My post is not unscripted spam, it is just what myself and many others have seen here time and time again.

[Scott Young]

oh nevermind.

I was going to post something, but deleted it.

[pistolnoon]

arcamm, nice, I see you spent alot of time researching and must be chomping at the bit to get down and start doing some welding, its whats important and relavent, with a machine that allows you some control over your parameters, see ya over in the Longevity forum; http://www.longevity-inc.com/forum/forum.php

[arcamm]

No, actually my post was nothing more than reality.

It seems that everytime there is a negative thread about one of these chi-com welders, all of a sudden, there is a person who just has to overly excitedly post up the fact that they just bought one of these Chi-com welders and just can't wait for it to arrive and how good customer service is BEFORE they even have the machine in hand.

The next post is from the same person showing the welder being delivered and how well the packaging was done.

The next thing we see is the new purchaser taking the covers off of his newly acquired welder to show just how well the inside of the machine is built and to tell us again how good the customer service is BEFORE they actually plug the unit into the wall.

Then about two or three months later we get to watch the thread go downhill real quick when Johnnyhomewelder has a problem with his machine that he was so bragging about before it even arrived at his door step.

My post is not unscripted spam, it is just what myself and many others have seen here time and time again.

Reality? Based on what? You have no idea who I am or what I’m all about. I just purchased a Longevity welder and if it doesn’t meet my expectations, I’ll post the flaws just as enthusiastically as I will the good points. You mention Chi-com welders, I’m not familiar with that brand, I’m talking about Longevity. None of the others impressed me as much. Which model Longevity did you have trouble with? If you had a problem with one, let me know, I’ll refuse shipment when UPS gets here.
Forgiven me if I (or others) get excited about our purchases and want to say so. I’m so sorry that us “Johnnyhomewelders” clog up this forum and distract you from your important stuff. Tell me, do you post as much stuff helping those of us who aren’t professional welders or just posting stuff telling us how dumb we are?

[arcamm]

arcamm, nice, I see you spent alot of time researching and must be chomping at the bit to get down and start doing some welding, its whats important and relavent, with a machine that allows you some control over your parameters, see ya over in the Longevity forum; http://www.longevity-inc.com/forum/forum.php

Yes, I'm very excited about getting the machine. I'm looking at building a CNC table and was pleased to see that the 200PI was used on a TorchMate table. I've never used a plasma cutter or tig welded. I've always use OX for cutting and mostly stick for welding. I use to do a lot of gas welding, but it's been a long time. I'm over at the Longevity forum too. See ya there.

[Oldiron2]

Reality? Based on what? You have no idea who I am or what I’m all about. I just purchased a Longevity welder and if it doesn’t meet my expectations, I’ll post the flaws just as enthusiastically as I will the good points. You mention Chi-com welders, I’m not familiar with that brand, I’m talking about Longevity. None of the others impressed me as much. Which model Longevity did you have trouble with? If you had a problem with one, let me know, I’ll refuse shipment when UPS gets here.
Forgiven me if I (or others) get excited about our purchases and want to say so. I’m so sorry that us “Johnnyhomewelders” clog up this forum and distract you from your important stuff. Tell me, do you post as much stuff helping those of us who aren’t professional welders or just posting stuff telling us how dumb we are?

You say you've researched this brand for two years, but still don't know what dabar39 was talking about? Don't understand the few terms he uses? Did you actually do any of that "research" here, then? If you had, you would have seen that the points he has just made were based on actual posts made by purchasers of imported equipment...and you wouldn't be so quick to dismiss his observations, either about these posts or about their timing.

I don't usually get involved in these 'import vs. American' discussions; sometimes there is just too much BS being spread to avoid walking through it.

[arcamm]

Oh I get his points, even agree with some of them, I just don't like his delivery. I take it personaly when some tell's me my posts smell like scripted spam.

I'm not clear why some people have to come into the Longevity section of the forum and genralize about these basic USA made/China made, Johnnyhomewelder/ professionalknowital conversations. It's the Longevity forum section. Talk about their welders.

[Oldiron2]

Oh I get his points, even agree with some of them, I just don't like his delivery. I take it personaly when some tell's me my posts smell like scripted spam.

I'm not clear why some people have to come into the Longevity section of the forum and genralize about these basic USA made/China made, Johnnyhomewelder/ professionalknowital conversations. It's the Longevity forum section. Talk about their welders.

When a bunch of these "I'm so Happy" threads suddenly show up under the "New Post" selection, they get somewhat obnoxious; check out some of the other brand's sites and look for similar bunches of 'advertising' and you will see that this problem is unique to the import sites.

If you had been here over the last few years, you could have seen, in print, requests from manufacturers to their buyers/prospective buyers, suggesting that they give good 'reports' about equipment in posts here, in return for special deals. Not everyone forgets these things, particularly when the timing of new posts suggests the practice is still going on.

I have nothing against L. advertising on its own site or there being reasonable discussion about its machines, their performance or lack thereof, etc.in its forum, and generally do not get involved in discussions of the machines, but do comment about posting practices that annoy me and/or seem to violate the rules, and I do comment about other's comments I disagree with.

[arcamm]

Oh, I see. You go the "new post" section and have to wade through all of the fluff to find the stuff you're interested in. That makes sense. I don't do it that way so I don't have to deal with all of the new posts that happen every day. I'm sorry if my post appeared like cookie cutter advertising, but it was the real deal. Sure wish I would have known I could "sell" my endorsement before I bought the welder. If you have problem with content, go to the site webmaster and ask them to setup filters so you can filter out the content you don't want to see. Don't flame me. I'm going to post what I want, when I want and I will not knowingly violate the rules that I agreed to. I'd rather be talking about welding....

