Has anyone purchased the stud welder that Harbor Freight sells? They have it on sale for 99.99, it is a kit that includes the puller. Seems Cheap I wonder if any good?

Also, I was watching "Overhauling" the other night and a guy was using what looked like a stud welder to heat the metal and then cooling it with a wet cloth to shrink the metal, can this be done with a stud welder?

Thanks for your help!
Terry

Ill throw in my 1 1/2 cents worth (which, coincidentally, is also probably about what that stud welder is worth). I would pass on that welder, Terry. There are some areas that you can get by with using inferior tools, but something like welding is not one of them. I think youll wind up being very disappointed with that $99 welder.

HF sells two studwelder kits. One "on sale" for $99 and the other one for $134. The stud welder that sells for $99.00 has a 1% duty cycle (thats not a misprint - 1%). What that means is in a 200 seconds, a little over three and a half minutes it is designed to be used for a two second burst. Sit and cool for 3 minutes then another two second burst followed by another 3 minute cool down period. I don't know what the duty cycle of the MotorGuard stud welders are but its a foregone conclusion that the duty cycle with them is a considerably more than 1%.

HF's other stud welder that sells for $134.00 has a 2% duty cycle. To be honest with you, I would spend another $66.00 and get the MotorGuards starter kit which is a high end product. I've used mine for about 10 years trouble free.

I sell one that I've been using for years and it works great. The HS Unispotter will weld studs all day long and does a great job at shrinking metal. The Starter Kit sells for $189.50 and comes with a slide hammer and a couple studs but you'll probably want to purchase a box of 500 studs for another $12.50 so you have enough to do a job. If you are going to do any shrinking you can get a shrink tip added to the kit for $8.50

This is a professional tool of excellent quality for the money.

http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/HS4500.jpg
HS Unispotter Stud Welder Link (http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=2SW)

Len, isn't MotorGuard and H&S one and the same company ?

Len, isn't MotorGuard and H&S one and the same company ?

Not that I know of. The only products that I'm familiar with that HS makes is the Unispotter and Curetek heat lamps.

I never realized it before that the two were separate companies. The MotorGuard Magna-Spotter and the H&S Uni-Spotter look just about exactly the same and their prices are comparable but apparently they are market place competitiors. I had to look and check to see which one I have, it is the Magna-Spotter but it appears exactly the same to me as the Uni-Spotter.

Thanks for the input, I think I will go with a high end unit. I just have a home shop and wouldn't use it much but I hate to have trouble and wast the money.

Thanks again.

Len , I have a uni spotter model 3540 that I have had for years . Last week it died on me are parts available ? I'm thinking the transformer died..

Len , I have a uni spotter model 3540 that I have had for years . Last week it died on me are parts available ? I'm thinking the transformer died..


I don't see any of that model number listed anywhere. My guess is that its been discontinued. If it has been discontinued it must have been quite a while ago because I've been selling them for many years and only know of the three models that I stock.

Give H&S Auto Shot a call to see if they can help, they may say that the transformer from another model will do the trick. Their number is... 1-905-873-1813

If they can give you a part number I can probably get the part for you but it would be my guess that you might save time and trouble if you invested in the Starter Kit especially if you already have the tools that go with the gun.

http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/HS4500.jpg
Starter Kit Link (http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=2SW)