Eastwood Welding Equipment?

I purchased my Hobart HH180 from Tractor Supply in . A great package deal with an auto darkening helmet, cart and some other items in addition to the welder. After about 6 months use I was having a problem when I fed a new spool of wire. Well actually re-feeding a spool after changing wire size. The wire would hang up in the gas diffuser (also called contact tip adapter) at the end of the gun. I determined that the liner (the spiral wound tube which directs the wire to the gun) was too short. I don't know it it got wet and shrank was too short from the factory or if the outer hose from the welder to the gun stretched with use. Anyhow, I called Hobart. They sent me a new liner no charge, no questions and it came second day Fed Ex. The Hobart representative also explained how to determine the proper length and how to trim the new liner to fit properly. It has worked fine since.

My second purchase was a Miller Diversion 165 TIG welder. A real nice unit. When it arrived I noticed that the brass hose barb on the gas regulator had been installed with the wrong size wrench and a couple of the flats were a little buggered. Just a cosmetic issue. I called Miller and as the hose barb also contained the flow orifice they sent me a whole new regulator!

And finally I purchased a Hypertherm Powermax 30 plasma cutter. I unpacked it and turned it upside down to verify the serial number. I heard a tinkle as something bounced around inside the unit. Sounded like the proverbial loose screw. Turned out to be a loose 8mm brass nut. I filled out the on-line registration and added a comment about the loose nut bouncing around all of the high $ electronics. In LESS THAN AN HOUR I got an back from the manager of hand held plasma cutters at Hypertherm apologizing for the inconvenience. This was about 4:30 in the afternoon. The next morning I got back from walking the dog at about 7:30. The wife was raising H. She had been woken not once but twice by the - calls from Hypertherm, The person there needed to talk to me before heading to a meeting at 8AM. I called him and he explained that he had gone through a Powermax 30 and there were only two places where an 8mm nut was used. He offered to talk me though how to disassemble the unit to verify that the two wires were properly tightened. I declined the offer as I had already pulled the cover to search for the source of the rattle. I later pulled the cover again and verified that the wires were attached. Just an extra nut which got into the unit on the assembly line.

What I am attempting to document here is CUSTOMER SERVICE. Something which is all too lacking these days. I am sure that Eastwood would make good on a defective unit. However, I would prefer to be able to speak with the actual manufactured as opposed to the middleman/reseller.

Just my thoughts...

Ken

I can't say anything against Eastwood but I can say a lot FOR some US welding manufacturers. I have purchased some non-welding, car restoration items from Eastwood. That is their specialty. From what I have found in searching the web it appears that their welding and plasma cutting equipment is made in China. They claim it is made in THEIR factories and not simply some other company's product branded as Eastwood. That make me wonder... As for my welding equipment I have purchased items from Hobart, Miller and Hypertherm. Making welding equipment is their specialty.I purchased my Hobart HH180 from Tractor Supply in . A great package deal with an auto darkening helmet, cart and some other items in addition to the welder. After about 6 months use I was having a problem when I fed a new spool of wire. Well actually re-feeding a spool after changing wire size. The wire would hang up in the gas diffuser (also called contact tip adapter) at the end of the gun. I determined that the liner (the spiral wound tube which directs the wire to the gun) was too short. I don't know it it got wet and shrankwas too short from the factory or if the outer hose from the welder to the gun stretched with use. Anyhow, I called Hobart. They sent me a new liner no charge, no questions and it came second day Fed Ex. The Hobart representative also explained how to determine the proper length and how to trim the new liner to fit properly. It has worked fine since.My second purchase was a Miller Diversion 165 TIG welder. A real nice unit. When it arrived I noticed that the brass hose barb on the gas regulator had been installed with the wrong size wrench and a couple of the flats were a little buggered. Just a cosmetic issue. I called Miller and as the hose barb also contained the flow orifice they sent me a whole new regulator!And finally I purchased a Hypertherm Powermax 30 plasma cutter. I unpacked it and turned it upside down to verify the serial number. I heard a tinkle as something bounced around inside the unit. Sounded like the proverbial loose screw. Turned out to be a loose 8mm brass nut. I filled out the on-line registration and added a comment about the loose nut bouncing around all of the high $ electronics. In LESS THAN AN HOUR I got an back from the manager of hand held plasma cutters at Hypertherm apologizing for the inconvenience. This was about 4:30 in the afternoon. The next morning I got back from walking the dog at about 7:30. The wife was raising H. She had been woken not once but twice by the - calls from Hypertherm, The person there needed to talk to me before heading to a meeting at 8AM. I called him and he explained that he had gone through a Powermax 30 and there were only two places where an 8mm nut was used. He offered to talk me though how to disassemble the unit to verify that the two wires were properly tightened. I declined the offer as I had already pulled the cover to search for the source of the rattle. I later pulled the cover again and verified that the wires were attached. Just an extra nut which got into the unit on the assembly line.What I am attempting to document here is CUSTOMER SERVICE. Something which is all too lacking these days. I am sure that Eastwood would make good on a defective unit. However, I would prefer to be able to speak with the actual manufactured as opposed to the middleman/reseller.Just my thoughts...Ken

