Snap-on mig welder

[Ma7tin]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to buy my first mig welder and I got talking to my snapon dealer who pointed me towards the Snapon Pro mig 187 for £713 plus Vat(crazy). Well we all know that snapon don't make their own welder but put a sticker on someone else's. Cebora seems to be the name that everyone says makes the snapon welder. So I've searched the Internet and the words Cebora autostar 180 keeps appearing but can't find anywhere that sells it on the web. All I can find is the Xcalibur autostar 180, it looks different to the snapon one so I guess they're just using the autostar name too and Cebora are different companies.
Anyone able to advise on the Cebora model that's the same as the snapon pro mig 187?

Thanks Martin

 

[gaz1]

at that price id go for this

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/portamig-285-hd-mig-welder.61645/

from welderquip site

http://www.weldequip.com/mig-welders.htm

from what ive read sometimes the older makes are really good even if they are 3 phase machines

 

[Ma7tin]

I think the Portamig 285 would be too much for my needs. Looking 160-180amp area

 

[Chris Stevens]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to buy my first mig welder and I got talking to my snapon dealer who pointed me towards the Snapon Pro mig 187 for £713 plus Vat(crazy). Well we all know that snapon don't make their own welder but put a sticker on someone else's. Cebora seems to be the name that everyone says makes the snapon welder. So I've searched the Internet and the words Cebora autostar 180 keeps appearing but can't find anywhere that sells it on the web. All I can find is the Xcalibur autostar 180, it looks different to the snapon one so I guess they're just using the autostar name too and Cebora are different companies.
Anyone able to advise on the Cebora model that's the same as the snapon pro mig 187?

Thanks Martin

Portamig made in the UK, would probably weld nicer and last longer than the Snap On welder which is Chinese made, and I would guess forms the basis of several different machines, with the only differences being sheet metal, colour, and stickers.

 

[cianh91]

i do agree with the you can get better for the same or less but as a lot of people find the pay weekly is very handy
as regards the snap-on mig iv used one thats a few year old and its an excelent welder very good settings range lovely to weld with and euro torch

 

[Chris Stevens]

Thing is you can probably buy the exact same machine for a lot less without the Snap On stickers, so if the OP likes that machine, then maybe where its made is certainly relevant?

 

[Gareth0123]

So why not meet somewhere about half way: Something like an R-Tech inverter Mig made in China, but upgraded and thoroughly checked over here in the UK, with a 2 year replacement warranty including pick-up and delivery, and fairly priced with a monthly credit arrangement available if required.

I use my R-Tech 250-1 mig every working day for almost 6 hours in a small scale batch production environment and I cannot fault it, and in my experience the R-Tech has a considerably better duty than the equivalent Portamig.

 

[penfold]

Also, I know I mentioned the duty cycle already, but the snap on which is purporting to be a 180A unit only manages 20% at 110A.

That's an impressively rubbish duty cycle.

 

[NickyEng]

That's an impressively rubbish duty cycle.

Yes that is pretty much useless for anything industrial except sheet metal

 

[Jim Davey]

Yes that is pretty much higher useless for anything industrial except sheet metal

Funny, that's exactly the job it made for. MOT patch jobs in garages, not welding 1" thick 36" diameter pipelines all day.

 

[NickyEng]

Funny, that's exactly the job it made for. MOT patch jobs in garages, not welding 1" thick 36" diameter pipelines all day.

I gathered not as industrial as a 36" pipeline jim

 

[Jim Davey]

It's just what's needed, nothing more, and the price will be the usual, double what the normal out price would be, because they have to wait for the money to come in in dribs and drabs. They aren't keen to deal if you offer to pay upfront either so it's better to buy welders and suchlike elsewhere.

 

[Jim Davey]

You could say the same for any number of manufacturers that use the same tactic. Cebora were favourites for giving machines a higher model number and even a bigger casing to make the machine look like a substantial set when in reality it was a smaller unit in disguise. They werent cheating anyone though because the duty was clearly stated on the rating plate...
I'm in agreement but if the set will do 180 amps, even for 20 seconds people will call it a 180.
Calling it a 190 when it maxes out at 160 is naughty though.

