ready welder

[JeepN95YJ]

The following break happened four days from the nearest road. The recovery would have been 'epic' without it.

COOL...is there a link to the story?

 

[robert j. yates]

That is the best system out there. Premier Power Welders are awesome. The owner is Pat Gremillion, I have never heard a bad word about the man. He is awesome to deal with and the customer service is top notch. He's always the first to lend a hand on the trail. If your in the market for a OBW system look em up!

I'm going to disagree with that statement based on an experience. A friend of mine had one on his rig and the box somehow took a dump on him and im-mobilized his rig. That was enough for me to know that when I was ready to purchase a welder for my rig, that it would not be tied into my rigs electrical system. The Premier product seems well built and Gremillion has a good rep but folks need to look at the entirety of their situation.

I use a Readywelder and it has kept groups I've been traveling with going on a few different ocassions now. It doesn't mind sitting in my trailer until I need it and it doesn't affect my Jeep one bit at all day in and day out.

 

[JeepN95YJ]

I'm going to disagree with that statement based on an experience. A friend of mine had one on his rig and the box somehow took a dump on him and im-mobilized his rig. That was enough for me to know that when I was ready to purchase a welder for my rig, that it would not be tied into my rigs electrical system.

It doesn't take more than one bad experience to form a very strong opinion on many issues. Myself included.

And because of that one bad experience, I agree with Robert that I don't want my welding system tied to my vehicle's electrical system. My experience was similar in that it happened to a friend while we were on the trail together. The mobi-arc alternator system he was using somehow shorted its voltage regulator and fried his brand new optima battery and his ECM computer. In short (no pun intended) we were stuck in the woods of TN with a long tow back to the campground and a uhaul rental to get the Jeep back to OH.

I keep my welding outfit VERY simple. Dual batteries, a pair of jumper cables, gloves, shield and a tube of rod.

I've seen the Premier and the Mobi-arc in action and they work great. I know probably 20 people with these systems and only know of the one failure.

 

[AndrewP]

It doesn't take more than one bad experience to form a very strong opinion on many issues. Myself included.

And because of that one bad experience, I agree with Robert that I don't want my welding system tied to my vehicle's electrical system. My experience was similar in that it happened to a friend while we were on the trail together. The mobi-arc alternator system he was using somehow shorted its voltage regulator and fried his brand new optima battery and his ECM computer. In short (no pun intended) we were stuck in the woods of TN with a long tow back to the campground and a uhaul rental to get the Jeep back to OH.

I keep my welding outfit VERY simple. Dual batteries, a pair of jumper cables, gloves, shield and a tube of rod.

I've seen the Premier and the Mobi-arc in action and they work great. I know probably 20 people with these systems and only know of the one failure.

Totally agree with the keep it simple idea. I've seen the Ready Welder and the "Go-Weld" used in field conditions, and both saved the day. The Ready Welder is more compact and simpler, the Go-Weld is bigger, heavier, and a bit more sophisticated. I'd have either on board. In both cases we pulled the batteries out of the trucks so there was no connection to the electrical system at all. It does mean you need to bring a lot of extra gear, like angle grinder, drill, helmet, extra metal etc.

 

[Fifthpro]

It doesn't take more than one bad experience to form a very strong opinion on many issues. Myself included.

And because of that one bad experience, I agree with Robert that I don't want my welding system tied to my vehicle's electrical system. My experience was similar in that it happened to a friend while we were on the trail together. The mobi-arc alternator system he was using somehow shorted its voltage regulator and fried his brand new optima battery and his ECM computer. In short (no pun intended) we were stuck in the woods of TN with a long tow back to the campground and a uhaul rental to get the Jeep back to OH.

I keep my welding outfit VERY simple. Dual batteries, a pair of jumper cables, gloves, shield and a tube of rod.

I've seen the Premier and the Mobi-arc in action and they work great. I know probably 20 people with these systems and only know of the one failure.

Questions for both that witnessed issues:
1. Were the guy welding on their own vehicles at the time of failure?
2. What if anything did the company do to replace/fix damages? You have two of the top makers Premium & Mobi-Arc involved and I am curious how the companies reacted.

 

[lowenbrau]

COOL...is there a link to the story?

Um no, not really. I think there is a story in the works for the TLCA magazine, Toyota Trails but I don't know when to expect it. I'm happy to tell it around a campfire though.

 

[JeepN95YJ]

Questions for both that witnessed issues:
1. Were the guy welding on their own vehicles at the time of failure?
2. What if anything did the company do to replace/fix damages? You have two of the top makers Premium & Mobi-Arc involved and I am curious how the companies reacted.

Fair questions...

1. No. Not welding at all. Simply driving on the trail. The system was less than 1 month old. The system had never been used except for the initial test after installation.

2. I know Mobi-Arc replaced the alternator. This incident occured about 8 years ago, so I'm a little fuzzy with the rest of the details. I "think" they made the damage to the computer and battery "right" as well. I do remember that my friend was satisfied with outcome to the problem.

 

[Digger]

Fair questions...

1. No. Not welding at all. Simply driving on the trail. The system was less than 1 month old. The system had never been used except for the initial test after installation.

2. I know Mobi-Arc replaced the alternator. This incident occured about 8 years ago, so I'm a little fuzzy with the rest of the details. I "think" they made the damage to the computer and battery "right" as well. I do remember that my friend was satisfied with outcome to the problem.

I looked at both the Ready Welder and the Premier Power Welder systems. My problem with the Premier Power Welder system is that it is tied to my truck's electrical system. Now someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that it is good practice to disconnect the battery ground lead of a vehicle that is being welded on to prevent the amperage from flowing through and frying the electronics. I also understand that a vehicle's battery should not be disconnected while the engine is running because once again, there is potential to damage the electronics. Now how does one weld on their own truck with a Premier welder if they can't run the engine?

Anyway, I bought the Ready Welder at half the price and in the first year, used it 3 times to fix other people's rigs.

BTW - I run dual batteries already, so power for the welder is not a problem.

4-runner with suspension damage 7.5 hours from help. (Picture of grinding, not welding)

Repairing a damaged driveshaft 2 hours from help

 

[Fifthpro]

Thanks for the feedback to the questions guys.

I am currently in the research phase prior to purchase of an on-board welder when I saw this post listing some problems. Just like anything there are going to be that percentage of failures; which lead to my question on what each company did to fix the problems. I am much more familiar with the Premium Power Welder and Pat Gremillion's reputation than that of the Mobi-Arc but one has to consider both when looking for the best product.

Thanks again.