Great Products.... but bad service

[starace]

Hi all,

First I'd like to say thanks to all here as I was lurking, reading threads to decide what machines to buy. I'm starting to do some steel sculpting so I saved and bought a Spectrum 625 Plasma cutter and a Dynasty 200 DX, both of these are GREAT machines.

I also bought an Elite "OCC" "Pauly Jr." Hemlet and it's pretty cool, but.....
After only a couple of hours the headgear wouldn't tighten, and the helmet would slip down my head and I cannot see out the window.

I looked inside the ratchet mechanism and saw that the threads are stripped so I made a call to Miller tech support, they said I need to go to my nearest Miller dealer so they can order one for me. I went to my airgas dealer in Fort Myers Florida where I get my tanks filled...... a mere 20 mile ride in seasonal traffic. They said they would make the call. Well a few weeks have passed and I contacted Airgas and they said they forget to call and they didn't even know how to order a repair part!!!!!!! Airgas said they would promise to make the call again......... well another two weeks have passed.

Now I'm using the helmet today and it's falling off and bouncing on the concrete............ I am soooooooooo pissed off.

Miller reccomended that I try to find another dealer that might actually support their products!!!!! Where I live my resources are limited at best, and having to get in my car and try to find a dealer that will make the call is totally UNREASONABLE!!!!! Why can't miller just send me the darn part?

Please.......Please...... Any help here?

Thanks

Pat Starace

[TOMWELDS]

I have a miller dealer thats 10 minutes from me. Because of the lousy way i was treated, i now go to one over an hour away. Sorry about your bad experience...i know mine was horrible.

[MAC702]

Yep, I've dealt with bad dealers here too. Ones that stock all the brands, not just Miller. Fortunately here, I have several dealers to choose from, and right now Airgas is the one getting my business.

I will say this though, MILLER will set you right, regardless how bad of a dealer you might have gotten. Go to the "contact us" part of the website and call them personally. Though I would expect you will get a good reply on Monday morning through this thread anyway as soon as they see what's happened.

Personally, I dislike the relationship between Miller and OCC. I'd chaulk the whole experience up to bad kharma from being associated with those losers.

[HAWK]

starace,

If you will email me, I'll put you in touch with the product manager and you will get everything you need in short order. You will probably get more if the truth be known. [email protected]

[HAWK]

Starace,

I sent you an email through the forum. Please confirm that you received it. The information contained therein should take care of your problems. Let us know how it turns out.

[admweld]

I HAD SAME PROBLEM WITH MY BWE HELMET STRIPPED HEADGEAR .MILLER
WILL WARRENTY FOR YOU MY DEALER GAVE ME A NEW HEAD GEAR LAST WEEK FOR FREE. GOOD LUCK DON,T GIVE UP YET.

[Blown S-10]

i have 3 hoods. a jackson shadow, $30. a harbor freight auto dark, $50. and a BWE. the bwe headgear is the worst of all 3
its just really crappy.

[HAWK]

Helmet Fix

Blown S10,

I sent you an email through the forum to remedy your helmet headgear issue. Let me know what happens.

[MAC702]

This thread has me a little concerned. Maybe we could hear a little more from BWE users. I still have my Jackson EQC Executive, one of the early top-of-the-line auto hoods. The lens is still awesome, but the headgear has sucked beans from day 1. I have a $20 Lincoln hood from Home Depot that has much better headgear. The problem I have is that it is almost impossible to get a setting where the thing stays up out of your face for more than 30 seconds; it just slowly drops down unless you wrench it onto your head so tight that you see stars without even striking an arc. I've been planning on getting an BWE, but I'm certainly tired of imperfection in the headgear. I used a buddy's Optrel one afternoon; don't remember any problems with its headgear. I really want to go Miller, though. So guys, just how IS the headgear?

[HAWK]

Hey MAC,

Give me a few minutes and I'll give you a run down on the hood-good and bad.

[HAWK]

Information Good and Bad as promised

MAC702,

I have a BWE and use it almost exclusively! It is a great helmet with a super comfortable head gear. It is the only head gear I have used or seen that has an half elliptical shaped cushion on the top band that really conforms to your head. The original head gear had some problems as far as the tightening nut stripping out. Also the original headgear would slip some allowing the hood to fall down into the welding position rather than staying flipped open.

A new head gear had been designed and is being used in the new BWE that fixes these problems. Also all BWE’s can be retrofitted at no charge! There are no other bad points that I have found after using mine for a year+. There is a minor issue that the electronic sensor will turn off after 15 minutes of non arc time. It only requires a push of an internal button to re-activate it. All the controls are inside: on, shade ( 9-13+), sensitivity, and delay.

This unit incorporates 4 independent active sensors so being flashed on low level TIG applications is not a problem. Basically the BWE has no “arc” blind spots. I really appreciate this feature when welding tubing on coolers where it is easy to have the view of the arc totally block by a riser tube or fin.

There have been few complaints that the BWE has no grind mode. I grind with mine all the time. All it takes is turning the sensitivity knob to low and the grinding sparks will NOT darken the BWE during grinding.

The BWE IS AWESOME. I LOVE THE LARGER VIEW!

I was using an Optrel Satellite before the BWE. It is a nice hood, but nowhere near as comfortable as the NEW. It has eaten me alive on arc flash when tigging tubes that create “arc” blind spots! Its controls are all outside and it features a push button grind mode as well. It is solar powered and is always on. For me the outside controls are just an invite to break or be knocked off. It also has a dual range shade adjustment: 5-9 and 9-13. Even at 3 amps using a .100” thoriated tungsten the number 9 shade is plenty light enough on the BWE.

Happy decision making and let me know what you get.

[MAC702]

Okay, I'm sold. I already prefer the controls inside (like my Jackson) and the auto-off has never bothered me. My Jackson has that, too. Also, I grind all the time with the Jackson on low sensitivity. In fact, the ONLY thing I didn't like was the headgear. The BWE is next. Amy can have the Jackson...

[HAWK]

MAC702,

I do not think you will regret the decision! Great product!

[hankj]

I've only had my BWE a few weeks, and it probably has less than 5 hours of use, but it is the MOST comfortable hat I've ever worn, and I've experienced no problems with the headgear. I'm with HAWK on the front band cushion. I can crank it down thight enough to work out of position, it won't slip, and I don't get a headache, and **** you can see out of this thing!

I've used a Speedglas, Nex-Gen and an Optrell at dealers demos, and I still think this is the best hat I've ever worn.

Sure hope you get it fixed soon. I'm sure Miller will step up.

Hank

[HAWK]

Great back up!

Hankj,

Thanks for the positive remarks!