eastwood welders

gsont

New User
Does anyone have any experience with eastwood welders or plasma cutters? Their prices are reasonable but I wonder about the quality.
 
I've got the 130-amp MIG from Eastwood. I haven't used it a lot, but so far I like it. I don't have a gas cylinder yet, so all I've done has been with flux core wire.

I looked at the 130-amp Hobart, but it only has 4 or 5 amperage settings...whereas BOTH the wire feed and amperage settings on the Eastwood are infinite, between the high and low points.

I used Miller equipment at the frame plant, and the one difference--might be the flux core, might be the welder itself, I don't know--is that there's a fraction of a second delay between the wire feed starting and the wire being "hot"...not enough to be a MAJOR problem, but enough that it's noticeable.

When connecting the terminals to their respective positions when installing the MIG gun, I found the wires to be about an inch too short. Rather than fuss and fudge around, I cut the terminals off and soldered in about 2" of wire, covered with heat shrink tubing, to make them reach. I figured that, since the wires have to be reversed to switch polarity between flux core and solid wire, I needed a little extra length anyway, so that the copper wire didn't work-harden and get brittle before its time. I figured if I called Eastwood and had to send the MIG gun back, I might end up getting one that had leads just as short, or worse.

But as far as function, I've not had a single problem from mine. I'd recommend it, based upon my hobbyist use. Now, whether it'll stand up to rigorous day-in and day-out use, I guess when we start to chop the top on my '52 International pickup this spring, we'll find out.

And spare tips and nozzles are as close as my local Harbor Freight store, or Tractor Supply.



Hope some of this information is helpful.
 
Slow run in on the wire is a good feature to have. It prevents wire stubbing and making a mess at the start of the weld. On higher wire speeds, especially with flux-core, it can be a real problem. Sometimes there can be a little slag or the wire doesn't ground the instant it hits the metal. Better machines have the slow run in feature. It's only for about 1/2 a second.

Don't know much about Eastwood welders but they seem to specialize in auto-body type machines and tools. If it uses common consumables is a big plus.
 
(quoted from post at 08:29:42 01/27/13) I think the quality would be about the same as Tractor Supply or Harbor Freight.

Tractor Supply sells mostly Hobart welders and supplies. A far cry from Harbor Freight's low-end China stuff.
 

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