ESAB Rebel 205ic

[metalman21]

I guess I will find out how good this welder is... I stopped in my LWS, they told me that the welders will be shipping to them Oct 3rd. I put $1K down to order mine, I will be in Israel until the 12th so won't get to try it out for a while.
Tom

I just noticed a change in the info Esab is putting on the internet: https://www.esabna.com/us/en/product...tCode=12701EMP
Now they are stating January 2019 as the new date the 205 AC/DC will be available!

[FuelieNova]

I see that, Im still in Israel so I can't talk to my LWS.
Pretty disappointed
Tom

[N2 Welding]

Maybe the delay caused them to end up taking it on the nose from Chinese tariffs.

[XMilitary]

ESAB according to all the forum diving i've done on this site, has a history of missing release dates.

[lugweld]

Maybe the delay caused them to end up taking it on the nose from Chinese tariffs.

I would imagine, this would lead to a significant loss of income (not necessarily a net loss) on ESAB's part since so many places have been taking preorders online and are committed to provide them at a pre-established price.

They still are being ambiguous about some of the specs such as whether the unit has AC/DC pulse or not. One place they list it as DC pulse and another they list it under AC pulse. I wonder if the final version specs have changed since originally brought out at SEMA.

[N2 Welding]

I think anything they release will be out of budget for most home hobby do it your self welders anyway so I quit being interested in it when I saw a MSRP of almost $3k. And now miller is going to show a 220A ac/dc multi process machine at sema and fabtech. Hmm. ESAB is probably going to loose a lot of sales because of the delay and miller coming out with competition.

[metalman21]

.... And now miller is going to show a 220A ac/dc multi process machine at sema and fabtech. Hmm. ESAB is probably going to loose a lot of sales because of the delay and miller coming out with competition.

Yes I think a number of people waiting for the ac/dc Rebel will jump ship and buy the Miller if they have them available soon.
All we need now to make it more interesting is for Lincoln to come up with a similar unit.
All the while Everlast really was the first to the market with this type of machine. I don't know why Esab ever made claims to be the first with an ac/dc multi-process unit that still isn't available!

[XMilitary]

Paper launches are a industry favorite, not unique to any particular industry but the software and tech industry are infamous for it. It generates buzz and captures the attention of those who are 'in the know' or hawkish on new developments. It basically free pre-sale/pre-production press.

Failure to meet time to market expectations has doomed countless "revolutionary" products. I'll be fascinated to see what the response is from Miller and Lincoln. Frankly i'm surprised Miller even bothered, they showed 0 interest in evolving their tech up until now. Lincoln has been doing some interesting things but again I saw no significant interest from them either.

[N2 Welding]

Let's keep in mind IMO the Rebel brought a product to the table previously never tapped into with how tough, handy and light it actually is. With the exception of the 180A mig gun. I have not seen any offerings from any other brand to do this since the Rebel. Dual voltage on top of that. There is a lot to be said about the Rebel but most name brand fan boys don't and won't hear it. Follow your heart but listen to your intuition. The Rebel will be a very nice unit once released. I am wondering if they may be delaying due to survey's and feedback with lower amps than the 215's abilities as a reason to send the unit back for redesign. IDK what reasond they would have for the delays but there damn sure better be a good reason.

[soutthpaw]

Let's keep in mind IMO the Rebel brought a product to the table previously never tapped into with how tough, handy and light it actually is. With the exception of the 180A mig gun. I have not seen any offerings from any other brand to do this since the Rebel. Dual voltage on top of that. There is a lot to be said about the Rebel but most name brand fan boys don't and won't hear it. Follow your heart but listen to your intuition. The Rebel will be a very nice unit once released. I am wondering if they may be delaying due to survey's and feedback with lower amps than the 215's abilities as a reason to send the unit back for redesign. IDK what reasond they would have for the delays but there damn sure better be a good reason.

Don't forget the patented breakaway handles.

[N2 Welding]

Don't forget the patented breakaway handles.

The Rebel handles are built solid unlike and not to be compared to TD 60i handles. I have not heard of any broken Rebel handles.

[metalman21]

Sema is in progress this week. I wonder what Esab has to say about the 205 AC/DC. While Miller is demonstrating their 220 AC/DC.

