For $649 that sounds too good to be true!

 

1st call to Northern about servicing. They gave me the number for the local shop (southern ON, CA) - local is 1.5 hours drive . Local shop guy said they only do engines, not the welder. AND, he pointed out the problem is getting the parts - including the engines(not welders) that they service.

2nd call, gave me # to call - 877-304-0294 . Got human being right away. Friendly and knowledge guy, they are in Wisconsin.
- they have a large inventory of parts, no probs there.
- typically will want it shipped in, they cover shipping one way back to you. You pay other way
- sometimes will just do troubleshooting over the phone and that's that.
- If it's the top pc board, they may just ship it to you for a DIY.
- that top pc board is the most common fail point. Just a quick swap out. Usually fails in the first month.
- if shipped can take like 10-14 days round trip
- that box has 3 thermal sensors and does thermal overload protection
- fyi to me, duty cycle and thermal are different. it may only be 30% but he says that's not too bad for my use. Duty cycle affects overall lifespan of machine

That was a good call, the rep was professional and easy to talk to. Makes me feel better about going for this box.

 

I am serching the forums for reviews on this same welder, the things I have found so far have been positive, considering the price of the unit, as long as it lasts longer than my 120v campbell hausfeld did.

 

Thanks John, and thanks for catching that thread by WVVAN. My search didn't catch that. I'll wait some time for him to respond.

The other candidate (final, I hope) is the Thermal Arc 181i. Very similar and everyone here seems to like it. Trade off is we pay more ($800) for less (ie. no spool gun) for better rep and possibly better build. Only neg is mediocre stick. Oh well.

On a final note, this is hopefully the end of months - Months!!! - of researching and hand wringing. Please Lord, I hope this is over soon. I want to get to business.

 

One other thing to consider (well...maybe 2-or 3), the TA 181i does lift arc tig, whereas the Northern only does scratch start, that may be the reason for price difference. Also, check to see if it's MOSFET, or IGBT technology. The earlier MOSFET stuff was not very reliable. The IGBT is the latest version. Although the Northern one has an inviting price point, I'd go with the TA 181i. I'm leaning that way, myself.

 

I meant to reply but got too busy, sorry. Yes it is IGBT. You're probably right in leaning to the 181i as it's proven here. I almost returned the Northern and order the 181i, but I looked again at the duty cycle/power and also that the Northern dropped $50, so I kept it.
Only thing I didn't like is that the tech guy I spoke to didn't understand the IGBT module, and that can delay repair time. They really should be trained better.


Webtrained - yeah I got a pricematch so I paid $600 only. It looks good.

Not hot yet, I'm wiring up the garage in next few days. I'll be trying it out this summer and I'll tell you guys how it goes. Note that I'm a total noob so I won't be any good at comparing.

 

I too have been considering this unit. It is at $599 now, and since there are no Northerns in my state shipping is less than sales tax. They seem to have dropped (in just the last couple of days) the unit that VWVAN reviewed. If memory serves that one had no spool gun capabilty, and was not recommended for the tig torch. I know they say scratch start tig, but it sure looks like a lift start in the video. It uses IGBT instead of MOSFET. The 3 year warranty seems pretty good too, although I haven't compared it to others.

 

UPDATE March 7, 2014

Working solid :drinkup:

Using fluxcore most of the time. I was doing 1/4" with the machine cranked up full blast and just went at it. Paid no attention to duty cycle and it never had a problem. Adjusts well for variety of work.
This year I will be getting gas and doing MIG. I will also at least try out the Aluminum gun.

Will update again at end of season

 

thanks for positng...I decied to buy one...also bought the TIG torch. Having unit that can do MIG, Flux, ARC, TIG sure frees up the brain from wondering which process should I have bought. Theres a mini TIG on the eastwood site that should fit this machine. I did a motorcycle frame repair and a mini TIG sure would have been handy.....will probally redo the repair once all the new gear comes in.

 

Drop test

Mine survived an inadvertent 17" drop test today!
OOPS!

I was finishing up a smoker today, and when wheeling the smoker outside to paint it, I didn't realize I still had the ground attached.
All of a sudden I was startled by a loud crash, and the machine had been pulled off of the folding chair I had it sitting on (yeah, I know)

Anyway, I fired it up, and everything still works.
I had not planned on doing a drop test.
With all of the electronics inside, I would not have bet a nickel on a positive result.

Oh yeah, here is the smoker:
View attachment IMG_0273.jpg

 

Re: Drop test

That's a painful experience - bet you were feeling sick in the stomach until it actually powered up fine.

And Cool smoker, looks good

 

I prefer to do my drop tests on $600 welders from NT than a $2k Miller. Thanks for the follow up on the welder, too. It's really helpful to read long term comments.

Oh and very nice smoker build. Just looking at it is making me hungry.

 

I finally started MIG a few days ago. Boy has this been rough. No margin for error. I'm noob so I don't know what' it's like with any other machine.

I had constant problems with stuttering and had to make adjustments all over the place. Took quite a while. Today when going lower power the arc kept going out and was unstable. ???

Oh, when I was going to change the polarity, I found out that I had been doing fluxcore with the wrong polarity the whole time. I went through almost 2 10lb spools of fluxcore like that. Surprising that was easier than the MIG. I almost always got nice sizzling bacon sound. Except when I started again this spring it was stuttering with the fluxcore as well. Very forgiving otherwise.

 

Discontinued? What the? http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200485145_200485145

 

Yeah I know. Too bad. Of all the cheap Chinese inverter boxes out there, how many are from sources you can trust?

 

I thought about picking one of these up just mainly for little things and to practice for job tests ya know try to stay sharp but im still iffy about purchasing one. Here is the info i got about 3 days ago or so MAY 2014


REFERENCE NUMBER: LTK112950322693X Please use this reference number in any correspondence with us.
SUBJECT: Product Assistance
Hello Chris,

Thank you for contacting us.
They have removed the item #20307 from the website. It is being discontinued under the name of Northern Industrial.
They will be changing the item number when these are sold out and will be under the brand name Klutch.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Regards,

Ashley

 

They will be changing the item number when these are sold out and will be under the brand name Klutch.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.

I still like mine.
The duty cycle of 30% at 160 is probably about right. I am getting about 4 minutes running .035 flux core at what seems to me to be about 150.
I am only basing that on the amount of weld I am depositing in a minute compared to running 1/8 7018 on my miller at 150.
I don't know if that is a fair comparison, or not.
I know though, that anything more than that, using stick is faster, considering the down time due to the duty cycle.

I do wish I had gotten their 235 amp mig though.
...but then, I would never use my beautiful Miller.

Life is so hard...

 

I have to say one thing northern tools might not have the best stuff but everytime i need customer service they are pretty awesome lol

 

seems like a good machine to take a chance on for a home welder but i always can still feel the blue and red pulling me away lol.

 

Here it is: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631881_200631881
Now rated 220 amp mig, 200 amp flux, 140 amp stick.