It’s all about who builds them! Sure there are many differences in materials and workmanship, and I’ll talk about those in future posts, but the bottom line is you want to buy from a company that actually knows something about what they are making or selling, how and what it is used for, and what it’s going to connect to. <\/p>\n
If you look at the industry there are many companies that sell TIG torches — SouthWeld, ProFax, American Torch Tip, Thermacut, Abicor Binzel, CNI, Kuton, MasterWeld, Radnor, Best Welds, Anchor brand, CM Industries etc. etc. <\/p>\n
What’s the Difference?<\/strong><\/p>\n Most of those companies buy from the same importer that buys from the lowest cost supplier in China. We have been there and have seen first hand the so-called factories where these items are built. That’s fine for some things, but as we have seen more and more in the consumer products market, these products are not made to any standards. <\/p>\n Remember these are electrical components that deliver power from your expensive TIG welding machine to the part you want to weld. Most of these companies offer Zero innovation, 100% reverse engineered product– and I’m being kind. The majority of those parts are built to no specifications of any kind — they receive a sample part and they reproduce it. <\/p>\n No matter what you hear “parts are not parts” there is a huge difference, starting with materials: Tellurium copper versus leaded nickel copper, silicone rubber versus hard plastic and even the kind of teflon that is used for insulating gaskets. And then there’s the workmanship: soldering versus brazing, how the cables are made, etc. <\/p>\n