Transteel 2200 vs Miniarc mig evo 200

[roblane65]

I've just got the chili liner for it and some 4043 wire I'm going to give it a go ! my results may be questionable I'm not exactly a pro welder .
I think as other people have said when on auto the machine would flatter anyone with a modicum of ability .

 

[Devilgate]

Pulling my socks up and being more realistic and trying to get on with things as I have been procrastinating on several things for a couple of years now.

Have a choice of a The fronious or the Kemppi have been given a really good offer on the trans steel and I must admit my head is saying buy it as I shouldn’t need to buy another mig for a very long while. Why is the mini arc evo a factor well. Want to use it with a generator and the mini arc dose have a very low minimum generator spec meaning I could easily get away with a 6.5kva, I’d say the fronious would need an 8kva but my lorch micor tig also requires an 8kva so getting one would be better in that sense. Space I a bit of a factor and a 6.5 kva generator is a bit smaller than an 8 and the miniarc is smaller than the fronius. The mini arc is also on sale at the moment and I’d get trade discount on top of that so it’s pretty cheap if I’m being honest.

Kemppi is definitely kinder to my wallet and the fronious while heavily discounted is still enough cash that I’d probably only a £100 or so short of mini arc plus generator instead welder and generator.

So do I buy ounce and really cry ounce or listen to my bank balance.

Would say I have more faith in the fronius dealer than the Kemppi one if I’m being honest but they are nice enough guys and a bit nearer.

Have heard the Kemppi can be a nightmare to repair if out of warranty as it’s replace the main board or forget it which is apparently pretty expensive enough so you could almost buy an entire new one so that has me stumped a little.

Apparently there is some fancy sub menu in the fronius to automatically limit it’s out put to say a 10 or 16 or 32 amp fuse I’m not sure how true this is mind but I haven’t seen this so I’m asking if anyones heard of it and if it works if so it would possibly clinch the fronius for me.

Mainly doing steel up to 5mm, some stainless, and doing aluminium 3mm plus.

Unfortunately although I’d like one have had to rule out the ewm pico mig 180 plus due to cost.

Have you looked into these?

IRON MIG 221P Multi - Stel

Semplicità e prestazioni all’avanguardia fanno di Iron Mig 221P la saldatrice ideale per chi deve effettuare interventi on-site. Questa macchina […]

www.stelgroup.it

 

[Robbie260]

Have you looked into these?

IRON MIG 221P Multi - Stel

Semplicità e prestazioni all’avanguardia fanno di Iron Mig 221P la saldatrice ideale per chi deve effettuare interventi on-site. Questa macchina […]

www.stelgroup.it

No looking for something that’s got a dealer that is accessible and that I trust and I know MacGregors industrial supply, weld safe and RH Davey will look after me if something goes wrong. Gotta be that way as this machine will cost me money potentially if it’s not working for x number of days.

 

[tom2207]

No looking for something that’s got a dealer that is accessible and that I trust and I know MacGregors industrial supply, weld safe and RH Davey will look after me if something goes wrong. Gotta be that way as this machine will cost me money potentially if it’s not working for x number of days.

you buy the warranty , and they lend you a machine to go with it ,,, thats how I look at the set up , these days a machine is only as good as the back up service that comes with it.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

I have two Fronuis's (TPS320i and the older TPS270, 320i was purchased new and the 270 was second hand) both work great. I had a problem with the torch on the 320i, which took too much time to sort, wasn't using the 320i much at that time, but couldn't agree more with @tom2207. It is the support that you need when and only when you need it that is important. You can get the 'best' machine / most expensive and when it stops it is just an expensive ornament. A chap near me has a Esab 400, with a 10m push pull gun doing mainly alli, has had it for 5 years and now it is playing up. He has had a service chap come and put a new programe and it has gotten worse. They (Esab) have sent him parts to try to no avail. This has been going on for two weeks and his main function is to weld alli. No weld alli no money, you get my drift. So he is not happy. We all get machines with warranty and hope that we never need it, but when we need it we bl!!dy well need and expect it. In reality that is not what actually does happen, even thought it was promised.

 

[Devilgate]

I have two Fronuis's (TPS320i and the older TPS270, 320i was purchased new and the 270 was second hand) both work great. I had a problem with the torch on the 320i, which took too much time to sort, wasn't using the 320i much at that time, but couldn't agree more with @tom2207. It is the support that you need when and only when you need it that is important. You can get the 'best' machine / most expensive and when it stops it is just an expensive ornament. A chap near me has a Esab 400, with a 10m push pull gun doing mainly alli, has had it for 5 years and now it is playing up. He has had a service chap come and put a new programe and it has gotten worse. They (Esab) have sent him parts to try to no avail. This has been going on for two weeks and his main function is to weld alli. No weld alli no money, you get my drift. So he is not happy. We all get machines with warranty and hope that we never need it, but when we need it we bl!!dy well need and expect it. In reality that is not what actually does happen, even thought it was promised.

It would seem like many/most dealers don't actually have the relationship with the manufacturer that they claim they have. (in the UK anyway) There must be room for a dealer who keeps it simple and transparent. Most dealers I speak to tell me there's no money in selling welders. I wonder if you can make a living servicing them? Probably not.

 

[Jim Davey]

Bit worrying to know they're welding the ship together while you're out on it huh?

