That's what kinda bothers me... I don't like having to depend on customer service because the thing broke? How was the actual product? Thanks!
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That is truly the oddest thing I've heard about any product... Why would that bother you?
Stuff breaks, it's the nature of equipment, you'll need to service it.
I've replaced parts on nearly all my shop equipment: brushes on grinders and the bench press, liners and sheath on my MIG, the button on my chop saw, etc...
I had excellent service when I purchased the unit. The salesman talked to me and helped me pick the unit that best fit my needs.
Supercut50 is what I ended up with.
Then when I felt like I was use more consumables than I thought necessary; they helped me troubleshoot the problem and I found an issue with my air/water separator (my own) and it took care of that issue.
I broke the trigger button on the gun (my fault: it got crushed under the unit when I moved it) It was out of warranty (2yrs old) I called to order a new one and the sent me a new button (and a few consumables) at zero cost to me 2nd day air so I could finish getting ready for a competition that weekend.
Functionality: It worked every bit as good as my friend's brand name plasma and was more powerful at 1/3 the cost.
The kerf was comparable and size of the unit was similar. The benefit of being able to use 110v or 220v was significant.
I did use more consumables in a given period than him but I suspect it had to do more with improper air pressure and a faulty air/ water separator.
Plus did I mention it was 1/3 the cost? That overlap pays for a lot of consumables.
The unit never had any performance issues.
I did have a learning curve to dialing it in but I imagine that's the same for any brand... plus I'd never used a plasma before I bought mine.
I would still be using if it hadn't been stolen along with dozens of other tools a year or two ago when my shop was broken in to.
If I were to buy another I would get one that had an Autostart feature which is handy for cutting dirty, painted, rusty or expanded metal.
I've used plenty of other plasma cutting units and I'd say the advantage to buying a big name is the ability to get consumables locally, but with a little planning it's not an issue (and this may not be an issue now that they changed consumables).
I believe in proliferation, when there are only a few big names in any market they tend to ever-inflate their prices.
I did a lot of research when I bought mine and I used it for a few years before it was stolen.
I have no experience with their welding machines so consider that as well.
I have owned a Lincoln, rebranded Craftsman and currently a Miller welder and I've had good use from all three. (The Craftsman was difficult to get parts for however).
