High end MMA / stick machine...?

[TurtleDude]

Ok just to throw another onion into the stew ..

Is this any good? It’s a bit cheaper than the others mentioned


TELWIN ADVANCE 227 MV/PFC MMA WELDER 816010 @ £450

 

[Brad93]

Cebora poorly supported, Italian, might as well have a Jasic.

 

[TurtleDude]

Sorry to keep adding suggestions but since I’m in the 13a club, what about the GYS ProGYS 180?

It’s only £300 and (£200 to me from Tom lol ) and has decent duty cycles..

 

[Hood]

We run the 200's from 13 amp no probs, then again I think the highest I have ever been is about 150/160 amps.

 

[Munkul]

the Gys isn't in the same class as the aforementioned machines... the price and features should tell you something... I'm sure it'll be a good machine, though.

If you're coming down the price range, then most of the machines in the £200-300 range are similar in performance/quality.

I think you want to stop thinking about it too much, and go with one of your first suggestions... after all, you said "high end" machine, not "value" machine.

Kemppi/EWM/Lorch/Fronius, 150 amps+, digital display.

 

[tlovatt]

Having had another play today, if you want rugged, the IFL (Fusion range) machines are good, if you drop them they bounce, you can stand on them if you can not reach. I got mine as they seemed to be popular with farmers.

 

[TurtleDude]

the Gys isn't in the same class as the aforementioned machines... the price and features should tell you something... I'm sure it'll be a good machine, though.

If you're coming down the price range, then most of the machines in the £200-300 range are similar in performance/quality.

I think you want to stop thinking about it too much, and go with one of your first suggestions... after all, you said "high end" machine, not "value" machine.

Kemppi/EWM/Lorch/Fronius, 150 amps+, digital display.

You’re probably right Munkul, I do tend to overthink and over-research these sorts of purchases.

I wish I was one of those people who just walks into a shop and grabs something or says “hey Bert I need a welder, what you got?”

Having had another play today, if you want rugged, the IFL (Fusion range) machines are good, if you drop them they bounce, you can stand on them if you can not reach. I got mine as they seemed to be popular with farmers.

I hadn’t even heard of those, are you talking about the ones that look like a cross between a Halford battery charger and a handbag or the red, conventional looking (and much cheaper) Nuovo range?

Do they really make these things in a shed in Devon or is it a R-Tech deal where they upgrade a few components on a Chinese box?

I love the idea of buying British, but not if it’s just a branding exercise like Clarke stuff.

 

[tlovatt]

I hadn’t even heard of those, are you talking about the ones that look like a cross between a Halford battery charger and a handbag or the red, conventional looking (and much cheaper) Nuovo range?

Do they really make these things in a shed in Devon or is it a R-Tech deal where they upgrade a few components on a Chinese box?

I love the idea of buying British, but not if it’s just a branding exercise like Clarke stuff.

The ones that look like plastic handbags. I believe the Nuovo range are not UK made but that the other ones are (they claim to be on the website) you could give them a call and ask. They are owned by a PCB manufacturing company in the same area. https://www.inverterfusion.co.uk/aboutus.asp

 

[Richard.]

You’re probably right Munkul, I do tend to overthink and over-research these sorts of purchases.

I wish I was one of those people who just walks into a shop and grabs something or says “hey Bert I need a welder, what you got?”



I hadn’t even heard of those, are you talking about the ones that look like a cross between a Halford battery charger and a handbag or the red, conventional looking (and much cheaper) Nuovo range?

Do they really make these things in a shed in Devon or is it a R-Tech deal where they upgrade a few components on a Chinese box?

I love the idea of buying British, but not if it’s just a branding exercise like Clarke stuff.

It’s very simple really
Use your local supplier for the business
You WILL get what you pay for.
don’t expect a £300 machine to offer the same performance and durability of a £700-£800 machine. If you want performance on long extension cables with big power reserves and little losses and you want a durable machine that’s gonna take the thick end of the stick and you want something where duty cycle actually means something and stated at extreme ambient temps then you need to be sticking with the top end stuff. If the £300 price is more attractive to you and you can afford to sacrifice the above then look at the more hobby ranges.

 

[Munkul]

Having had another play today, if you want rugged, the IFL (Fusion range) machines are good, if you drop them they bounce, you can stand on them if you can not reach. I got mine as they seemed to be popular with farmers.

I used to like the IFL units, my cousin's company had quite a few of them in DC TIG flavour and they were well made, strong and nice to use.

So I demo'ed one for our workshop about 6 months ago? and was not impressed at all. The controls were notchy, and the plastic grade had been changed to this horrible cheap looking shiny stuff. My welder guy I brought along just laughed at it and called it a cheap chinese radio welder

I have no idea about the internals, where they are made or assembled, or if anything else has changed, but my thoughts then were, if a company thinks that this visual/tactile quality drop is acceptable, then they can sell their machines to someone else. Was really quite disappointed, though.

 

[TurtleDude]

I used to like the IFL units, my cousin's company had quite a few of them in DC TIG flavour and they were well made, strong and nice to use.

So I demo'ed one for our workshop about 6 months ago? and was not impressed at all. The controls were notchy, and the plastic grade had been changed to this horrible cheap looking shiny stuff. My welder guy I brought along just laughed at it and called it a cheap chinese radio welder

I have no idea about the internals, where they are made or assembled, or if anything else has changed, but my thoughts then were, if a company thinks that this visual/tactile quality drop is acceptable, then they can sell their machines to someone else. Was really quite disappointed, though.

Hmm, that’s a shame, thanks for the heads up.

Seems all too common these days, a company produce a rare thing ‘a good quality product’ and as soon as the reputation is built, and the sales are going well, the finance director does an audit and they start outsourcing parts and cutting corners to up the profits.

Next thing you know, everyone cottons on that they’re now crap and moves on. Then they drop the price in desperation and rely on the poor beggars who remember the ‘old brand’ to buy their tat.

For those who remember BMX in the 80’s, Mongoose was a premium brand and had a great following in the racing and freestyle scenes.

Fast forward to 2004 and I saw them in Halfords for £129.95! Heavy, nasty looking Chinese junk with a Mongoose sticker on the frame. I digress.

 

[Tangledfeet]

Seeing as there's plenty of mention of EWM in this discussion I'd feel selfish not mentioning that R H Davey is offering 25% off list price for all EWM machines today only....

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@Tangledfeet Error, did you really mean for the poll to run for 12 months??

 

[Tangledfeet]

@Tangledfeet Error, did you really mean for the poll to run for 12 months??

Poll nowt to do with me..?!

 

[HughF]

IFL build their 'classic' machines in Devon - their sister company Eurotech PLC make the complex 6 layer PCBs for our underwater survey equipment - they are a very good PCB manufacturer.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Poll nowt to do with me..?!

Oooops! Apologies, must proof read more carefully - fat fingers on the tablet......

Should, of course, have been @TurtleDude

 

[TurtleDude]

Oooops! Apologies, must proof read more carefully - fat fingers on the tablet......

Should, of course, have been @TurtleDude

Yes, after a year the results will be conclusive

 

[Hood]

Yes, after a year the results will be conclusive

I reckon you will just be more confused

 

[Richard.]

Yes, after a year the results will be conclusive

Have you been to see a dealer yet?