I'll take a $30 harbor freight stud welder over a $300 matco any day

Last week I had to pull 12 dents on a 2017 silverado door and my matco stud welder kept tripping the breaker. Swapped to the cheap harbor freight one I keep as backup and finished the whole job in 45 minutes without a single issue. Has anyone else had a pricey tool just fail on them when it mattered most?

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gavin_reed2mo ago

Did you check if the breaker you kept tripping was actually rated for the amperage draw on that Matco? I've seen guys plug $800 welders into a 15 amp circuit shared with a shop vac and then blame the tool. It might just be that the expensive unit has a higher inrush current that cheaper breakers can't handle, while the Harbor Freight one draws less power by design. What was the specific breaker setup when the Matco kept failing?

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mason8472mo ago

Yeah my buddy had the exact same issue with his unit.

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