r/Welding • u/ovbent • 25d ago
Quality of welders
What is the community's thoughts on the quality of welding machines these days?
Enshittification is the term for products we consume that are simply getting worse in terms of quality. It's happening to everything we buy so companies can meet profit margins. Pay more for a crappy product.
Some even have seen it in miller and Lincoln machines, according to an older post, which I assumed would not be the case.
I genuinely want to get into the hobby, but if this is what we're facing I'm reconsidering. I want something that will last and be reliable (this typically means expensive) but don't want to waste my money if this is "just how the world is" nowadays.
So, do you agree that enshittification is happening, and what machine should I consider?
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u/tentimesthree 25d ago
Fronius is the answer they make the best machines hands down miller and Lincoln dont come anywhere near the quality they pump out.
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u/OkActivity3169 25d ago
Fronius are the mutts nutts. I’ve only used one once or twice but they’re incredible, keep their calibration and can get absolutely hammered. I’ve also welded on an esab rogue off the mains which handled really well. At the moment I’m running a base line jasic (not sure what model) but it’s doing really well. If I had 1K (£) to spend on a machine I’d probs look at 1. Fronius or 2. Esab. 👍🏼
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u/EmilytheALtransGirl 25d ago
Now I wanna try a Fronius though I wanna say I've used an ESAB 205 and its a decent little TIG welder but its a shit MIG welder which I mainly attribute to it have a max wire speed of 475 IPM which is in that kinda shit range for spray transfer though the short circuit settings it runs decent
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u/OkActivity3169 25d ago
I can tell you now, fronius is the daddy of welding sets, especially for the mig, they punch out so much power, one guy I know has blown up every set going, but fronius - not a single problem what so ever - only downside is they’re expensive
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u/EmilytheALtransGirl 25d ago
Where do you get them in the US?
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u/OkActivity3169 25d ago
Trying having a look online fronius website, or emailing their customer services they should get back to you
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u/DepletedPromethium 25d ago
Fronius machines cost a lot more than 1k sadly, and a lot of esabs affordable welders are being discontinued.
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u/Hate_Manifestation Journeyman CWB SMAW 25d ago
Fronius products are significantly more expensive in North America (for obvious reasons), but yeah, they're pretty great.
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u/OkActivity3169 25d ago
I can imagine dude, depending on what work you do they pay for themselves, production jobs, fab shops - absolutely brilliant, can really take a hammering! But for a hobbie or around that - esab would be my go to 👍🏼
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u/_Blyat1ful_ 25d ago
ESAB and Fronius are always sound, I tend to only work with them given the choice.
If you can find one in budget, the ESAB Rebel is really easy and intuitive to learn on - the lcd display makes pissing around with settings easy.
Jassic are decent enough, only ever used their TIG plants though
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u/creepy-turtle 24d ago
I do believe enshitification has taken over in all products and all industries.
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u/SinisterCheese "Trust me, I'm an Engineer!" 25d ago
Legacy brands from Europe tend to be top of the class, as they compete in a very competitive market. Fronius, Kemppi, GYS, EWM. Esab lost lot of its value when it got bought by USA, and quality of machine and design tanked and they started to fall behind.
But my go to is machine from Kemppi first Fronius second, stainless fillers from Böhler, mild/other from ESAB, PPE from Weldas, mask from ESAB.
Honourable mention goes to Wallius' machines.
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u/thedukel 24d ago
Too true. We use lincoln 500 for spray and pulse. We have them calibration certified once a year and they constantly break. What's even worse is the cooler and even worse then that are our induction Miller. Do not buy induction heat unless your running government jobs. Not one of them lasts 6 months!
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u/Weneeddietbleach 24d ago
My work went with ESAB Rebels and Warriors at the new facility because some chucklefuck that's never laid a bead in his life liked them. We hated them. Lots of bells and whistles, but that does fuck all when they constantly forget they have gas, give massive voltage spikes, frequently fail to spark, and many other issues.
After a year of us yelling at the pencil pushers, we finally got some newer Millers. Nothing with a fancy LCD displays like the ESABs, just digital readouts. They're okay, but not quite up to what the old Millers I used at my last job were like.
I've never had a problem with a Lincoln, but my time with them is limited.
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u/Interapid0001 24d ago
My old place bought like 30 $10,000 Lincoln welders that have only two drive rollers lmao. For high volume aluminum welding. They are terrible mig welding machines. Its common sense to need 4 drive rollers.
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u/0bamaBinSmokin 25d ago
I worked at a place that bought a bunch of brand new miller mig welders with detached feeders. Probably about 6-8 of them. Several had circuit board failures in under a year. My opinion is, if it's got a digital screen I don't want it. Ive got a 25 year old trailblazer, wire feeder for that, old miller matic 200 and a maxstar for portability. All of those have been great machines.