R-tech

[wheresmejumper]

That's not what much of this thread has been arguing. Not wanting to reopen the debate that has already been argued, but the counter-argument to your point was that some companies give a level of service that is worth paying for.

Yes,you get peace of mind

 

[oddbob]

That's not what much of this thread has been arguing. Not wanting to reopen the debate that has already been argued, but the counter-argument to your point was that some companies give a level of service that is worth paying for.

That's true enough, but that being said, if R-Tech wanted to start marketing their wares in Europe or the US they'd have to seriously drop their prices to compete.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti R-Tech ...I own one of their TIGs, never had a problem with it, love the way it does its stuff ...just saying that's all.

 

[daleyd]

I'd say they've found their level and are pitching themselves as a step up from the box shifting operations. As skotl says providing a back up and uk staff and whatever level of inspection/rework they do costs money, when you just have a lock up full of boxes the costs are bound to be lower.

When compared to similar machines providing a similar spec/level of service bought from a uk supplier they are actually keenly priced. (Eg jasic from any number of welding suppliers)

 

[PTvor]

The US is very different.

If you look on ebay Italy, under "Soldatrice inverter", prices aren't typically that different for the equivalent items, it certainly isn't 50% cheaper. tigmig seems to be a bit of a phenomenon.

 

[wheresmejumper]

Did you check my link?tigmig,lcdvision, stahlwerk,stamos,welbach,jlt....all half the price when you compare

 

[PTvor]

Of course I did, and I believe that in a previous post I mentioned Stamos and Stahlwerk.

They are not necessarily the same, but we have UK based box shifters. Stamos and Stahlwerk may not be box shifters, but almost certainly the machines they sell are Chinese.

Part of this is no wanting to deal with sellers outside the country, and there are rational grounds for that.

It depends on the way you assess the probabilities and we are dealing with unknowns, or at least things unknown to me, you may have access to the stats. Chinese inverters never had a great reputation for reliability, so as a seller you could deal with that by fettling them, allegedly, or selling them cheap and playing the stats on complaints, or putting a big name on and charging more and playing the stats again.

Now I really don't know what's going on with Stahlwerk, TigMig and co. It could be that the latest generation Chinese machines have become so reliable that returns aren't an issue, so box shifting and forgetting repairs, just fish another one out of the container and complaints are so rare that the number of times that happens aren't worth thinking about.

I rarely buy a lottery ticket, but since it's a quadruple rollover this Wednesday, I had a flutter. If it comes up, I promise, I'll buy a couple of each of these machines and test them to death, and afterwards try to see what the warranty is really worth. Then we'll really find out what's what and who are the honest merchants and who are the B/S merchants and shysters.

 

[PTvor]

Over 25 years. I heard they started as a welder repair business. 25 years ago there weren't many Chinese inverters to deal in, and probably not 17 years ago either.

The Stahlwerk web site looks impressive but the piccies seem to be about warehousing and industry displays. They do invite you to turn up for a welding test.

I've been to the R-Tech establishment to buy some electrodes and grinder discs. It's good sized industrial unit.

Dunno, you pays yer money and takes yer pick.

As I say, maybe if you are paying any sensible money, these things are so reliable that you don't need much hand holding and it isn't worth paying for.

When Japanese cars and motorbikes were first imported they were a joke and about the only thing to be said for them was that they were cheap. They quickly changed though.

 

[ukracer]

This is what I have been told. I used a corsa as an example and getting two identical ones with the right things under the bonnet is hard and I dont have the time I am fishing a match in the morning. BUT Those two cars are similar its possible to get identical vehicles BUT the one of the left is possibly faster than a 911 Porsche, the one on the right is nippy but nothing like the other one . My point is simple. I have been told...and I saw chassis being reworked when I visited, R-Tech claimed to replace some components to their own spec , I am led to believe they now spec higher in China. NON of this do I have evidence for .

Saying all of that I know how manufacturing works in china and you can spec whatever you like when buying....without onsite quality control you can not be sure what they are fitting etc. I know for a fact that some of the Vinyl Cutter manufacturers ship the same machine to different parts of the world and in some cases the same country BUT with vastly different internal components. In some cases the same machine uses FTDI drivers and others usb serial 341A drivers .....absolute nitemare BUT my point is the claim is that R-Tech machines might look like others and have same front and rear panels etc but under the hood the "claim" is they are different....

NOW I am going fishing .......

 

[Richard.]

The corsa example is a little bit of a side step from the welder example. Both cars are produced and badged by vauxhall. They could simply be either 2 different models ie vxr and Sri or the faster one could of been modded by owner. Either way it's not really relevant to the RTech/tigmig example. If it was a case of RTech 201 and RTech 201xlplus then it would be the same thing because they would be two rtechs with different spec models. I don't know nor do I really care if they are reworked machines with better components and because 90% of RTech owners don't know this for sure either but still buy them I don't think it's important. If it was the case that they were completely different and totally revamped RTech would have this in the literature. I have no doubt the covers come off for a good check. But why would RTech rework them in the British factory. Surely it would be more sensible to have them built to there own spec before they get here.

 

[matt1978]

I personally don't believe there to be any difference between machines that look identical regarding higher spec components etc if they are made in the same factory, which many units that have been mentioned are then I think it's beyond serious doubt that the internals are the same. What makes R-Tech different is the level of support they offer and I don't think anyone can have a bad word to say about that because they do a great job of after sales support. People have to decide if that support warrants the extra cost and that will always be a personal decision without the need for name calling or "he said she said" antics.

The large machine manufacturers in China do deals with other manufacturers for the rights to sell their product in a certain region or country, hence the different names in different countries but mostly they are indenticle machines with only different names and colour schemes. Regarding R-Techs price I can't imagine why they would want to lower it to enter the USA market or even the wider European market because they wouldn't be able to offer the great level of service that has gotten them such a good reputation over the years.

 

[skotl]

I personally don't believe there to be any difference between machines that look identical regarding higher spec components etc if they are made in the same factory, which many units that have been mentioned are then I think it's beyond serious doubt that the internals are the same. What makes R-Tech different is the level of support they offer and I don't think anyone can have a bad word to say about that because they do a great job of after sales support. People have to decide if that support warrants the extra cost and that will always be a personal decision without the need for name calling or "he said she said" antics.

The large machine manufacturers in China do deals with other manufacturers for the rights to sell their product in a certain region or country, hence the different names in different countries but mostly they are indenticle machines with only different names and colour schemes. Regarding R-Techs price I can't imagine why they would want to lower it to enter the USA market or even the wider European market because they wouldn't be able to offer the great level of service that has gotten them such a good reputation over the years.

^^ exactly all of that ^^ - I really think that everything that could have been said on this topic has been said now...

 

[Wozzaaah]

^^ exactly all of that ^^ - I really think that everything that could have been said on this topic has been said now...

Me too.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Me

^^ exactly all of that ^^ - I really think that everything that could have been said on this topic has been said now...

Me too.