Portamig 185 vs Butters 181

[lexi]

Which part of the "Far East" are you referring to Steve?...

Alex

 

[weldequip]

Errr... Australia!
weldequip

 

[lexi]

Ha ha! You know they are gonna rule the world mate!!

Alex

 

[weldequip]

Hmmm... well they certainly will with continued buying support Doing a great job in Tibet, makes you wonder what will happen when they have more military might than the US?
weldequip

 

[irondarren]

military might is nothing, economic might is everything, if china stopped making stuff the army would grind to a halt anyway, as they would have nothing to use

 

[rusty69bus]

chinese gun = eek

 

[matt1978]

Talking of Army and China etc, do you remember that joke from Chubby Brown....I think he was talking about being hungry after coming out of the pub and he said.....

"I feel like a tank in Tiananmen Square...........I could fuc**n murder a Chinese"

 

[MBConfuse]

Well, if anyone is interested, i finally made up my mind to go with Butters (after ordering a Partermig and cancelling, sorry weldequip ). The things which finally tipped the balance were:
7 years warranty on major components, next day delivery, slightly cheeper. So i've thrown away all patriotism!! However if if you can forgive me, take a look at the pics:

I'll hope to get some pics of the kind of welds it produces soon.

 

[matt1978]

Should serve you well mate..............

However that 7 yr warranty isn't worth a great deal, if you read the small print, it has to be serviced every year by Butters engineer, if its not then you don't get the warranty and its only on the Transformer (is it not?) which hardly ever go wrong anyway....

Other than that, a lot of people speak highly of them so it should be good.

 

[MBConfuse]

Damned small print!!

 

[DIY Welding]

Being a Butters agent think I should clear this 7 year warranty up, the warranty covers the transformer, choke and rectifier, your machine has to be serviced once a year by a butters service centre, I dont advise my web customers that there is a seven year warranty on butters machines, its not practical to send your machine in 7 times and pay 14 transport charges? and seven services? after all that you could buy a new machine

 

[shenion]

Being a Butters agent think I should clear this 7 year warranty up, the warranty covers the transformer, choke and rectifier, your machine has to be serviced once a year by a butters service centre, I dont advise my web customers that there is a seven year warranty on butters machines, its not practical to send your machine in 7 times and pay 14 transport charges? and seven services? after all that you could buy a new machine

Nice to see some honest seller info

I would bet that as a dealer, you have hardly ever had to replace a transformer or choke. Maybe a few rectifiers under "infant mortality".

Really the warranty of the wire feeder, circuit boards and switches would probably be more significant.

And don't foget the warranty on the casters

 

[English Steve]

And don't foget the warranty on the casters

ouch!

 

[DIY Welding]

On that model I have never changed a transformer or choke, have fitted new rectifiers probably 5 or 6

 

[MBConfuse]

Well, we'll see how it goes. I've taken the plunge now, no going back! hehe.

 

[matt1978]

I am sure that you'll be more than happy with the machine. A lot of people are! They perform well and you will get a good back up.

I was only saying about the warranty thing because IMO I think its no more than a gimmick, with no real value attached to it.

 

[MBConfuse]

Does anyone know if the wire speed is meant to be linked to the voltage for the Butters 181 (leaving the wire speed control just for fine tuning)? Having had a play i dont think it is.