Cheap Import MIG Wire - Any Good?

[garybdavis]

My LWS store has gone up to $130 for a 33lb spool of 0.030 wire. So now I found my new LWS store (Praxair) that's just about as close to me and sells their house brand for $70. But while I was freaking out at the $130 price, I ordered a $50 spool off ebay with free shipping. The box has Chinese or something like that all over it so I know it's an import wire. The Praxair stuff may be from the same factory for all I know. The $50 stuff meets all the specifications, or at least it says it does. I'm hesitant to bypass my "new" LWS store for a $20 savings, but I have one ebay spool of MIG wire to burn up. I guess I'm asking if anyone has used the cheap, ebay MIG wire and has any experience with it? It looks just as good as the local stuff, but eyes can be deceiving.

[aametalmaster]

I use it and sold tons of it. Even some name brands are imported wire. Unless you are doing code or critical work where you need to prove where it came from...Bob

[Aeronca41]

No experience with Praxair but I've used one roll of the Radnor house brand ER70-S6 Chinese wire from Airgas and won't buy any more. Most of it ràn fine but I got a number of very ugly welds (5 or 6) that had to be ground out and redone. I threw away several feet of wire (5-10') each time and it was OK again. Only Hobart wire in my welders now. It's reasonably priced at Tractor Supply in the 11 lb rolls but that's a small roll if you're doing serious welding.

[aametalmaster]

Also look at the wire labels. Some say Made In USA and some say Packaged in USA. Big difference. We had brands of wires side by side pick import or USA Made. Big price difference...Bob

[ryanjones2150]

Consistency is more important to me than the cost. All too often I'm on a time crunch with repairs and having to stop and grind out a bunch of weld metal that's jacked up would ruin my day. I've had good experience with Hobart, Lincoln and esab filler metal, all of which are available at my LWS.

[garybdavis]

I don't think saving $20 for a spool is enough to keep me from supporting my "new" LWS. Now if I hadn't found a new LWS that was cheaper than $130, it might be a different story.

[ryanjones2150]

Sometimes it's silly...I can get a 44 lbs roll of
.045 dual shield for less than a 10 lbs roll of
.035 dual at my LWS. They tell me it's because they buy so much of the big .045 rolls than the .035 ones they get such a good price on it.

[old jupiter]

Who knows what they put in the melting pot to make this stuff? There was an American some years ago who had a boat yard over there, building what were supposed to be ocean-going sailboats of fiberglass. He had to leave the yard early one day, assuming his local foreman had things in hand. Came back early to see how his gang was doing. He found that they had somehow run short of roving, and were finishing the layup with . . . newspaper, figuring that could use the last of the roving to cover it up.

Of course, the big American corporations who have outsourced their manufacturing stoutly proclaim that they have great inspection and oversight, and that quality is "just as good" as before they outsourced. Do you believe this? I think it's bull.

A friend with long experience in the Far East told me that a Chinese tends to be curious about the state of his luck, and is willing to test it. A business owner may therefore see if he can sell a flawed product just to see if he gets away with it. He won't be indignant if you bring it back, and will happily exchange the flawed item for a good one. But, by comparison, a Japanese business owner is more likely to be, first, a perfectionist, and second, takes pride in the reputation of his work, and would not knowingly send out a bad piece. Of course these generalizations are always subject to contrary examples, but I think they are useful.

Some have found that the Chinese weld-wire makers don't hold their diameter dimensions to acceptable tolerances, nor the bore diameters of their contact tips, either. This is just what I've read. I won't use the stuff. Or Chinese bearings, or Chinese replacement auto parts, . . . .

[H80N]

Who knows what they put in the melting pot to make this stuff? There was an American some years ago who had a boat yard over there, building what were supposed to be ocean-going sailboats of fiberglass. He had to leave the yard early one day, assuming his local foreman had things in hand. Came back early to see how his gang was doing. He found that they had somehow run short of roving, and were finishing the layup with . . . newspaper, figuring that could use the last of the roving to cover it up.

