Kick me in the nuts if I ever mention buying another hobart welder

Matt Shade · Jan 9, 2006

I've had it. I'm about ready to put this damn thing on Ebay.
They may be owned by miller, and miller may claim to have the best customer service in the business.....but it took 2 weeks to get a damn replacement part for my welder. In the meantime it sat, a very expensive waste of space in the shop.
What part was I waiting on? A little copper pipe nipple with about a 45 degree bend in the middle. They call it a head tube and charge about $30 for it. Even though the welder was less than 2 weeks old, they made no offer to cover it when I got in touch with the warranty department.

So I got tired of waiting for a call from the store I had to have order it, because hobart won't ship to individuals....and stopped there on the way home today. What do you know it was there:jerkit: . I got it and a 5 year lease on a bottle of argon/CO2 (that stuff is expensive

). I didn't get tips or wire because I wanted to look over the specs book before I picked a wire size.

Got that figured out, the welding supply place is closed and I don't like shopping there anyway because they don't put prices on anything. So I go to TSC, the only other place in town that carries hobart stuff, and they don't have any .030 contact tips for hobart or miller. If I had wanted a tip for a lincoln I could have bought enough for a year. If I had wanted a tip for a lincoln I could have gone to lowes, home depot, sears, or a lot of other places and got it. But not hobart/miller.

So the stupid thing is still sitting there. I could rethread the flux core it came with and do some welding tonight, but I'd have to take it back out tomorrow when I switch tips, and I don't like how the stuff welds anyway.

I starting to think I should have just stuck with my stick welder. Its never let me down. And I'm definitely buying lincoln from here on out.

fitzo · Jan 9, 2006

Customer service from ANYWHERE really seems to be a crapshoot these days. I had two "warranty" problems with my Miller MIG and called their number out of the manual. They "Next Day" shipped parts direct to me both times. That was only three years ago.

indian george · Jan 10, 2006

That's a pain in the ass.:jerkit: :jerkit:
PS: You finally grew nuts????? HEHEHEHE!!!!!

Matt Shade · Jan 10, 2006

Well I got some contact tips this morning and got the thing put together and did some welding tonight. Assuming it doesn't break again

its a nice welder for the money, should be a good addition to the shop.

As far as finally growing some nuts goes....I've had a pair for awhile. And if I needed to kick any of you guys (Mr. Old Fart) in the nuts cause you're about to do something stupid I'd probably have to go find your wife's purse

Don Hanson III · Jan 10, 2006

This is good to know. I will most likely buy a mig welder sometime this year.

Now I do have a 250 amp Hobart stick welder I bought new as a teenager (before nuts

) back in 1979, never had any trouble with it and have used it a lot over the years. I will still use it but sometimes would like a mig.

Matt Shade · Jan 11, 2006

sunfishman said:
This is good to know. I will most likely buy a mig welder sometime this year.

Now I do have a 250 amp Hobart stick welder I bought new as a teenager (before nuts ) back in 1979, never had any trouble with it and have used it a lot over the years. I will still use it but sometimes would like a mig.

Check around and see what most stores in your area carry. I'd put money on the fact that lincoln products will be much easier to find. As far as product support, hobart's is pretty much non existant as far as my experience goes. I needed parts....there were 2 service centers within 30 miles, and hobart would not ship them directly to me even though I had part numbers, and gave them the serial number of my machine, which I had registered for the warranty. They recommened I go to a miller service center because the hobart H10 gun is the same as a Miller M10 gun. So I went there since it was closer, and had to buy the parts myself and wait 2 weeks on them to arrive:grumpy:

It turns out the welder itself is the cheap part. A 5 year lease on a 143 cu. ft. tank was $125 and it cost $50 to get it filled(I'm running at about 25 cubic feet an hour, so it should last me awhile). A 10lb roll of wire was $30(don't know how far that will go yet). Add in the cost of the welder and $45 in replacement parts and I wish I would have taken the money I've spent so far and bought a lincoln sp175. Yeah, I'd have had to put up with flux core wire for awhile, but I'd have had a better machine.

The hobart does run a nice smooth bead, and is a versatile machine since you can switch gases and polarity to weld different materials. I'm still really annoyed with how things have started out though.

Don Hanson III · Jan 11, 2006

Sorry you have had so much trouble, instead of "This is good to know" as said in my other post

Which model did you buy? Cliff Parker bought a Hobart 175 mig a couple years ago and has been pleased so far.

indian george · Jan 11, 2006

Matt Shade said:
As far as finally growing some nuts goes....I've had a pair for awhile. And if I needed to kick any of you guys (Mr. Old Fart) in the nuts cause you're about to do something stupid I'd probably have to go find your wife's purse

You have to find my first and second wife because they both took one.

HEHEHEHE!!!1

tmickley · Jan 11, 2006

Matt Shade said:
....
As far as finally growing some nuts goes....I've had a pair for awhile. And if I needed to kick any of you guys (Mr. Old Fart) in the nuts cause you're about to do something stupid I'd probably have to go find your wife's purse

Now that's funny.

I bought a Hobart 180 last year. I like it. TSC carries tips and a few parts that I've found. I learned in doing aluminum to keep plenty of spare tips around. It will birds nest on occasion and that's a huge pain in the ass but I'm not sure they all don't. I bought my argon tanks, 40cf, for around a 100 bucks full. No lease and I own them forever. They just swap you when you need a refill.

I've been trying to come up with a project to weld because I dont' have any right now and I like doing it. I'm sure I'll come up with something though.

Matt Shade · Jan 11, 2006

sunfishman said:
Sorry you have had so much trouble, instead of "This is good to know" as said in my other post

Which model did you buy? Cliff Parker bought a Hobart 175 mig a couple years ago and has been pleased so far.

I bought a reconditioned, grade B(cosmetic defects) Handler 175. Its a nice machine. Handy size, does a decent range of materials, and only needs a 20 amp 220V outlet which is pretty easy to come by. The output is very smooth and clean with argon/CO2 mix on steel, and it will weld steel up to a reasonable thickness (5/16" rated, you could go thicker with proper beveling and multiple passes). It compliments a stick welder really well, doesn't replace it. It was $421 shipped and has a 1 year warranty, for the money I didn't think I could pass it up, I've been needing a MIG. Turns out their idea of cosmetic defects is the case being in peices when it arrives, and screwdriver gouges or something all over the paint. I don't care about how it looks and it only took a minute or two to put the door on and screw the case back together right.

I don't even care that much that the gun broke. It might have been a fluke, I ran a long bead and the adaptor tip seized up. Threads messed up and the tip of the head tube kind of squashed when the adaptor finally came off. I hadn't even come close to exceeding the duty cycle, but for whatever reason it happened. Doesn't matter really. My complaint is how long it took to get the replacement parts.
And the availability of contact tips and stuff is really annoying. The only store that carries hobart locally is TSC, and the local one isn't worth going to because they don't keep anything in stock. Doesn't matter if I'm needing something for the horses, the tractor or the shop, they always are waiting on a shipment. That makes my only other option going to an industrial welding supply in town and picking out miller parts that match.
If I had bought a lincoln, consumables would be much easier to find, TSC, Lowes, Home Depot, Sears etc. all carry a small selection of them. And having run both brands, lincoln makes a nicer machine. It costs a lot more too, but I think its a nicer machine YMMV.
But I've got a hobart now, and as long as its running I can't complain too much. It does a pretty good job.