Brand Quality Opinions (please)

[Esprit]

Sorry for this. I don't want to start a war, but since the guy sold the welder I was looking at out from under me, I'd really like some opinions on what you guys think about some of the different brands. First, I know tha as far as SMAW and GMAW go, Miller, Lincoln, ESAB, Hobart, etc... are the most desired and probably the best made (therefore; command a higher price), but if I'm not going to be able to sink a lot of money into a welder right now, what is the general consensus concerning brands like Snap-On, Craftsman, Eastwood, Campbell-Hausfield, Century, National Welders, Linde, and Liquid Air? Since I may end up purchasing one of these if I can't find a Lincoln Tombstone for a decent price.
Thanks again!

[smawgmaw]

Linde has put out some good units over time. Dont know about current products. I may be wrong but I think they are now a division of ESAB. Century has also made some pretty good products over the years and have been a division of Lincoln Electric for a number of years. At one time they were sold mostly through Sears stores. Dont know about the rest of them. Good luck.

[soutthpaw]

ESAB got the rights to L-Tec and Linde... all are good machines. U can search on the Linde, Union Carbide explosion that killed 1000's in India in 1982 0r 1984 I think. It was the reason all these new companies sprung up dissassociate the name from the disaster, financial protection from lawsuits etc.

[JackLegg]

I dont know what you're looking for but there is a guy on Athens Ga. craigslist with a Miller mm250 with a mm140 with tank and helmet for 800.00. Yes both welders.He says the mm250 needs a little work,could be the gun or something simple.I drove 30 miles one day to look at a mm250x advertised as missing parts for 600.00. When I got there all it needed was a plug on the power cord

[DSW]

Stay away from small machines that use 110v power. You will want to look for the big clunky old machines if you want power and a good price.

The old Craftsmans, Montgomery Wards and a few other older "house brand" machines were all made by Century. Century is now owned by Lincoln. These were all decent machines, and because they aren't well known, can be had for very good prices. The newer Sears stuff is mostly junk, though some are still decent. It would take too long to list which are and which aren't.

Linde, Ltec, Miller, Hobart ( especially the older industrial ones before they got broken up and sold), Lincoln, Esab... all are good solid companies that made good machines. Don't be scared of older units. Most 50's era stick machines aren't very different than most transformer machines today.

I'd avoid Snap-on myself. They are all rebranded machines, frequently on the cheaper side, and they are almost always over priced because of the snap-on name.

You couldn't give me an Everlast or Longevity machine. There have been too many threads here in the past about poor quality control, dead machines, poor customer service and so on for me to even want to bother with one.

With Mig's I'd avoid Clarke machines, Sears sold these as well as other companies, but Clarke in the US went belly up, so don't expect any warranty, and good luck with parts/service.

I'd also be very leery of other "no name" imports, HF being the worst, but other ones like Northern Tool, Real Gear, Eastwoods and so on, would have the same parts issues down the line. If you get one, figure it's a disposable machine and if it breaks, chances are you will have to replace rather than repair it.



Don't be in a rush to buy a machine. I see transformer stick machines pop up all the time. SOme times you won't see many for a while, then all of a sudden again, they are every where. As you get towards Christmas, you can usually expect more toys to show up. People know this is the time of year people buy "presents" for themselves, so it's agood time to clean house and sell, and it's also the time of year when people are looking to try and raise extra cash for other presents and will let things go that they haven't used in a while. You might also post up a "wanted" ad in CL if nothing else pops up. Many times guys will see these and have a dusty machine in the garage from dad or gramps they never use, and will realise they can pick up some cash quick.

Good luck.

[Esprit]

Thanks. This has been a big help. AC/DC vs AC Only. AC/DC is better. 220VAC vs 110VAC. 220VAC is better. Stay away from cheapies. Century and older Craftsmen are OK. I'm looking at one of those ESABs on e-Bay.

[soutthpaw]

There is a welding supply in AZ that is selling the ESAB caddy mig 160i brand new with full warranty, delivered to your door for $469 via ebay. I think a couple of members have bought them and very happy with them for a small, lightweight GMAW machine..

[mechanic416]

Tell us what you really want !!! Stick, Mig, Tig ??????

If your just looking for a stick welder, then almost any of the brands will work. You can find them everyday for about $150 or so.

[59halfstep]

Southpaw - it is hard to read your posts with that current avatar.

[Acetylene]

The only input I can provide pertains to the Snap-On 110v MIG welder.

I used to have a diesel/welding shop in the same building as a car mechanic.

He bought a late 90's, used Snap-On MIG. The machine was useless. I stress USELESS.

He would come over to my side complaining about the crappy job his machine did. Exhaust pipe or angle iron were equally as bad for him to weld. I assumed it was him but I messed around with the machine and it was just worthless.

Almost no penetration, molten puddle was immpossible to maintain and it almost always created perosity in the weld.

I think any 110v machine is no good.

[soutthpaw]

Originally Posted by 59halfstep

Southpaw - it is hard to read your posts with that current avatar.

that will stop people complaning about my 1/2 naked body in my Avatar..

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for as you just might get it... seems some Everlast noobs were offended by my previous Avatar...

[BlauSchuh]

Originally Posted by Esprit

Thanks. This has been a big help. AC/DC vs AC Only. AC/DC is better. 220VAC vs 110VAC. 220VAC is better. Stay away from cheapies. Century and older Craftsmen are OK. I'm looking at one of those ESABs on e-Bay.

These older welders can be power hungry... 50amps+ for old ESAB and maybe Miller transformer machine. This is what I've gathered from research on this site...

I've got an older ESAB heliarc 252 machine that I'm using on a 40amp breaker, and can actually stick weld and not toast 30amp fuses at ~130 amps.