Mrprism,Originally Posted by mrprism
A few things in reply:
1) The 256 certainly welds nearly as good as any other product we sell. I'd give it a 90% on cutting (my personal belief).
2) The remark made about "industrial" and "fabrication" is related to a production setting. It does not mean it can't serve in an industrial setting, but its design is intended to be used for repair and fabrication for things like you'd find in a small design or repair shop. A typical example of appropriate "industrial use" in my mind would be where they needed to take the unit through a factory to make a steam valve repair or a fix conveyor or a food table.
3) Using your welder in any of these settings will not void the warranty. The unit is covered regardless of use, except for abuse (or dropping or running it in water)
4) 35% has traditionally been a homeowner, small shop duty cycle. Until recently this was the standard until Miller's Marketing got in the way of good sense. Now they will tell you it is a
"light industrial" duty cycle. Well since they are bigger than we are, who can argue? But if you pick up a text book or go back a few years in their literature, it'll tell you 60% is the gold standard for industrial use. Any thing less should be considered homeowner, hobby, or small shop duty.
5) There's a lot packed into the same box as the 250EX, more parts, and more items and some sharing the same circuits, other not. Conventional wisdom will tell you that the more parts you have stuffed in the same space, and more parts in general decreases reliability. That is the major rub where we have tried to clarify the units application. A commercial facility expects nothing less than the most reliable product... and the 256, while not a BAD product doesn't reach the level of reliability of our other products because of the extra parts in side....Also most commercial facilities will not have a use for a machine that does double duty like this. They will have separate products. Again, the reason we have pointed out many times the application of this unit favors portable repair is that it does not require the carrying around of 2 units. This is a favorable item for portable repair, where operational efficiency isn't always expected. Changing the lines and hoses back and forth in a heavy industrial production setting ISN"T going to cut it for most companies.
With that said, we do have people using them in places from factories to oil derricks on the sea.
As far as our MIGs, I'll put my MIG up with any comparable MIG on the market. You'll find precious little complaints or service issues with these units. They will weld circles around any transformer welder of the same size class on the market of any company. And they will double duty as a stick welder. This isn't a "added" component feature as with the 256, and is accomplished with the existing circuitry. Add to it the inductance/arc force control, and the unit is the best on the market. We use heavier gear drive feeders, with all metal components as well. Spatter is almost non existent. Don't forget we actually use a name brand torch with our units, instead of a "copy" version. Beware of cheaply made MIG torches.
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