Which ESAB Welder?

It's end of year which to me means buy stuff at a tax rate discount so Uncle Sam doesn't get it.
Anywho, trying to decide between the new ESAB Rebel 235 3-in-1 machine or the Fabricator 252i, also 3-in-1. As of now I do zero field work and don't plan to(if I do have to I have a small 110v Hobart that could do the job). I'll be doing light fabrication of brackets and small structural stuff(cart frames, table frames, etc.).

On paper the Fabricator 252i is a better shop machine than the Rebel 235 and it's like 800 bucks cheaper not to mention can put out a bit more amps. Is the dual voltage and SMIG worth that premium?

ME Newb said:

It's end of year which to me means buy stuff at a tax rate discount so Uncle Sam doesn't get it.
Anywho, trying to decide between the new ESAB Rebel 235 3-in-1 machine or the Fabricator 252i, also 3-in-1. As of now I do zero field work and don't plan to(if I do have to I have a small 110v Hobart that could do the job). I'll be doing light fabrication of brackets and small structural stuff(cart frames, table frames, etc.).

On paper the Fabricator 252i is a better shop machine than the Rebel 235 and it's like 800 bucks cheaper not to mention can put out a bit more amps. Is the dual voltage and SMIG worth that premium?

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I would say no. You are buying a 250 amp welder.... You will always be running it on 240v to get the output. SMIG is just a gadget that will help you to avoid learning about the relationship between wire size, wire feed speed and voltage.

I would buy the Fabricator 252.

BTW if you look at the specs, the Fabricator's max output is 300 amps, whereas the Rebel's max output is 250 amps

Dual voltage is a interesting one, i intentionally bought the hypertherm plasma cutter 30xp over its bigger brothers as i could take it and use it any were and very much have done. Do you need that capability? Welding wise if you dont need to work away from 240V then IME it pays to get the most powerful plant you can. But if you envision the need to weld away from home, then alternative commonly available power feeds is a nice option.

Even if you're not doing any kind of heavy work both of those seem very small to me for welding professionally. And without water cooling. But obviously you know what kind of needs you have much better than us. In my experience it is just very annoying to weld without cooling when you need it

adama said:

Dual voltage is a interesting one, i intentionally bought the hypertherm plasma cutter 30xp over its bigger brothers as i could take it and use it any were and very much have done. Do you need that capability? Welding wise if you dont need to work away from 240V then IME it pays to get the most powerful plant you can. But if you envision the need to weld away from home, then alternative commonly available power feeds is a nice option.

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I have a smaller Hobart 140 that I can use on 110 if I need too so I ended up choosing to go with the Fabricator over the Rebel.

Panza said:

Even if you're not doing any kind of heavy work both of those seem very small to me for welding professionally. And without water cooling. But obviously you know what kind of needs you have much better than us. In my experience it is just very annoying to weld without cooling when you need it

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That duty cycle is rated at 104F ambient. I hope it's never that hot in my shop and I'll likely never be running 1/2" fab work continuously. More like 1/4" and maybe some 3/8". I do plan on getting some fixtures made so it should make cycle times pretty quick. We'll see if I run into cooling problems.