 

[skotl]

Shouldn't we be sticking to recommendations for the OP, rather than arguing the finer point of machine design? I know it's relevant, in a very tangential manner, but I'd expect the OP would prefer a list of machines to look at than an in-depth analysis of design decisions.

+1 for R-Tech, or pretty much anything that Weldequip sells, especially if that's the budget.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Thread tidied because it was due and also because of a complaint regarding the usual argument.

I have left some comments that identify the machine as Chinese because that has an element of importance and that is sensible in my opinion.

We will not however allow every thread to turn into the same old argument.

 

[Jim Davey]

Just to note to pdg, if the rating plate says 160, that doesn't mean you can go higher. Ok the machine might cope with a bit more, but you may have to doctor thd feed speed to achieve it. Regardless of what the model number is, always base your choices on what the rating plate tells you.

 

[Ma7tin]

I'm a mechanic by trade but that's not what I'll be using it for. I make stuff from old car parts but currently use my works welder which is a Origo mig C280 but I can only use at work as its not a standard household plug. I want to buy a welder about the £500 mark with as much power that a household plug would allow hence I looked at the Snapon 180 but from the sounds of what people are saying it's not very good for the money

 

[gaz1]

So why not meet somewhere about half way: Something like an R-Tech inverter Mig made in China, but upgraded and thoroughly checked over here in the UK, with a 2 year replacement warranty including pick-up and delivery, and fairly priced with a monthly credit arrangement available if required.

I use my R-Tech 250-1 mig every working day for almost 6 hours in a small scale batch production environment and I cannot fault it, and in my experience the R-Tech has a considerably better duty than the equivalent Portamig.

from my understanding the portamig would be the better bet due to its parts still being available but im not so sure about rtech machines dont know how old they are or how old the company has been going for even the likes of hypertherm systems even there parts are hard to get and thats on there plasma side

i havent looked at the duty cycle as of yet between the rtech and the portamig but i am aware of the cebora and its duty cycle for the garage side of it and that could weld all day

i think many would day the old systems are way better than the new built to last comment its just getting the parts or the repairs for them that cost the most

 

[cumbriasteve]

I'm a mechanic by trade but that's not what I'll be using it for. I make stuff from old car parts but currently use my works welder which is a Origo mig C280 but I can only use at work as its not a standard household plug. I want to buy a welder about the £500 mark with as much power that a household plug would allow hence I looked at the Snapon 180 but from the sounds of what people are saying it's not very good for the money

I ran my Portamig 235 off a 13 amp plug, most of the work was with the machine set at around the 180 mark and I did a rare near full power few mm's when required and never had any issues.

The fact I got away with it is very rare indeed, some people have problems once they go over 150 and some even as low as 100, it would appear success is a balance between your electricity supply and the type of machine you are using, apparently the Portamig is very forgiving on blowing fuses (not my words)

 

[Gareth0123]

I've never reached the duty cycle cut off point of my R-Tech Mig welder yet, most days a production batch that I do consists of 5 minutes prep plus 15 minutes welding X 6 times, break and do some thing else so that I can stretch out for 15-20 minutes and then repeat this cycle for the rest of the day, all with 0.8 wire on 8 & 10 mm Mild steel.

The Portamig 235 I had wouldn't even do the first 15 minutes work and needed about 1 hour to cool down enough for the internal trip to reset.
My experience of their service is downright shameful and appalling, 53 days from Point of original order to delivery and then it was the wrong welder, 7 days to arrange pick-up of the wrong welder, and 4 more working days for the correct welder to arrive, and now the friend who recommended them to me in the first place is still waiting for one of their unique parts almost 3 months on... his set broke down during the last week in November 2015 and has been out of commission since then..... in fact he's borrowed my old Sealey set so he can get on!

The R-Tech company is about 10 years old, and all told they've been around repairing welding plants for about 25 years in total. Virtually all the components can be sourced from where-ever. Something that cannot be said about a good % of the Portamig parts.

In 18 months of ownership I've had exactly one issue with my R-Tech 250-1 and that is that was the gas solenoid freezing up one day last winter. I had done 4 productions batches of the above.... but it was -3*C or -4*C inside my workshop that day, and this problem was remedied by this old fool retiring in front the gas fire in the living room with a DVD box set for the rest of the day.