MIG for workshop

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Oh right, i'm still surprised the motor died

Even more surprising was that the motor is a cheap generic jobbie in the original machine!

I think the sort of welding I do is quite hard on the motor...a lot of stop/starts.

Quite a few forum members have had to replace the motors and adjuster knobs....but they are cheap and easy fixes and for 12+ years of use i'm very happy.

I do feel like I'm cheating though as it's so simple and easy to get good results.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

how often did the esab break down ??

I bought it broken, fixed it, and had to replace a bunch more components over time, but they were cheap, and it kept trucking on, and is still trucking on for my mate who had it off me.

Total cost of ownership is probably already similar between the two machines, and still coming down for the modern one.

Then there really is no contest in terms of welding performance though, the modern machine is much much nicer to use and gives more consistent results (sure you can make up for it with skill, but that ease of use factor also assists skilled welders)...

In a commercial environment ease of use, is speed, is more jobs through the door, is money.



I am not inherently opposed to transformer units, until recently I also had a KME550 transformer-based synergic welder...

That also ran absolute rings around the old school ESAB and the baby 161i Migatronic, it was just far too big for my space limitations.