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Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:43 am

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=632254

bnc

Tue Jul 21, 2015 8:01 pm

Still available. Can't beat it.

Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:37 am

Has anyone tried one of these? I just picked one up but haven't had a chance to try it yet.
http://www.eastwood.com/spot-weld-kit.html

Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:16 pm

I use a Miller Diversion 180 Tig. It Can do 110 or 220. I am newer to welding, and welding sheet metal takes some getting used to. But now that I am used to my machine, I no longer blow holes. Keep finding new things to weld... rust repair, grafted rag top and now, 70-71 vents into my 63 sedan deck lid.

Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:29 pm

New to the site so here is what I have and use

Miller DVI2 Mig welder which I love.

Lincoln Precision Tig 225 which is an awesome tig but is a transformer machine and requires a large 220 breaker.

Thermo dynamic Cutmaster 39 Plasma cutter ( super machine for a home unit as it uses 110 or 220 )

As to what machine is best. Well the mig gets used the most but the tig is a great welder to have and know how to use. For aluminum tig is a must.

Wed Mar 16, 2016 5:43 pm

Tons of videos on You Tube.

Thu Nov 17, 2016 3:54 pm

Anyone have thoughts on this: Eastwood MIG Welder 110VAC/ 135A Output for $199?

http://www.eastwood.com/mig-welder-110vac-135a-out...aQodsc8Nxw

Sat Nov 19, 2016 8:05 pm

$199? I see $259... I'd like to know more about this too.

Sun Nov 20, 2016 6:54 am

Looks like a decent welder for the price.

https://youtu.be/-hTFZnzYUvg

Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:43 pm

My boss grew up in a family business body shop. He swears by the Easrwood 135. It will be my next welde purchase.

Fri Dec 16, 2016 10:51 pm

A few months ago I motivated myself to get a better welder because my Century GS155 was holding me back. It's a 110volt machine with variable voltage control. The gun is hard wired in. It's been very reliable.

I really only wanted an additional MIG to break the 230amp barrier and I was set on buying a Miller. The biggest non industrial Miller's Duty cycle at 230 amps was so low (looks to be less then 10% on a chart) that along with millers consumables I said the hell with that. They don't even straight out list the duty cycle but only put it in a chart.

I have had great service with U.S.A Welds (HTP) and was then seriously considering the HTP2400. It's a 250 amp Tap machine but has 24 settings which should be plenty. At about 230lbs I was concerned with high shipping cost if if ever needed repair, and the inconvenience of moving it around my work area.

Next up was a Alpha MIG 250. I purchased this and this is the Amazon review I wrote for it.
https://www.amazon.com/AHP-Mig-Welder-250AMP-ALPHA/product-reviews/B01EMFTSB0

The Alpha MIG 250 works so good It made my Century feel like it was broken.
Unfortunately the service after the sale reputation for a Chinese Welder proved to be true.
In my opinion ,Alpha tools shipped out a damaged unit to me through Amazon. The welder at the time I received it was on backorder so AHP Tools could not ship a replacement one out if they wanted to and the welder is still on backorder. The damage was not consistent with shipping. One of the damaged areas was the face plate in which they stated that they would send out a replacement one out and I could put it on.
I gave them up until the last couple of days of Amazons A-Z guaranty (3 months) to get me the face plate. They printed up a shipping label about a week left on the guaranty but UPS did not receive the alleged package. I suspected they were just trying to stall until I had no protection from Amazon so I made them take it back. 5 days after they paid to have the welder shipped from NYS to Fransisco I received the face plate.

If you read most of the reviews on Amazon about AHP Tools, most of them read that Alpha makes a simply awesome welder at a great price which is true. Also most of the ratings are for 4-5 stars but the welder they received required having extra parts shipped out because it was received with physical damage.

Regardless , I was not going to accept a refurbished welder sold as new. I really think they were going to stiff me on the face plate but shipped it out to try to make it look like they really had good intentions. I hated to send it back but it was not absolutely perfect so I though I would roll the dice again on another welder.

AFTER YOU MIG WELD WITH AN INVERTER WELDER WITH OR WITHOUT INDUCTANCE CONTROL, YOU WILL NEVER GO BACK TO A ALL TRANSFORMER WELDER.

The arc is so much better and the welder is so much more capable it made my Century look like it was broken.

I the only other Inverter welder I could find with hopes of customer service was a ESAB 252i. There are a couple of other non name inverter welders but after the Alpha experience I was not going to take the risk especially with a return.

As the Alpha MIG 250 made my Century look like it was broken, the ESAB makes the Alpha look like a introductory Inverter welder which it is. The Alpha was considerably cheaper and was very easy to use where as the ESAB is a lot more elaborate and expensive with accessories in the professional quality range I personally don't need. The 252i comes with a Fusion MIG gun that goes for $250 a lone. The Alpha had a Binzel Euro connect that was a good as amateur needs at a fraction of the cost. The ESAB does actually weld better and has parts and service support. It also has all the bells and whistles like burnback control and run in speed. The Alpha has a really well built cabinet and weights 95lbs and the ESAB weighs 65 and is built to be light with strength only where it needs it. The duty cycle of the the Alpha is 60% and 40% for the ESAB. Both of which are way higher than the miller. Another issue with the ESAB is a lot o the parts and consumables are not stocked so it takes another 2 weeks to get anything for it.

