Thread: Chinese TIG welder Comparison

Nah thats cool man, dont put yourself out. I was just curious.

I have played with the pulse a little bit, but im not totally convinced of its worth. Not going to write it off yet though.

Incidentally, this is just one example of a welder that looks remarkably like the one "designed by" token tools and produced in "their factory", but I'm sure it's just a coincidence IGBT AC/DC 200Amp AC/DC TIG / MMA PULSE 3in1 WELDER on eBay (end time 15-Nov-09 02:09:29 GMT)

For info, the asking price of that one above is about A$815 as opposed to Token's asking price of A$2350. Yes warranty is worth something, a physical shop is worth something, Australian approval is worth something, etc. But a 300% price difference? Come on!

I dont think anyone in their right mind would by an electrical appliance from the UK. I think if you want to compare apples with apples your better off having a look at some of the machines that have sprung up on ebay Australia recently....such as this one.

IGBT AC/DC 200P ACTIG /DC TIG pulse/ MMA 3in1 WELDER - eBay Other Welding Equipment, Welding Equipment, Metalworking, Woodworking, Business, Industrial. (end time 19-Nov-09 14:31:00 AEDST)

And even it is located in China, with $300 worth of postage to get it here youll be up for $1200, no foot pedal or regs etc. I paid $1600 for mine, do I think the extra $400 was worth it? You bloody bet I do. If I have drama with my machine I can speak to the bloke who sold it to me in person. Versus an anonymous factory in china where ill have to pay $300 shipping each way if something breaks, there is no comparison.

Hey Brendan. No the point was not to suggest anyone buys the unit from the UK but to question why a unit is being advertised on ebay in the UK for 815 bucks yet Token Tools is currently advertising the remarkably similar looking unit here for $2350, so what's up with that? Why is there a 3x difference in price? One has to assume that the mob in the UK are happy to sell it at their price and make a profit, I've seen precisely the same thing in the US, this time for "only" 50% less. So in my mind it really is apples versus apples ... of course these other units probably don't come out of the "token factory"

Of course local and solid warranty is worth different things to different people. As my background was electronics I basically couldn't give a rats about "warranty". I take care of my kit and use it sensibly and well within its design purpose and maybe that's one reason I rarely ever have anything fail (touch wood ha ha). Other people consider anything electronic to be a box to hold smoke or treat their gear pretty roughly etc and may have quite a different perspective. No right or wrong here, just a question of what each is comfortable with.

As far as freight, well TT aren't exactly giving that away either. They're actually not too far from my place (hence why I will visit them when I get a moment free from work) yet the freight from there to home is $78 so not exactly a bargain!! As Peter himself says, selling on ebay (or I would say on the internet in general) is a rough market place. It's a double edged sword. Sure you can have a massive geographic market and very cheap overheads but so does everyone else selling in that market. Personally, in many cases, I've given up on domestic companies who think they can charge the earth for bugger all and just buy in directly from overseas. I'd love to support local companies, I am after all a very proud Aussie, but there is a very definite limit to just how benevolent I am and if I think I'm being taken advantage of or being fed BS I'm out of there!

Once again, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bag Token Tools, I actually like that welder and I was also one of Token's first customers when Peter started this whole venture off. But fair is fair, nobody holds a gun to anyone's head and says "buy this welder or else", it's a free market and they can ask whatever price they like for their goods. Likewise however there's the right to free speech (within reason) in Australia, and if somebody is asking what seems to be an excessive amount compared to what appears to be exactly the same products elsewhere I think it's reasonable to question what the heck is going on.

Pete

Edit: sorry mate, that link didn't come up for me at first but can now see that one from China. Yeah that's fair to compare I guess but by the same token (no pun intended) you got a really good deal at $1600, especially if that included the foot pedal, that's not what they're currently advertised at. Again, I could drive 20 minutes and go pick it up from TT but what if somebody was further away or couldn't get up there? The freight from TT was $78. Much of what I'm referring to isn't necessarily about me personally but as much about the principles involved.

Hi again,

So how are the tig / plasma machines going have they been reliable?

Has T T lived up to expectations if something has been needed?

Do they have the electronic components available if the smoke jumps out ?

as we are not all electronic experts.

cheers

wafarmer

Incidentally Brendan, I owe you a beer for bringing that welder in Shenzhen to my attention as I hadn't seen it on ebay and go up to Hong Kong relatively often for work so may be able to bring it back with me

Mines been reliable as. Have used in on every setting it does so far too, and from minimun (5) to maximum (200) amps.

Only post sales stuff I have had has been buying consumables, which they sell at a fraction of the price of my local welding store.

P.S no probs pete but if you already have a token welder why are you looking for another one?

My current welder is DC only, although I didn't realise that at the time It was my first TIG and I thought when they said "pulse" they meant "AC"

Likewise Farmer, mine has been quite reliable and as I recall the whole experience with TT was just fine. However as mentioned that was when they were first starting and Peter was basically selling from his house as I understood it.

Pete

Ah I see. AC is good to have I spose. Still, in saying that, more than 90% of the work I do is in steel. However I am about to do a big job in aluminium.

Yeah likewise I was doing steel only but decided I'd try the next challenge I think 99% of the work people buy an AC/DC welder for wouldn't need AC ... that's what I'm hoping people think when I sell my old one any way

Yeah AC is harder to learn too, but when you crack it...some of the welds look awesome!

Thanks guys

That makes me feel more confident

Do you have the plasma cutting on your machines as I would like that also although I believe that is part of the reliability issue as it makes the electronics too complicated.

I am also interested in ac/dc machine as I do a lot of ally and stainless already with my mig but want to do more lighter stuff and also neater welds.

Also the cutting will be handy.

cheers

wafarmer

No sorry no plasma on mine. I think I'll get one eventually, though at the end of the day it would be just a toy as I can get in many other ways. I'll probably get it as a separate unit though.

Pete