[Bob Warner]

I have a question.

Has anyone who has been around this forum for a while ever acquired one of these machines? Did it perform?

Every time I see a post about how great these machines are, it is from someone that has not been around long enough for others to trust their opinion.

No offense to the OP because I do not know him but it is hard to trust the word of strangers. Some of us have been around a while and it is a lot easier to trust the word of people that you have interacted with before with success.

I would be a little curious how well they are packaged and how quickly shipped but that would not be a major concern to me because I would expect it to be packaged well and shipped quickly.

I would wonder about how well it actually worked. How easy it is to learn with (I don't have a TIG) for beginners. How well is the manual written; can you learn anything from it? How well it holds up over time and how easy it is to understand its operation. Once a person is up to speed at TIG, how happy are they with the machine? Will they immediately want to upgrade?

Money is VERY hard to come by these days and IF I had the cash to get a machine like this, I would not be sure if I would risk my money on this brand without the backing of someone that has one and has been around a while.

It could be the best welder going but without a trusted opinion of how good it is, it will be hard to get support.

Unknown people praising it is not making me want to spend cash on it, even if I had the cash. This is exactly why you see movie stars selling stuff, a lot of people trust them. That is why the are on TV backing politicians, people trust them. You don't trust people you don't know.

Longevity needs to send a machine to a trusted person. Then see if it gets the same reviews.

Bob





Would they be a good machine for anyone that has never TIG welded?

[Oldiron2]

Don't flame me. I'm going to post what I want, when I want and I will not knowingly violate the rules that I agreed to. I'd rather be talking about welding....

Go ahead, post what you want. And I'm going to post my opinion about your post, if I feel like it and have something I want to say about it.

[arcamm]

Go ahead, post what you want. And I'm going to post my opinion about your post, if I feel like it and have something I want to say about it.

Please do. Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing and I'm all for it. I'll post some of my welds. If nothing else, you might find them amusing. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

[arcamm]

I have a question.

Has anyone who has been around this forum for a while ever acquired one of these machines? Did it perform?

Every time I see a post about how great these machines are, it is from someone that has not been around long enough for others to trust their opinion.

No offense to the OP because I do not know him but it is hard to trust the word of strangers. Some of us have been around a while and it is a lot easier to trust the word of people that you have interacted with before with success.

I would be a little curious how well they are packaged and how quickly shipped but that would not be a major concern to me because I would expect it to be packaged well and shipped quickly.

I would wonder about how well it actually worked. How easy it is to learn with (I don't have a TIG) for beginners. How well is the manual written; can you learn anything from it? How well it holds up over time and how easy it is to understand its operation. Once a person is up to speed at TIG, how happy are they with the machine? Will they immediately want to upgrade?

Money is VERY hard to come by these days and IF I had the cash to get a machine like this, I would not be sure if I would risk my money on this brand without the backing of someone that has one and has been around a while.

It could be the best welder going but without a trusted opinion of how good it is, it will be hard to get support.

Unknown people praising it is not making me want to spend cash on it, even if I had the cash. This is exactly why you see movie stars selling stuff, a lot of people trust them. That is why the are on TV backing politicians, people trust them. You don't trust people you don't know.

Longevity needs to send a machine to a trusted person. Then see if it gets the same reviews.

Bob





Would they be a good machine for anyone that has never TIG welded?

I hope to find out soon. I'm no expert, so I wouldn't be able tell how it compares to anybody else's machine. But I live in central Maryland so if there's any welders around that you would trust, send them over and we'll see what this machine can do.
Longevity also has a program that owners of their products can sigh up and show their machines to potential buyers. It's on their website. Maybe there's one close to you that you could tryout yourself.

I know several welders that use Longevity welders that don't post here because they get flamed for every post.

[longevity-inc.com]

This is a (free section provided by Penton Media for the benefit of it's members only. It has NO affiliation with the manufacturer or reseller of this product) LONGEVITY section of welding web! Feel free to post photos of your work, machine, videos, questions, etc.

Do not worry about the others who attempt to flame because they have nothing better to do. Yeah, they do not have to read your posts, but they want to because we offer a machine that is worth it! Congratulations on the machine! :drinkup:

[Oldiron2]

.

Yeah, they do not have to read your posts, but they want to because we offer a machine that is worth it!

So, now your machine can read minds too? :nono: Or is this just something you :laugh: can do?

[longevity-inc.com]

Shhhhhhh..... do not tell anyone. ;)

[arcamm]

I don't mind if the machine reads my mind as long as it dosen't talk to my wife.....

[smilexelectric]

I heard Longevity is good stuff a guy on youtube that goes by freddy2k4 swears by his Arcmate.

[longevity-inc.com]

Freddy is a cool guy! He has helped a lot of people on our forum and shared some very cool artwork!

Thanks for the positivity! We need that on here!

[arcamm]

Well, I've had my machine for 3 months now. So far, it still works. It welds and cuts just as good as it did the day I set it up. I know that might disappoint some people, but I can't help that. I love the plasma cutter. I had never used one before and so far, I like it better than cutting with gas. I've cut 3/4" with good results. Welding with AC and DC is better than my skill level, I'm so out of practice. So far everything is still sticking together. No brake downs, sparks or explosions. I think I'll keep it. :drinkup: