Mark @ Everlast
Advertiser
I wouldn't buy an AC only machine either. However, I would buy an DC only machine.
Everlast has been around 5 years already. We've stood the weathering of the small business model problems. No one said it has been easy, with the learning curve being quite steep. But customers are still calling order consumables for units they bought shortly after we began, with no issues. We are expanding rapidly and setting up a dealer network in the same places you find Miller and Lincoln. People said the same thing about Thermal Arc when they started, but here they are.
Scooby, if you bought recently, your machines were basically assembled here, not made here. Electronics are made over seas, as in the case of the computer you are writing this on as well as many other places Everlast's machines contain, German, Chinese, American, Japanese, and many other countries parts.
As far as after warranty repair, the machines from Miller and Lincoln will cost you more to repair in actual dollars than the cost of one of our units. In fact to repair a tombstone AC 225, will cost you more than it is worth to buy a new one as well. Additionally Lincoln manufacturers those lower end products in Mexico from Chinese and other components. The higher end inverters from Lincoln are made in Italy from european and chinese parts. As far as parts, many people in repair services have called us wanting to become repair centers because they have either bought one or know of someone who has and have seen how simple and easy they are to work on.
The issue arises that labor rates quickly outpace the value of the unit. This is a similar issue with any welder brand that is out of warranty. Typical repair costs for many welding machines easily rise to 60% of the units replacement cost even for small repairs because of the cost of parts. While our parts cost are extremely low, it is the labor rates that make repairing less appealing to a customer. Parts for Everlast units are name brand, off the shelf electronic items, resistors, capacitors, chip sets, displays, are all items that any reputable electronic repair center can get. As in contrast with Miller and others, with highly proprietary components, you will only find the source of the parts back through Miller or whatever company you bought them from. Also, many parts now for the major companies are obsoleted now in 5-10 years, depending upon the popularity of the units. A lot of parts are only still available by the fact they may be the same ones used in later models. I had a problem with my Lincoln welder that at the time was only 10 years old and they had deleted several parts already. I had to end up paying several hundred dollars to get it repaired. I recently had a toggle switch fail on the unit as well. One basic toggle switch cost me 75 dollars. I replaced a muffler, that was built only for that machine and it cost me over 200.00. The main reason it was fixed was for sentimental reasons as there are plenty available in the same model and vintage for under $1000.00
The CENTURY brand of welders comes from a small factories in China that Lincoln has negotiated with to import. Quality is much lower and less advanced than the Everlast.
We've had ZERO problems from these little PowerArcs and they are simple and reliable as they come, but have more capability than the average inverters.
Everlast has been around 5 years already. We've stood the weathering of the small business model problems. No one said it has been easy, with the learning curve being quite steep. But customers are still calling order consumables for units they bought shortly after we began, with no issues. We are expanding rapidly and setting up a dealer network in the same places you find Miller and Lincoln. People said the same thing about Thermal Arc when they started, but here they are.
Scooby, if you bought recently, your machines were basically assembled here, not made here. Electronics are made over seas, as in the case of the computer you are writing this on as well as many other places Everlast's machines contain, German, Chinese, American, Japanese, and many other countries parts.
As far as after warranty repair, the machines from Miller and Lincoln will cost you more to repair in actual dollars than the cost of one of our units. In fact to repair a tombstone AC 225, will cost you more than it is worth to buy a new one as well. Additionally Lincoln manufacturers those lower end products in Mexico from Chinese and other components. The higher end inverters from Lincoln are made in Italy from european and chinese parts. As far as parts, many people in repair services have called us wanting to become repair centers because they have either bought one or know of someone who has and have seen how simple and easy they are to work on.
The issue arises that labor rates quickly outpace the value of the unit. This is a similar issue with any welder brand that is out of warranty. Typical repair costs for many welding machines easily rise to 60% of the units replacement cost even for small repairs because of the cost of parts. While our parts cost are extremely low, it is the labor rates that make repairing less appealing to a customer. Parts for Everlast units are name brand, off the shelf electronic items, resistors, capacitors, chip sets, displays, are all items that any reputable electronic repair center can get. As in contrast with Miller and others, with highly proprietary components, you will only find the source of the parts back through Miller or whatever company you bought them from. Also, many parts now for the major companies are obsoleted now in 5-10 years, depending upon the popularity of the units. A lot of parts are only still available by the fact they may be the same ones used in later models. I had a problem with my Lincoln welder that at the time was only 10 years old and they had deleted several parts already. I had to end up paying several hundred dollars to get it repaired. I recently had a toggle switch fail on the unit as well. One basic toggle switch cost me 75 dollars. I replaced a muffler, that was built only for that machine and it cost me over 200.00. The main reason it was fixed was for sentimental reasons as there are plenty available in the same model and vintage for under $1000.00
The CENTURY brand of welders comes from a small factories in China that Lincoln has negotiated with to import. Quality is much lower and less advanced than the Everlast.
We've had ZERO problems from these little PowerArcs and they are simple and reliable as they come, but have more capability than the average inverters.