Of course, the big American corporations who have outsourced their manufacturing stoutly proclaim that they have great inspection and oversight, and that quality is "just as good" as before they outsourced. Do you believe this? I think it's bull.

A friend with long experience in the Far East told me that a Chinese tends to be curious about the state of his luck, and is willing to test it. A business owner may therefore see if he can sell a flawed product just to see if he gets away with it. He won't be indignant if you bring it back, and will happily exchange the flawed item for a good one. But, by comparison, a Japanese business owner is more likely to be, first, a perfectionist, and second, takes pride in the reputation of his work, and would not knowingly send out a bad piece. Of course these generalizations are always subject to contrary examples, but I think they are useful.

Some have found that the Chinese weld-wire makers don't hold their diameter dimensions to acceptable tolerances, nor the bore diameters of their contact tips, either. This is just what I've read. I won't use the stuff. Or Chinese bearings, or Chinese replacement auto parts, . . . .

Cheoy Lee sailboats out of Taipei ROC ??...... I remember in the 1980's that they had several break up in heavy weather....

[D Auger]

Is the sailboat factory next to the harbor freight welder factory ...,hmmmm??

[garybdavis]

Is the sailboat factory next to the harbor freight welder factory ...,hmmmm??

Ha! This is getting to be as good as the "which motor oil is the best" discussions.

If I were welding something critical, say structural, a pressure tank, etc., I'd be very careful what rod/roll I used.

I think I'll save this roll for welding cattle panels at the ranch. The cows generally don't get too emotional about that stuff.

[old jupiter]

Not Cheoy Lee, some little outfit I'd never heard of.

The problem is knowing where anything was actually made these days. And no doubt there are better and worse manufacturers across the Pacific, just as there are better and worse ones here. The Chinese have become aware that they haven't had the reputation for quality that they might want, and some of them are working on this. The Chinese on Taiwan went through this some years ago, and the Japanese did so as soon as they could after post-war reconstruction (but not quite quick enough to avoid a bad "Made in Japan" reputation which makes them cringe to this day). The question is, do the American corporations who now only act as middlemen still care about quality or just talk a good game while buying from the cheapest supplier? This is a real problem for aerospace outfits like Boeing, which has learned from experience to test and test things like fasteners, and never assume somebody else's QC is sufficient.

As an old guy who is slowing down (in lots of ways, not all good!!), I don't have time and maybe not sufficient knowledge to make good controlled back-to-back tests of a lot of wires (probably should be done on a robotic line) on base metal of known quality. Maybe Boeing does this and knows the answers, or the Navy, or AWS. I'll have to go with a show of hands from professional welders who know more than I do (meaning most of them!!)

[OscarJr]

You need to get the Keepa app installed into Google chrome so it can keep watch of your products in your wish list in Amazon. I've seen rolls of wire in all sorts of diameters suddenly drop and drop and drop in price and go for stupid low prices all with Amazon Prime shipping in 2-days. I had a few rolls of wire from Harris, which I assume makes good wire being a wholly owned subsidiary of Lincoln Electric, go for like $50-something including prime shipping, for 33lb rolls of 0.030/0.035" ER70S6

Lo' and behold, just looked at my list...


Can anyone anywhere beat that? Seems tough.

[FusionKing]

Amazon Prime is a great deal with that app for sure!!

I have been slowly changing all my fillers over to Hobart exclusively. When I consider they brought out the first new aluminum filler alloy in over 50 years (4943) I realize that is the mentality I need on MY TEAM!!
I buy from 2 local suppliers who try their best to make me happy (same thinking)

Unlike the Chinese, I am reluctant to try my luck!!

One comeback would stamp out years of cost saving on filler.

If you really want to save money, buy a Chinese welder.

I'm still not over Irwin moving Vice-Grip to China and then sponsoring a Nascar race honoring the American Worker! !!!!!!!!

I will admit I am still a hypocrite and still buy "made in china" products to make my living..... but only when the choice is inevitable or the design is more suited to the task. But filler......hopefully NEVER

[ryanjones2150]

I heard the same grudge against Irwin. If I can find new old stock vice grips, I buy them up.