Wasted $400 on a cheap spot welder from Harbor Freight

Lasted exactly two jobs. Burned out on the third panel. Welds looked like bird droppings. Their return policy is a joke too. Anyone else get burned by budget tools on a time crunch?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.thomas7d ago

Lol yeah the cheap harbor freight welders are a trap. I blew through two of their $300 units in one summer before I wised up. Bird droppings is being generous, mine looked like someone sneezed aluminum beads onto the metal. For the return policy, you gotta go in with the receipt and the original box or they'll fight you. I ended up just taking the loss and buying a used Miller off Facebook Marketplace for $500, that thing is still running five years later. Live and learn man.

wilson.olivia7d ago

Oh man, the "sneezed aluminum beads" part killed me because that's exactly what mine did. I swear those cheap things are designed to fail right when you need them most. @walker.julia is probably right about the amperage thing too, my buddy had the same issue with his garage wiring and a flux core welder.

walker.julia7d ago

Did you check if it was actually drawing the right amperage from your outlet? @fisher.thomas might've had the same issue, a lot of those cheap units trip breakers on startup and then underperform.