Here is a list of inverter welders I would have considered but the Amp output was under 230: Listed as I thought of them.

Klutch ( My preferred choice,based only on previous customer service and the fact that there is a detailed parts list for there welders.)
Everlast ( I have a TIG from them and everything was perfect from start to finish.) 5 year warranty "who knows if they actually honor it" ,the best packaging I have ever seen in shipping.
Jasic Razor ( looks like a nice design and sold by jeggs, others too.)
Alpha Welders (The Alpha MIG 250 is a phenomenal welder at under 1k but AHP Tools customer service is so bad it's hard to tell if they have good intentions or are scamming you.) The Alpha TIGs have a very high satisfaction rating and are one of the lowest price units on the market.
Eastwood - I think only the 250 amp model is a inverter welder. ( Has good customer service ,a high satisfaction rate ,low price but does not have a repair center. If it breaks in the 3 year warranty period ,Eastwood ships out a replacement.

I was looking into the Eastwood 250 MIG but it was way too hard for their customer service department to understand what a knurled roller was so I could use flux core with it. They gave me a 'take it or leave it attitude' . I was also turned off because of the grim hopes of having it repaired if it broke after the 3 year warranty. It looks just like a Longevity.

WTL and Jasic are the two Asian welder makers. All of the U.S welders ;as far as I know ,use Asian components and some of which are assembled in the U.S.

It looks like Alpha puts a order into WTL ; or whomever makes Longevity,and sells them directly.

Longevity. (Over priced in my opinion.)

Thu Feb 09, 2017 11:12 am

hey folks!

I did try to search this post but no mentions of a stud welder.

Anyone ever used one of these for minor dent repair work?

I see harbor freight has one unsure the quality, Just curious before I bought anything. Eastwood sells one too for almost double or more on the price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/stud-welder-dent-repair-kit-61433.html

Thanks for any info!

T

Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:55 pm

The reviews look to be good but the puller attachment that it comes with it is lacking. The more expensive ones closely resemble the HF model to the point that they just might be the exact same product. :lol: I think I saw the Chicago Electric version on Ebay for more than it goes for in the store. :lol:

Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:15 am

Don't know if you know it already but Frost Automotive Restoration Techniques do a stick welder adapter that makes it do spot welds good for car work (haven't tried it myself). They have lots of other good stuff too (UK).

Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:05 am

theKbStockpiler wrote: The reviews look to be good but the puller attachment that it comes with it is lacking. The more expensive ones closely resemble the HF model to the point that they just might be the exact same product. :lol: I think I saw the Chicago Electric version on Ebay for more than it goes for in the store. :lol:

Isn't that crazy? I once bought a basic Chinese bandsaw from Tractor Supply. Same saw that HF and Northern Tool sells, different color paint jobs. Then I found it on the Sears website from a third party seller for three times more than I paid for it.

Maybe there is money in selling things to people who don't shop around?

Fri Dec 01, 2017 10:22 am

I'd like to learn how to weld and was looking at picking up an inexpensive Arc welding m/c on Amzn india for the equivalent of about $80-90. The MIG welders were all much more expensive ($500). But, there was this TIG/ARC welding machine for about $180-200.

https://www.amazon.in/TOSHON-ARC-200-MOSFET-WELDIN...amp;sr=1-5

https://www.amazon.in/TIG200-Welding-Machine-Stand...Q3X6BFQ6AV

I'd appreciate any guidance in choosing between these 2 for a starter machine. I'm restoring a 65KG and ideally want to be able to do some of the work myself, but will start with smaller projects like building a work table etc using square tubing.

Thanks!
Byas

Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:52 am

Go to YouTube and watch the "Welding Tips and Tricks" channel. I think he has info about entry level stick/TIG welders.

Sat Dec 02, 2017 4:01 pm

I would thoroughly exhaust my search resources before settling on something other than a MIG. Is there a welder service shop in your area that might have a good used one? :D

Sat Jan 27, 2018 5:31 pm

theKbStockpiler wrote: I would thoroughly exhaust my search resources before settling on something other than a MIG. Is there a welder service shop in your area that might have a good used one? :D

I agree. The cheap entry level tig welders are very difficult to use. For example, most will require you to "scratch start" the arc. If you are not very good at this, which takes experience, you pollute the tungsten, and then the weld arc will wander and be even harder to use.
I would say, an amateur can do ok using a very nice tig welder, and a very experienced welder can do ok using a shitty tig welder. But the cheap machine will be very hard to learn on. You will grow tired of sharpening tungsten, and it gets expensive.

SD

Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:18 am

AHP Alpha MIG 250 Resurrected as a EastWood

I found this webpage to see if AHP had ever got the Alpha MiG 250 back in production.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-mp250i-multi-pro...6lEALw_wcB