All in 1 welders seem to be all the rage now. Can they really be that good?

[commando1]

 

[Fratzog]

Where were these things 30 years ago? Who am I kidding, I could never weld worth a sh*t.

 

[MoPar~Man]

I think that only the small white one (the first one in the review) - STAHLWERK CTM-250, is also a plasma cutter. I don't think it's sold in USA/Canada. I see it for sale on Amazon.de for about 1000 euros. The guy in the video doing these reviews is I think in Europe, maybe Germany.

 

[Welder guy]

I’ve been a pressure welder for 37 years and a welding supervisor for 17 currently in charge of 27 robotic MIG machines of various configurations. In my opinion stick with Lincoln or Miller for the welders and plasma cutters. They’re made in the US and both brands work exceptionally well. The Consumables they use are readily available. contact tips , nozzles and such .

 

['69FuryIIIConvertible]

I’ve been a pressure welder for 37 years and a welding supervisor for 17 currently in charge of 27 robotic MIG machines of various configurations. In my opinion stick with Lincoln or Miller for the welders and plasma cutters. They’re made in the US and both brands work exceptionally well. The Consumables they use are readily available. contact tips , nozzles and such .

Just make sure they aren't the big box store branded versions, they are not the same.

 

[detmatt]

I recently heard that all these new machines with their added computer style circuitry are filled with more problematic gremlins than the older machines. As far as power tools and machines go I will continue buying older used machines as I don’t like glitches that I can’t control.

 

[jake]

Welder by trade, we run miller dynasties, stick weld, tig, aluminum tig, mig with the right setup. I love them, so much more control then the older machines. For backyard welding, the older machine work great, but when your welds are getting xrayed, I like to be able to fine tune what I need.

 

[commando1]

When Harbor Freight starts selling them, I'm in.

 

[3175375]

When Harbor Freight starts selling them, I'm in.

I’m with you. I presently own an oxy-acetylene and MiG setups and don’t do enough to justify anything else. I also have a nephew who’s certified in Arc, Mig and I believe Tig that I would bribe to come and get some of the body panel welding done. ;^)

 

[Big_John]

The Swiss Army knife of cheap welders!

When I see stuff like this, I think of the televisions with the tape player. You know the ones... Usually the tape player crapped out after a year or two and that left you with just the TV.

So, after whatever warranty runs out, you might be able to MIG, but the TIG part is shot and it's not cost effective to fix, nobody wants it and you don't want to throw it out....

 

[MrMoparCHP]

As a rule I will not buy anything designed to do more than one thing like this like a washer that is also a dryer.
Generally they never do either great.


Alan

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I'm no "expert" welder. I leave that to my son. All welders heart is the transformer, low voltage/high amperage, like touching your wrench across the cars battery terminals, wrench gets hot.
How the filler material and shielding is added is main differences for basic stuff.
Beyond that cheap is cheap, and good is good.

 

[Big_John]

My high school welding teacher died and then his replacement was killed by getting run over while sitting at a light on his motorcycle.

So I never learned to weld very well. I've always wanted to take a night school type class, but the track record for my welding teachers had me thinking that maybe it's not a great idea.

But anyway.... These videos are always entertaining...

 

[70bigblockdodge]

It's like playing the piano. Just about anyone can bang out chop sticks. Everything above that takes practice.

 

[commando1]

If I bought one of these from harbor freight , I absolutely would buy the warranty and just exchange it when it craps out. And it will.
I bought a cheapo HF paint sprayer. It shits the bed after one use. I return it under the extended warranty. I'm on my third sprayer .
I never buy extended warranties but in these case, I beat them at their own game.

 

[SGT FURY]

I have a vintage miller matic 250.
It has 3 settings
on/off
Wire Speed.
Heat control.
Simple operation,It never gives me any problems if I maintain it.

I prefer equipment that pre dates computer green boards.

 

['69FuryIIIConvertible]

I find TIG is really nice, but for 90% of what we do as hobbyists in the car hobby, MIG does the same.

I had a Lincoln Square Wave 175, I used it a dozen times and then traded a friend straight for a Hobart Handler 210, if I really need or want to TIG stainless or aluminum I'll go over to his shop.

The 210 is nice as it's a rebranded Miller M10, my first use for it was rebuilding a landscape trailer I bought, and then repairing the frame of an S10 I have. For everything else I have my old reliable Lincoln mig pak 15 which I got used for free and has had a long hard life, but has burned miles of wire for me problems free.

I had a China welder that I spent more time screwing with than I did using.

I had a boss that told me near the start of my career, "buy the best tools you can afford, because it'll save you money in the long run". Took me a long time to know what he meant

 

[Powerflite]

I have a vintage miller matic 250.
It has 3 settings
on/off
Wire Speed.
Heat control.
Simple operation,It never gives me any problems if I maintain it.

I prefer equipment that pre dates computer green boards.

Exactly. Stereo amplifiers, stoves, washers, refrigerators, and welders etc. shouldn't have software in them. If they do, the craptastic electronics and firmware will die right after the warranty is over, leaving you with a pile of junk that no one wants to touch. Just say no to this crap.

 

[3175375]

Exactly. Stereo amplifiers, stoves, washers, refrigerators, and welders etc. shouldn't have software in them. If they do, the craptastic electronics and firmware will die right after the warranty is over, leaving you with a pile of junk that no one wants to touch. Just say no to this crap.

There’s equipment that has software in it that I own that is old. Bbq controller, washing machine in our RV, etc.
I also worked on a home brewed liquid cooling system controller that was based on a Z-80 microprocessor. It operated from the late 90s and was still getting the job done in 2017, when I retired.
You do point out a situation, though. I believe it is the shift in manufacturing to China, and the sloppy software compilers and developers that don’t factor in fault trees into their work. Cost of such complexities also drives things. Finally, the consumer being cheap and only shopping on prices is the death blow.

 

[SGT FURY]

I was at a steel supply warehouse. They had gigantic WW2 generation shears,hole punching machines,benders etc.
Saw manufacturing dates on machines. I inquired about using such vintage equipment and their answer was WAAAAY better then the new machines with burned up irreplaceable green boards…….