Shopping: Mig welder comparison

[yomax4]

( Shop Envy ) Very Nice !

 

[Arc weld]

I cringe when I see ESAB 252i. ESAB has / had nothing to do with Tweco / Thermal Arc. ****, ESAB doesn't even make anything at all except a small amount of wire which is mostly imported these days.. ESAB doesn't own anything. They don't even own themselves. They just Killed the Victor Torch line and replaced it with some cheap looking import low cost product. The ESAB Florence SC plant has been closed for 2 years. No welders built there since the Mig Master 250. The others were imports. Truth be known, The ESAB people were elated when Colfax bought Victor / Thermadyne. the Victor Thermadyne guys, Not so much.

Victor made a good product but didn't have the best website. Esab had a poor website and since Victor joined Esab, they made it twice as bad. It's next to impossible to find what you're looking for and no pictures of half the stuff. As far as torches go, I haven't ran into the discontinued Victor torches yet but Esab discontinued their new style (4200)torches and unless a customer bought a few of them were out of luck if they wanted to add welding tips or a rosebud. If customer bought a few, Esab would exchange them for Victor. Even worse is Esab discontinued the older style Purox torches that were around for decades. What a way to screw long term users who preferred these torches. Esab isn't too popular in Alberta for machines because they have very little stock and next to no parts for the machines that are out there. They seem to be taking 3 steps backwards for every step forward. Some of their machines are pretty good though. I cringe a little when I recommend getting a Victor torch because of the way they just axed all the Purox and Oxweld lines. The only reason I recommend Victor torches is because everybody sells them so it's easy to find tips and other parts for them. If the Victor goes, I'll recommend Uniweld which is a copy of the Victor anyway. Not quite as high quality but if the good Victor is toast, they could be much better. Smith/Miller is good but just not common here.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

There are some pretty good copies out there of Victor. I know, I know...they won't measure up 100% but the Vic style torches that aren't OEM will become more popular than ever. But as for me, I am and will always be a Smith fan, or Harris. Both aren't what they used to be, but I love the 3 tube design of the Smith/Miller.

 

[Cord]

Well, I pulled the trigger on a Lincoln 350MP. $2,500 for a lightly used machine. I suspect it's the same chassis as the 256, but has more power, some built-in programs, is push-pull ready and is capable of multi-process. Sale even came with a cylinder. Equipment Comparison