New mig welder / plasma cutter advice.

[Kiotikarl]

I'm presently shopping around for a new mig and plasma cutter. I previously had a miller 211mvp and spectrum 375 plasma cutter. Wanting to upgrade, i sold both...but too fast as all i have left is my lincoln buzz-box, and i have a few trailers to build, as well as a dump box for my Duramax. I have a shopping budget, so i want something good and don't want to pay for bells and whistles, and i intend on purchasing new, i like new stuff. Any advice more than welcomed.
Thanks

 

[ericher69]

Miller matic 252 with 30a Spoolmate gun about $3200+tax

And A
hypertherm powermax 65 $$2000+tax

You see KiotiKarl I have no issues spending someone else's dime...

But in all honesty what are the intended uses and what where the smaller Miller products not doing for you?

 

[Kiotikarl]

I'll be asking for a quote today for a 252, but without the spool gun. As for the hypertherm, i'll have to find someone who sells their products.
As for the 211, it was doing a fine job indeed, but i was feeling like i was always pushing it too much at times. It's easier to tune down a bigger welder.
Personally the spectrum 375 plasma cutter....payed too much for what it's good for. 1/4 inch steel was all it could do with a so so cut, eventhough it is rated better than that. I had the unit sent back to have it checked for it's performance, but came back with a " it's fine, and running great ". I don't cut a lot of thick metal (max 5/16 or 3/8 inch), but when i do, i don't want to struggle with it and end up buffing like crazy to cover up, besides metal aint cheap, so might as well not waste it.
I looked at the Everlast and Longevity products, which are new to me, are those any good? Thinking do i really need big brand names to do the job? I really use these as a hobby, and i'd rather save some money buy more equipement for the same amount of $$$.

 

[Kiotikarl]

These are some trailers that i've made, just for the fun of it

 

[jimcolt]

Hypertherm systems and their consumables, parts and support are easy to find with over 2400 distributor stores in North America. The Hypertherm units are pricier than imports, however prove to be less expensive after you factor in the consumable life over time, as well as the excellent support. They are the choice of industrial users based on cutting performance as well as reliability. More expensive to buy...less expensive to use than the other brands!

Jim

I'll be asking for a quote today for a 252, but without the spool gun. As for the hypertherm, i'll have to find someone who sells their products.
As for the 211, it was doing a fine job indeed, but i was feeling like i was always pushing it too much at times. It's easier to tune down a bigger welder.
Personally the spectrum 375 plasma cutter....payed too much for what it's good for. 1/4 inch steel was all it could do with a so so cut, eventhough it is rated better than that. I had the unit sent back to have it checked for it's performance, but came back with a " it's fine, and running great ". I don't cut a lot of thick metal (max 5/16 or 3/8 inch), but when i do, i don't want to struggle with it and end up buffing like crazy to cover up, besides metal aint cheap, so might as well not waste it.
I looked at the Everlast and Longevity products, which are new to me, are those any good? Thinking do i really need big brand names to do the job? I really use these as a hobby, and i'd rather save some money buy more equipement for the same amount of $$$.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I looked at the Everlast and Longevity products, which are new to me, are those any good? Thinking do i really need big brand names to do the job? I really use these as a hobby, and i'd rather save some money buy more equipement for the same amount of $$$.

There are a lot of people, myself included, who own Everlast (or Longevity) and love them. They offer incredible value for money. I think they're an excellent choice for a hobbyist who wants the get the most for his or her dollar. Everlast has a 30-day return policy and a 5-year warranty, so it's pretty hard to go wrong. If you were a professional welder, who needed your rig to be up 100% of the time, and who was earning money with it, I might agree that a top-of-the-line name brand was called for. For a hobby welder, you can get three times the features at 1/3 the price by going with Everlast or Longevity. The arc quality of these inverter welders, even the "cheap" Chicom ones, is as good as the best, top-of-the-line welders of the previous generations, and to me that counts for a lot.

If you search around, you will find that there are cases of people needing some help working out a kink or two with their welders. My welder came configured so that it wouldn't go above 125 amps, when it should go to 160. A quick call to tech support, and we got the kink worked out. A fan of Lincoln or Miller would point to that as something that they don't have to go through, and maybe they're right. For me, the money saved is more than enough consolation. What I would say is that Everlast and Longevity might make more small mistakes than the Big Guys, but they seem to be incredibly responsive and quick to make things right. Also, I don't see any reps from Miller or Lincoln participating on TBN and WeldingWeb like Mark and Simon do, and that means a lot to me.

Another example of a "kink" with Everlast and Longevity is that they ship their flowmeters calibrated in liters-per-minute, not cubic-feet-per-hour. LPM is the global standard and pretty much only the USA uses CFM. Rather than keep two sets of flowmeters, they just keep one. For me, it's easy to just double the LPM number to convert to CFH, but if I didn't like doing that, I could spend $30 to buy a CFH-calibrated flow-meter, and I'd still be hundreds of dollars ahead what I would have spent on a competitor's product. Other people turn their nose up at the LPM meter as an example of how Everlast and Longevity just don't get it.

 

[Shield Arc]

If you search around, you will find that there are cases of people needing some help working out a kink or two with their welders. My welder came configured so that it wouldn't go above 125 amps, when it should go to 160. A quick call to tech support, and we got the kink worked out. A fan of Lincoln or Miller would point to that as something that they don't have to go through, and maybe they're right.

Welp, my $5,500.00 Lincoln didn't work right when I got I. I bought it online, but my local welding supply sent their tech to my house to see if he could get it to work. No such luck, an hour drive each way which equals two round trips to the big city to get it fixed. Even the big boys have bad luck sometimes!

 

[camshawn]

I bought a thermal arc cut master 52 last month here on the wet coast. $1750 tax in. Suposed to cut 1/2 inch all day long and thicker if you go slower. Everlast has no customer support in BC and was not interested in even quoting a price. (Also would not say if there units were CSA approved) So far, am having fun playing, I mean working with the new plasma cutter. New welder is also coming.
Cam

 

[Scooby074]

Karl,
I just bought a 252. You should be able to get it for under $2300. $2150-2300 actually, not that much more than a chicom machine. MM252 is a Great machine. Lots of power. Miller customer service is above reproach.

Everlast and longievety are not all that they seem. They try to control the message you read on the forums they are involved in. Careful research is in order. There have been some major customer service issues with them lately. Weldingweb is a good source of info.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Everlast and longievety are not all that they seem. They try to control the message you read on the forums they are involved in. Careful research is in order. There have been some major customer service issues with them lately. Weldingweb is a good source of info.

I have been around long enough to see some examples of this, and I have to say, I think it's mostly smoke and no flame. When I complained about my unit not going over 125 amps, that thread stayed alive. Furu's thread about his StickWeld 250 is still alive here, even though he bad-mouthed Longevity pretty hard before his issue was resolved (to his complete satisfaction). I have seen threads get killed before, and they tend to have certain things in common: people who don't own the product bad-mouthing it; people who do own the product bad-mouthing it after not bothering to even put in a tech support call first; and so forth. Those kinds of threads are totally unproductive, and if killing them is "controlling the message," then I'm fine with that.

For whatever reason, there are a whole lot of people on the Internet who seem to have it out for Longevity and Everlast. Every little thing that they might do wrong is blown into an inferno. But all I've ever seen is good customer support from folks like Mark and Simon--and I check the board often enough that I regularly see threads before they get deleted, so it's not like I've got blinders on. Mistakes are going to happen with any company. It's how you respond to them that matters.