I saw an Awelco 170 MIG today for $650. Are they any good?
The sales guy said it's made in Italy. Is that a good thing?
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I saw an Awelco 170 MIG today for $650. Are they any good?
The sales guy said it's made in Italy. Is that a good thing?
HiQuote:
Originally Posted by patrolos
My simple logic says "If they are any good, there should be lots of them around the place"
A google search located one entry world wide- this one.This alone says something.
It does not necessarily mean they are no good - perhaps just not well known yet.
While the Italians make great cars they may not necessarliy have a long history of making great welders.Personally,I have not seen any Italian machines in industrial workshops.There are some dread Italian made examples in the low end stick welder market.I am aware of them by virtue of my wifes workplace and speaking to the electricians who repair them.
Another thing is see what you get for your $650.
Euro fittings on the gun cable?
Double step voltage adjustments ? - I would expect 2 control switches of at least 5 step seach
- Is the drive system /wheels rugged and well set up -easy to get to to change wire and clear jams?
- Does the spool axle have a basic spring tension brake on it?
- Is it mobile on good quality swivel castors ?
- Is there a gas regulator in the price ?-some there are not-some there are.
- Spare parts like, liners, contact tips Best if from a generic brand Bernard is one (can't remember the others).,switches, drive wheels. Basically consumable spares that can be picked up anywhere.
- 12 months guarantee? If it stuffs upp can it be fixed locally and fast?
Do not choose by price alone or you may pay twice.
Some food for thought
Grahame
I second that one.Quote:
Euro fittings on the gun cable?
Run a Binzal torch myself with a Euro fitting. Like the Bernard individual parts are easy to come by.
The awelco 170 Mig machine is a great product. I have had one for 2 years . I build trailers and use this machine everyother day. I did a fair amount of research before purchasing my machine and must tell you I paid a fair amount more than $650.
Awelco have been manufacturing for over 35 years and selling welders in Australia under the UNIMIG brand for 25 years.
Italians have been at the fore front of welding manufacturing for many many years with such brands as ESSETI , MIGOMAG, CEBORA (CIGWELD), TELWIN, just to name a few. So the statement of not having a long history in welding products is not so founded. In fact they are the leaders in welding inverter technology.
The components for my 170 mig being tips, gas shrouds, and liners are readily available as they are a binzel type european torch and are common in the market place available from most industrial tool outlets.
Anyway , I am very happy with my machine and I think $650 is great value compared to any number of chinese manufactured machines that are around at around the same price.
I will stand by my statement ,quote
"they may not necessarly have a long history of making great welders"
Having worked in many workshops and several Tafes, apart from SIP spot welders I have not seen a single Italian heavy industrial welding machine in these welding shops.
Industry and Tafe do not buy machines that have no longevity.Parts can be expensive and hard to get. How do I know? It is because I did the cost analysis on GMAW machines offered to Mackay TAFE on public tender documents.
When I was involved with it,a company tendering to Tafe supplied a demo machine and documents stating the cost of a range of consumable spare parts as well as those that could possible fail ,ie circuit boards ,transformers etc.
Purchasing was made on a whole of life costing average using the supplying companies own information. If the Italian equipment was so good how come they was never a tender offer from the dealers in Italian machines?
I researched too before I purchased a welder,Information received back from the company that did welder maintenance and repair was that the Italian stuff then found in the DIY market and was not too flash. Telwin and Cebora barely met Australian standards according to them.
It was for that source I found about the spare parts situation.A lot of SIP and similar low end machines ,eg small older migs have to have parts sourced from alternate suppliers as many are no longer available.
It makes a seemingly simple repair process a long winded frustrating exercise for the owner and the repairer.
Perhaps Lou or some of the other guys currently working in the metals industry can clue us up if they are Italian machines in their workshops and how they stack up?
Cheers
Grahame
I know everyone is entitled to an opinion and i guess not every company applies for government tenders.
It does not mean that the italians do not make great welders I own the same model with great results , there are worst welders in the market place.
I am just saying that in my opinion it is great value for money after all
we are talking about $650 170AMP MIG WELDER and i would like to know if there is better value for money offers around.
Regarding SAA Standards if you ever get the chance to read the standards AS/NZ 60974.1 AS/NZ 60974.6 you will realise they are very thorough they either pass or they don't and if they do pass they are of a pretty good quality.
cheers
Gidday :D
We use a variety of makes in the Fabshop Miller(1),Wia(3) BOC(5), and 3 Transmig Rigs made by CIG.
If Indeed CIG is Italian made I can definately say that its a fantastic Rig its the machine of choice for 1 of our gun welders N spits out beautiful 6mm fillets all day long.
Its a durable multipurpose workhorse that cops an absolute flogging yet purs away day after day without complaint.
Service and breakdown issues havent been anything out side the norm and performance is at least on par with and in my opinion better than the other big name brands.
Regards Lou :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup: