On Thu, 06 Nov 2014 21:23:17 -0500, Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Fri, 07 Nov 2014 08:57:32 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:
On Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:14:38 -0500, Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Thu, 6 Nov 2014 13:51:40 -0800 (PST), jon_banquer
wrote:
On Thursday, November 6, 2014 1:48:00 PM UTC-8, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 6 Nov 2014 13:42:58 -0800 (PST), jon_banquer
wrote:
On Thursday, November 6, 2014 1:24:25 PM UTC-8, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 6 Nov 2014 12:44:06 -0800 (PST), jon_banquer
wrote:
On Thursday, November 6, 2014 11:36:36 AM UTC-8, wrote:
jon_banquer wrote:
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 4:42:25 PM UTC-8, jon_banquer wrote:*
*http://youtu.be/Lu-catime2c*
Now at 10 views.*
Inverter technology will be the norm as transformers get phased out.*
Yeah in general (outside of the welding field which I know very little about), inverters are cheaper and they are known for switching DC from green power to AC.
I'm sure the inverter inside the Millermatic 190 is made in China to their standards.
Miller will have to keep coming up with unique engineering innovations, preferably patented, or it's all over.
Miller's inverters, including for the 190 and all others, are made by
Miller's Semiconductor Department in Appleton, WI.
Semiconductor components, as with all electronics made everywhere, are
sourced from all over the world. But the inverter assemblies are made
right here in the U.S.
You probably picked that up from one of the blog idiots. All Miller
machines made in China are sold in Asia. I'm in contact with them
every week.
--
Ed Huntress
Just checked with Justin in tech at Miller. The 190 is made in the USA from Chinese parts. Miller also has a Chinese division which does make the inverter power supplies in China.
What do you mean, "Chinese parts"? Semiconductor components, of
course, as I said above.
I'll be meeting with some of their executives next Wednesday. We'll
see what "Justin" was talking about.
--
Ed Huntress
You still won't know what you're talking about, slow Eddy. You didn't even know Miller had a separate Chinese division.
Ha-ha! Jon, whenever you make the mistake of bloviating about things
you know nothing about, you get caught. You did it for years with
CAD/CAM, and you got caught constantly. Now, talking about new
developments and big companies in the welding business, you're on my
turf. We publish welding articles every month, and I even have my
Miler/Hobart media contact on my cell phone "favorites" list. 'Same
for Lincoln Electric.
With increased competition from the Chinese it's only a matter of time before Miller's Chinese division makes all the inverters for Miller.
Tell that to ITW. The Chinese "division" makes low-end welders for the
Asian market. They don't make welders for the U.S. Because they're not
in the US market, I don't know much about them, except that Miller has
announced their existence in their press information in the past. You
probably know nothing about them at all, and won't, until you Google
around or call Justin again.
There are a boatload of Chinese welder manufacturers. Few of them have
a toehold in the US, mostly at the hobbyist end of the market. Whether
they make it to the quality commercial end of the market is an open
issue.
From what I see, small contractors in S.E.A. are using Chinese made
welders almost universally. Some of small shipyards making flat top
barges are still using transformers :-)
The U.S. probably will be slow to accept Chinese welding machines,
partly because they tried selling some real junk over here in the past
few years, and hurt their reputation. But that may change.
Regarding barges: Funny you should bring that up. Barge builders are
still using transformers in a lot of cases here, but that's changing.
Here's an article we publshed a few months ago about a big barge
builder in St. Louis who recently switched from transformer welders to
ESAB inverter machines. ESAB had some reliability problems a few years
ago but this barge company, Eagle Fabrication, gave them a hell of a
workout and they've held up great. They apply *miles* of weld bead to
build a big one of these things. This is dual-shield welding:
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fabs.../march2014/#/7
Most of the S.E.A. barges, up to say ~180 ft. are probably still built
in small yards here. In Singapore the workers are likely to be
Malaysian who live in Malaysia and commute to work in Singapore, at
lower wages then Singaporeans. Generally speaking, things in Malaysia
are about half the price of the same goods in Singapore so even though
the Malaysian is making less than a Singaporean he is still making
more then he can at home. Everyone is happy and people costs are the
lowest cost the yard has.
--
Cheers,
John B.