As long as the bit you are welding is above the waterline then it’s not that big of a deal

 

[Munkul]

It would seem like many/most dealers don't actually have the relationship with the manufacturer that they claim they have. (in the UK anyway) There must be room for a dealer who keeps it simple and transparent.

I can count on one hand the dealers I would trust to sell me a high-end welder.

Loads of dealers are just box pushers now. Others have grown too big and their employees are clueless.

If you see a dealer's service/repair dept and speak to the guy(s) repairing them, you can get an idea of how good they are with electronics and the machines they are trained to work on. The dealer I like to use is a small business with a pair of co-owners. One owner sells them, the other owner repairs them. If they can't fix something it's probably not worth fixing.

 

[Jim Davey]

It would seem like many/most dealers don't actually have the relationship with the manufacturer that they claim they have. (in the UK anyway) There must be room for a dealer who keeps it simple and transparent. Most dealers I speak to tell me there's no money in selling welders. I wonder if you can make a living servicing them? Probably not.

I can tell you now there’s more profit margin in repairs than there is in selling.

The margin on new sets is artificially capped by large dealers bulk buying and turning them over quick at low end user prices.

So the customer gets a set in a box, no demo, no setup training, a back to base warranty in most cases and not enough margin in the sale to cover the cost of a loan machine if something goes wrong.

It’s the lowest common denominator, if the prices keep falling something has got to be sacrificed.

I don’t play that game, I look for applications and sell to people I feel would be fit from something I have to offer. That in turn had led to repeat business and referrals. There’s usually a consultation and often a demo. Admittedly this is an old fashioned way of doing things, but it still has its place.

It does sadden me to hear that dealers are not always standing behind their products but at the prices most of us are having to let things go out the door at it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me.

 

[Devilgate]

I can tell you now there’s more profit margin in repairs than there is in selling.

The margin on new sets is artificially capped by large dealers bulk buying and turning them over quick at low end user prices.

So the customer gets a set in a box, no demo, no setup training, a back to base warranty in most cases and not enough margin in the sale to cover the cost of a loan machine if something goes wrong.

It’s the lowest common denominator, if the prices keep falling something has got to be sacrificed.

I don’t play that game, I look for applications and sell to people I feel would be fit from something I have to offer. That in turn had led to repeat business and referrals. There’s usually a consultation and often a demo. Admittedly this is an old fashioned way of doing things, but it still has its place.

It does sadden me to hear that dealers are not always standing behind their products but at the prices most of us are having to let things go out the door at it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me.

I can see why so many consumers are heading over to R-Tech, even though the machine is quite an old design. They seem to have the newbie-bodger market sewn up with a strong message of support and a lot of positive word of mouth.

R-Tech doesn't interest me. My interest is in grown up equipment for consumers. My take on the market is that people are just confused, which is why they just stop thinking and bet their money on 'cheap', or 'support' (that isn't actually there).

There's a few brands that could easily show Jasic, etc up for what they are - but they don't know how to communicate what's better about them.

I have a client in the cinematography industry. Far superior products, UK designed and manufactured - fighting a battle against cheap chinese junk. This is an industry where you can pay £30,000 just for one lens, £15000 for a camera. The investment is much higher - yet the chinese garbage is still worming it's way in and creating confusion.

 

[Jim Davey]

People will always be tempted by cheap. They know it's cheap, they know it's cheap for a reason. Yet still they buy cheap goods and will be genuinely surprised when it turns out to be less than expected in terms of performance.

Value is quantified by more than just the headline price, and it always has been.

 

[Robbie260]

People will always be tempted by cheap. They know it's cheap, they know it's cheap for a reason. Yet still they buy cheap goods and will be genuinely surprised when it turns out to be less than expected in terms of performance.

Value is quantified by more than just the headline price, and it always has been.

It’s gambling ain’t it just on a less obvious scale. If I can make the same money with a machine that is half the price for just as long people are possibly going to risk it.

I don’t think like that but a lot do.

 

[addjunkie]

It’s gambling ain’t it just on a less obvious scale. If I can make the same money with a machine that is half the price for just as long people are possibly going to risk it.

I don’t think like that but a lot do.

You could argue that as electronic equipment is now throw away if it breaks down due to skilled labour costs, why buy dear goods. If it out lasts the warrenty its making money, if it doesn't youget a new one.

in the case of a welder say a grand and a 3 year warranty or 3 grand for a 5 year.
I like quality goods, and try to buy such, but coming from a small family business this is the reason I didn't train to fix TVs as they have become throw away.

 

[Devilgate]

People will always be tempted by cheap. They know it's cheap, they know it's cheap for a reason. Yet still they buy cheap goods and will be genuinely surprised when it turns out to be less than expected in terms of performance.

Value is quantified by more than just the headline price, and it always has been.

Yes. Because People don’t care seems to be the common story. Look at Jasic’s cases of abusing their workers. There’s always some sort of suffering at the other end of your cheaply made goods. Always.

 

[trigger3]

new member from usa. i have my eye on the transsteel 2200 but need to do a bit more research as im unfamiliar with fronius. i want it for its wire welding abilities (solid with gas , self shield flux core , aluminum , gas shield flux core if its capable of that but im sure it is).
the tig and stick abilities i dont care much about as ive already a 220a ac/dc water cooled tig and transpocket 180 on order.
right now my mig is miller matic 211 i got a year ago. ive nothing bad to say about it but its a very basic machine with very little features. i want to jump up to a machine with more adjustability so im looking at transsteel 2200