Portamig or Tecarc or Cebora?

[wrinx]

After much browsing I've narrowed my search to either a Portamig 185 or Tecarc 181but as I'm struggling to justify the outlay there's the a wild card option of something like a secondhand Cebora 180.

But which is the better machine in the real world? Is the Portamig so much better than the Tecarc to justify the £100 extra...and would an older Cebora be worth the risk for half the cost?

wrinx

 

[cumbriasteve]

2nd hand tend to have an unknown history, there are bound to be some good one's around and also some rubbish.

Never used Tecarc but do own Portamig so my vote has to go there.

 

[matt1978]

Tecarc is Portamig. Maybe the duty cycle or out put is up rated on the tecarc, hence the extra cost??

 

[Landy Lad]

I have got a 185 Portamig and am very pleased with it, so much so when I wanted a bigger machine for heavier work to use everyday I bought one of the heavy duty sets. That said I have also got a Snap on 2135 (Cebora) that I bought second hand for £100 for the little jobs up the garden that I can't be bothered to get the bigger set out for. This is a good little welder too using it mostly on car body repairs (my mates rusty t4 camper). You do notice though that even on the lowest power setting it doesn't go as low as the Portamig, and you do notice this on body work. I use my smaller Portamig on body work (my rusty bay camper), and bought it because of its low power settings for this.

 

[wrinx]

Tecarc is Portamig. Maybe the duty cycle or out put is up rated on the tecarc, hence the extra cost??

Yes, I thought they were basically the same...but there must be a lot of differences for the extra 20% the Portamig costs.

Oddly, the Tecarc website links for the Tecarc and Portamig machines go to the same Tecarc page

wrinx

 

[wrinx]

2nd hand tend to have an unknown history, there are bound to be some good one's around and also some rubbish.

Mmm...thinking the same, I've hesitated before putting a bid on a couple of Ceboras this evening. Can't help thinking that for a couple of hundred more I can get a newer and better machine, with a warranty.

wrinx

 

[cumbriasteve]

Mmm...thinking the same, I've hesitated before putting a bid on a couple of Ceboras this evening. Can't help thinking that for a couple of hundred more I can get a newer and better machine, with a warranty.

wrinx

I had messed around with 2 secondhand machines before I bit the bullet and spent my hard earned on a 235 portamig, wish I had done it in the first place.

 

[Ducky]

I would guess some of the internals are made better, like the euro connection. My bro has a Snap-On which is pretty much a rebadged cebora, and he snapped the euro connection as it's just a bit of moulded plastic, my Oxford (same as Portamig) is all brass construction instead.

I'd go for the Portamig.

 

[wrinx]

I'd go for the Portamig.

I'd love to...but if the Tecarc is more or less the same and £100 less it'd make more sense.

Where's Weldequip when you need him?

wrinx

 

[steviec_lj]

Wrinx: I'm in the same situation.

Been eyeing up the Portamig 185, TecArc 181 and an Esab 205C I think it is. Can't justify spending any money on a new welder at the moment, but I require something that works properly instead of carting everything to work when I need to repair it.

Shouldn't have bought a Sealey/Siegen 130a door stop when I was desperate!

 

[SAFC73]

I have a TecArc 215 the difference between my set and the equivelent Portamig is the range Tecarc 20 - 215 amps Portamig 15 - 215 I have had no problem with mine in two years and am well pleased if I were buying again I would go Portamig from weldequip simply because it is easier to order with options and from expirience the backup and support is first class.

 

[wrinx]

Wrinx: I'm in the same situation.

Been eyeing up the Portamig 185, TecArc 181 and an Esab 205C I think it is. Can't justify spending any money on a new welder at the moment, but I require something that works properly instead of carting everything to work when I need to repair it.

Shouldn't have bought a Sealey/Siegen 130a door stop when I was desperate!

I know exactly what you mean...I was about to part with £300+ for a Clarke 160TM but still not sure it'd make me smile...although almost anything's better than the SIP105 I've got. Despite being able to put down some reasonable welds it's just not enjoyable to use and is too erratic! I dread booting it up...

Does anyone know what the machine's come with from the factory, been looking at Weldequip's "kit" but not sure what's standard kit and what's not (might explain the extra cost)?

wrinx

 

[Mid Wales welder]

I was talking to the welding consumables guy who comes to my work the other day & he was saying that Tecarc are'nt very good as they are just cheap Chinese made things & that in two years it will just go wrong & you wormy be able to get parts for them! Do you think this is true or was he just trying to sway me into buying his stuff? I have read some good reviews about Tecarc tho! Another question, is R-tech anything to do with Tecarc? Coz i'v read good reviews about them aswell! I was looking at the R-tech 200amp ac/dc TIG inverter, looks pretty good. Sorry for babbling on!

 

[wrinx]

...he was saying that Tecarc are'nt very good as they are just cheap Chinese made things & that in two years it will just go wrong & you wormy be able to get parts for them!

Wrong on both counts, as far as their website is concerned anyway:

"These machines are all designed & manufactured in Great Britain using high quality components to industrial standards."

"We guarantee to fully support these machines with spares & service for a minimum of 20 years, the best long term back up in the industry."

LINK

wrinx

 

[Ragnarok]

it's the inverters that are made in china and reworked in the UK, the transformer machines are made in the UK from the ground up.

 

[wrinx]

Sorry, you've lost me there...inverters, do you mean TIG?

wrinx

 

[Ragnarok]

I mean all of the tec-arc inverter based machines, arc, tig, plasma, mig whatever if they're inverters they're reworked chinese, where as the transformer based machines are UK made this for example is an inverter multi process M2000i and this is an inverter tig 206i where as this is a transformer tig ac/dc 225 note that on the inverter pages it doesn't say that they're british built where as on the transformer pages it does but you can tell the inverters are chinese just by looking at them haha they look just like the stuff you get on ebay shipping from china they're considerably better though due to being reworked by tec-arc but still basically chinese made machines.

 

[wrinx]

Ahh, thanks for the clarification...the first one does look like many others as you say.

So the Rep was partially correct :lol:

wrinx

 

[Ragnarok]

transformer based are much bigger and heavier than inverters for the power too if you look at my esab tig for example it weighs something like 20kg vs about 80kg for a transformer of the same power.

 

[SAFC73]

In reply to the earlier comments on TecArc quality it's 1st class the Tig set I have is based on an import but modified Tecarc give a good warranty on both Tecarc and Portamig products and they commit to support the product with spares etc. for 10 years

If your consumables rep has that kind of uninformed opinion and chooses to put it out as advice I would look for alternative suppliers.

You can compare the specs on the Tecarc website, in my opinion Portamig is the higher spec of the two and from my experience with dealing with Steve at Weldequip if you go for a Portamig you have an additional layer of help, support and commitment