[FuelieNova]

I wish I was there so I could stop by their booth.....
Tom

[metalman21]

Esab is there and demonstrating the 205 AC/DC. https://www.esabna.com/us/en/news/la...dc-at-sema.cfm

[FuelieNova]

Today I gave up waiting on this. I changed my order to the new Miller, should arrive at the LWS the 19th.
We'll see.
Tom

[metalman21]

I think the Miller will be every bit as nice as the Esab might be.
Let us know what you think when you get it and spend a little time with it. We need feedback on these new things. I would like to try both of them.

[lugweld]

We published a cross brand comparison.
My impression is that the Miller is more of a hobby type welder in many respects. Having seen it and looked at it, it is not really a function laden machine.

[soutthpaw]

We published a cross brand comparison.
My impression is that the Miller is more of a hobby type welder in many respects. Having seen it and looked at it, it is not really a function laden machine.

The number of idiot lights and buttons does not determine the "hobby" level of a welding machine. However the more of those a machine has, the better it sells to idio..... I mean hobbyists.... a bit of a paradox. But I will say Miller using Dinse 25 plugs is stupid.

[lugweld]

It simply doesn't have features. No AC pulse even. Very limited on many adjustments. Limited on duty cycle. That's the main thing I look at in relation to ouput capbility.

[Brand X]

Yea my Sweden built 2200i AC/DC does not have AC pulse. Not even sure why I would even turn it on for AC welding? What you must of meant it's does not have all bells and dingle berries of a properly equipped moo goo gai pan /microwave side burner type of far east seaweed green thing does...

[metalman21]

The green machines are interesting but warranty/service cross country (at buyer's expense) keeps me away. I'm not a hobby shop, all equipment is here to get jobs done, and pay the bills.

[lugweld]

Yea my Sweden built 2200i AC/DC does not have AC pulse. Not even sure why I would even turn it on for AC welding? What you must of meant it's does not have all bells and dingle berries of a properly equipped moo goo gai pan /microwave side burner type of far east seaweed green thing does...

AC pulse further shapes and defines the arc, increases puddle agitation and a good bit more. If you are old school and never used it, then you won't miss it, but it is a valuable tool. Sort of like guys who swear they can fix anything with an adjustable wrench , when there are specific tools for the job that make things better, quicker and more precise, but to a guy who has always done it with an adjustable wrench, you can't tell him anything.

I guess the seweed green thing was a slight at Everlast, but considering the rebel is Chinese and hasn't even materialized after over a year (and the Everlast has been out, running stably for a year and a half), and the Miller is off shore too, throw that stone very gingerly. What was with a brand does not necessarily reflect what is. That cuts both ways.

[FuelieNova]

I am not sure I need all the bells and whistles... Mostly I build end of arm tooling for robots and do mild steel jobs up to 5/16" thick. Even with that said, my diversion 180 has been working fine for that and it has no bells and whistles. Believe me, I am not a "I can fix everything with a crescent wrench" type of guy, I like all the bells and whistles. The biggest reason I wanted a true multi purpose welder is because I need mig some times and I don't want to have two welders in my limited space.
Yes I know the arguments of if you have a problem you are completely down but is not really a big deal to me. My welder is not my primary source of income, it is the value added part of my business. If it happened to be gone for a couple weeks for repair no big deal for me.
I love the options of the EL221 but as we discussed before its the costly shipping after the initial period that I can't live with. I got tired of waiting on the Esab 205, have no confidence they will be available in Jan 2019.
Miller has it now and it fits my needs, cant wait to get it and experiment with it. Once I am comfortable with it I will sell my Diversion 180 and the pulse box I bought for it to help cover the cost of the new 220.
I will say, I always love the discussion on this board.
Tg

[Brand X]

Wonder why Everlast does not have a DC micro pulse like my Esab. Guess if you never used it, you won't miss it..Probably get in the way of the rice steaming button.. Good move to go with the Miller machine. Lot of times the straight default setting will weld nicer, then any setting you can get with a million settings built-in on some want to be unit..

Shipping one back, and forth for warrant,y is just cheap Chinese Ebay crap way of doing anything..

[lugweld]

There are very few ESAB service centers, so shipping is not something that is exclusive to Everlast.