[Smason]

The valve is open all of the way, it doesn’t matter what the flow setting is, it behaves the same. No loose fittings, the gun is plugged in all of the way and I can feel the gas flowing on my cheek until the ball drops. And I’m afraid that you may be correct that it’s not the regulator.

 

[Smason]

I spent the better part of an hour last week on the phone with the tech from ESAB probing voltages. He admitted that he hasn't seen anything like what's going on. It looks like I'm going to have to replace a $800 dollar control board which is on back order for 4 months. Here's the kicker. You have to do a firmware update when you replace a board and ESAB only makes the software available to the authorized warranty repair stations. None of the "authorized" repair stations in the area still do warranty work for ESAB. Each one that I visited said that ESAB hasn't paid any warranty claims since 2020, so they don't have access to the software.

I went ahead and dropped it off with one that said he'd take a look at it. Maybe I'll get lucky, but I doubt it. I'm sorry that I gave ESAB a chance. I should have went the the Miller or Lincoln.

 

[Smason]

A statement like that is a bit hard to “not take personally” you may as well just gone ahead called me a dumb a$$.

Well, to answer your question, in my case, I was new to welding and I had a Hobart that I was given that went **** up on me. I walked into my local welding supplier one day and the manager said “ Talk to this ESAB representative, he’s got a great new welder that you should check out “. I tried his welder and I liked it. After being assured by the manager that this was a good brand I eventually bought it when it became available.

So, that’s why people like me keep buying garbage. For what it’s worth, the repair guys I’ve talked to think that all of the inverter welders are junk.

 

[Smason]

No, I don't believe that inverters are junk, but I have the feeling that the days of having a welder last for a lifetime are gone. I'm definitely not going to buy another ESAB machine. (Even if they might actually be a good machine) The question becomes, do I pony up for a Miller or Lincoln, or just buy a throw away welder?

Then there's the age old question, do I go blue or red? There's so many fan boys of each brand it's hard to pick a welder? It's tough to get unbiased information.

 

[Smason]

The repair guy suggested that I look for a used Millermatic 211. Then there's the debate, do I look for the old style or the new version. There's another one where there's a lot of guys that will line up on each side of that line.

 

[Smason]

You're right. But so are the factory reps, and how do I know that anyone that I get advice from actually knows what they speak of, or are just fan boys?
I had 3 months before the welder was available for sale. Don't you think that I researched it the best that I could? The thing is that someone's opinion is just that, an opinion. I took a shot and it didn't work out.

 

[Smason]

Yes, I'm actually striking an ark. This is what I got when I went to fill in a couple of mis drilled View attachment no gas.jpg holes.

 

[Smason]

Have the same problem. Middle of a beautiful weld and would act like the gas was shut off. Pull the trigger and gas would flow properly for a second or two and drop off to a trickle. Found a troubleshooting manual and opened up machine to find out the gas solenoid wasn't getting full voltage and drop off to close to zero after a brief time. PCB3 is bad. Don't want to know how much the board is. Awfully expensive stick welder after a few years of light use.

The solenoid was only getting 7 volts and then would drop to 5 when the trigger was pulled. The factory tech said that he was surprised that the solenoid would operate at such a low voltage. Did your fans kick in as soon as you pulled the trigger? The tech said that they should come on as soon as the trigger was pulled and also as soon as it's switched into stick mode which it's not doing. I never used the stick and tig features.

PCB3 will probably be what needs to be replaced. $600-$800 depending who you talk to. The best part is that you have to do a firmware update when replacing a board. No one in my area can do it because they dumped ESAB due to not being paid for warranty work. Only authorized shops can get the firmware.

 

[Smason]

I thought I was already in that camp.

Now I’m thinking that maybe buy cheap and toss out when the warranty expires.

 

[Smason]

I had some minor issues. Some of which were growing/learning pains. Had the machines software updated a bit before the warranty expired.

I always unplug my machine from the wall when not in use to try and prevent any angry pixies from zapping the boards while not in use. Never know when some Random speed racer is going to introduce his car to an electric pole or when mother nature will strike a transformer etc.

Try to never run beyond duty cycles and keep it clean and and let it run a complete fan cycle before shutting it down even if just used for a quick few beads.

I have been happy with it. Been using a 15' Tweco spray master 250 since shortly after getting it. Use the knurled rollers to feed wire and it works great. Some times I get issues when welding dirty/painted thinner materials. I've been happy with it. The Smig mode makes it easy to learn mig welding and dialing in the settings to match material thickness a breeze. I never use it in manual mode unless using Dual shield flux core wire.

Same here. I always unplug my machine from the wall when not in use. I never run it beyond duty cycles and keep it clean and and let it run a complete fan cycle before shutting it down even if just used for a quick few beads.

I've been happy with it also. The Smig mode made it easy for me to learn mig welding and dialing in the settings to match material thickness a breeze me too. I've used some flux core and hated every minute of it. Then I ran out of the old roll and as soon as I started with the new roll, I was back in love with the welder. I learned that you don't keep that stuff around for a long time.