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from yigao.

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I found this thread very interesting. Some of you guys say some good things.

I think generally it was a bit hard on Peter Magic. He was only trying to be a friend. He said that. You couldn't/wouldn't believe it.

I've been to China. Not for a visit. Not for twenty or thirty visits like some hotshot businessman/salesman/politician or rockstar. No, to live and work there for more than four years.

I can tell you something about China and the Chinese that those others might not be able to tell you.

The vast bulk of the Chinese people are honest, frugal, humble, earnest, truthful, naive and simple people.

Yeah. You didn't think anything like that existed in the world any more, did you?

You're incapable of responding to it.

But you are going to have to. Because it is there and it is coming.

I billion Chinese are coming. If they can. And they are not coming with vicious intent or with harm in mind, they are coming with gentle optimistic belief that China and the Chinese people - after Centuries of suffering - is entitled to a place in the modern world and will be welcome there.

Peter would have done you a deal if he could. Peter would have told you the truth. He did tell you the truth.

There was a good point about service and parts. But that point is answerable. I'm in Australia too, same as that guy that posted about the stuff they have, and we have much Chinese stuff and we make out for service and parts even if we have to take a 'replacement' avenue of handling the problem until servicemen and service departments become established.

But, truly, where's servicemen and servicing gone today anyway? Who fixes anything any more?

Your real problems - your underlying concern - may well be in worrying about American dollars going overseas and the worsening balance of payments.

Well, I share that with you. I just said: we have many Chinese products here. We do. Too many, I often think. And too many American products. And too many British products. And too many Japanese products. And too many European products.

They are cheaper. I buy them because they are 'cheaper'. But I say to myself and to everyone else that will listen 'how can they be 'cheaper' when the money is going out of Australia?' But I still buy 'em. I just bought a SIP welder. I think that's Chinese. It doesn't say. That probably means it is.

So I'm helping Australia lose money. And I don't know what to do about it. I don't understand international finance or economics or what the hell is happening - except that it is childishly obvious that the rich will get richer, inevitably, barring major disasters. And they've gotta be bigger than a world war, for instance. The Krupps and Rothschilds and Rockefellers all got richer via the Second World War, I believe.

What's going to happen when they've got all the money? I dunno.

There's really only one currency in the world, because we all trade with each other. Even isolated, curtained off, non-global, non-trading currencies (such as the Chinese Yuan) that are supposed to be useless outside of their own country, are really part of the world's one currency, because the fortunes of the world inevitably effect their currency.

So what happens when someone gets all the money? Some people. Or some countries?

I guess they'll have to share it out again. Just like monopoly.

:)

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