R Tech 181 - where to buy and discount codes?

[Redeye]

Hello all
New to the forum and was hoping for some advice from you clever lot! I'm on the lookout for a decent Mig welder to complete my classic VW bus restoration. Did a fair bit of car restoration work with my Dad's old Clarke 150te which has now seen better days. Was seduced by the cheap looking Hitbox SYN 200 Pro which claims to do Mig Tig Arc etc etc but not sure I want to take a punt on that without decent comments from users. So after doing some research I'm now leaning towards the 181 given it's popularity on here, however, it's a bit above what I was thinking of forking out on so does anyone have any discount codes or know of any places I could get a good deal?
Any help or advice much appreciated.
Also, when we moved into our place recently the previous owner had metal work equipment. He left us with this...
No idea if It's a heavy duty socket?

View attachment 475098

My advice is to look further than R-tech. The are a lot better machines with UK back up not made in the Far East. Unfortunately when you start to look they are the company who have invested in get most hits when it comes to searches on the web. I had a narrrow mistake when I first started looking as all the indications aimed at this company. It is well know that AI is developed by companies to boost sales and profit, it is not developed for worthwhile causes. Take you time
Regards

 

[ajlelectronics]

My advice is to look further than R-tech. The are a lot better machines with UK back up not made in the Far East. Unfortunately when you start to look they are the company who have invested in get most hits when it comes to searches on the web. I had a narrrow mistake when I first started looking as all the indications aimed at this company. It is well know that AI is developed by companies to boost sales and profit, it is not developed for worthwhile causes. Take you time
Regards

Which is at odds with the majority of R-Tech customers, including me.

 

[aesmith]

My advice is to look further than R-tech. The are a lot better machines with UK back up not made in the Far East.

Such as? It would be more constructive to give some suggestions, rather than just knocking R-Tech. By the way I'm not an R-Tech owner, but next door seems very happy with his.

 

[Onthespotwelding]

Nowt wrong with my R-Tech mig 251 or the one I owned before that (250).

Both used daily, no problems whatsoever.

a member of the forum run over a ton of mig wire through his R-Tech welder with zero issues.

Ton up with my R-Tech 250-1 mig,

This morning I installed a new reel of wire on my 250-1 mig, and according to my records this is the 67th 15kg roll or 1000kg/1 ton of 0.8mm A18 wire that I have installed into my welder since I purchased it a little over 2 years ago or about one reel consumed every 8-10 working days. My 250-1...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

I would call that Decent reliability!

Even if something did go wrong, the welder comes with a full 5 year collect and return warranty, for Total peace of mind.

 

[addjunkie]

My advice is to look further than R-tech. The are a lot better machines with UK back up not made in the Far East. Unfortunately when you start to look they are the company who have invested in get most hits when it comes to searches on the web. I had a narrrow mistake when I first started looking as all the indications aimed at this company. It is well know that AI is developed by companies to boost sales and profit, it is not developed for worthwhile causes. Take you time
Regards

And what would you suggest. Im not an RTec owner, but rang their tech support when my son in law was having issues with his plasma. I was well impressed, far more helpful than some other firms Ive asked for assistance.

 

[Redeye]

And what would you suggest. Im not an RTec owner, but rang their tech support when my son in law was having issues with his plasma. I was well impressed, far more helpful than some other firms Ive asked for assistance.

Start by looking elsewhere than on the web, go down to your local welding shop and look and talk and like me you may find a lot of R-tech machines broken and in for for repair because the dealer can’t help. A narrow mistake for me.......glad not to be a member of the R-Tech club, enough said get out there and away from your screen.

 

[zzr1200]

Start by looking elsewhere than on the web, go down to your local welding shop and look and talk and like me you may find a lot of R-tech machines broken and in for for repair because the dealer can’t help. A narrow mistake for me.......glad not to be a member of the R-Tech club, enough said get out there and away from your screen.

I doubt you have found many R-Tech units in for repair/broken machines, considering there's a 5 year return to base warranty included in the sale price, possibly some that may have been accidentally damaged.

Just out of interest Redeye, care to list your welders with pictures?

 

[MickeyW]

I don't have an R-Tech MIG, but I do have their TIG and Plasma machines.

I've also had my TIG collected, repaired and returned by them under warranty at no cost at all to me. I phoned up and was greeted by someone that actually cared and understood that this breakdown was an inconvenience to me. I think I was only without it for a week from pickup to return - that is more than impressive service in this day and age and definitely worth paying a little extra for.

Keep an eye on their website as they sometimes sell off shop soiled machines at a discounted price.

 

[addjunkie]

Start by looking elsewhere than on the web, go down to your local welding shop and look and talk and like me you may find a lot of R-tech machines broken and in for for repair because the dealer can’t help. A narrow mistake for me.......glad not to be a member of the R-Tech club, enough said get out there and away from your screen.

I do, and did, and dont own R Tec kit, but I am well impressed by their customer support, which is far better than any of our local suppliers.

 

[tom2207]

Theres not much I cant get sorted with 0.8 , its my usual starting point ,,,, lorry chassis I go to 1.0 , but I never use 0.6 for anything .

 

[SplitSixtySix]

You want roughly 30 amps per millimetre of steel. Most machines will deliver about 150 amps of a 13 amp plug. If using an extension lead, make sure its a decent one rated for 13amps, as many cheapies are not. If its on a drum unwind it completely.
Though with a mig welder it is the volts and wire speed you are adjusting so amps is a calculated amount.

Watched @doubleboost review on the 181 welding ali...

Would ali have the same amp requirements as steel? having the option to weld ali would be another bonus ✔

 

[zzr1200]

Watched @doubleboost review on the 181 welding ali...

Would ali have the same amp requirements as steel? having the option to weld ali would be another bonus ✔

Ali requires more heat input for the same size weld/plate thickness due to the ability of the aluminum to suck the heat away from the weld pool, so no.
This can be overcome to a certain extent by preheating the job/weld area.

On the other hand stainless is a worse conductor of heat compared to mild steel, but tends to distort more, unless it's skip welded and/or is clamped down tightly, even then skip welding is still generally used.

 

[addjunkie]

Watched @doubleboost review on the 181 welding ali...

Would ali have the same amp requirements as steel? having the option to weld ali would be another bonus.

Dont be afraid to fit a larger socket to allow you to use the machine at its full capacity. Its fairly simple for any sparky, a single cable a spare slot in your fuse box to a 16 amp switched socket ( blue one)

 

[zzr1200]

The R Tech recommends a 16 amp supply to run at full power (a ring man is protected by a 32 amp breaker generally, because a socket can pull power from both directions), a lot of other machines require a 32 amp supply, which is usually a single 4 or 6 mm cable straight from the fuse box depending on cable length with its own fuse/breaker.

My old ESAB compact 160 mig welder (transformer based) always had a 13 amp fitted, but the item in the fuse position was never ever replaced (30 years+), I'll say no more.......

 

[Redeye]

I doubt you have found many R-Tech units in for repair/broken machines, considering there's a 5 year return to base warranty included in the sale price, possibly some that may have been accidentally damaged.

Just out of interest Redeye, care to list your welders with pictures?

Lincoln Electric, Oxford Migmaker, Jasik, & Oxford oil cooled...........

 

[Michael Bennett]

I've only just got the mig 181. In 2018 I brought the ac/dc tig 170 and the p30c plasma. Power supply went on the tig. They sent me a new box to pack it in. Collected it and it was back a week later fully functioning can't complain about that.
I'm not affiliated with rtech but just watched the reviews on their equipment online to make my mind up.