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I've read quite a few complaints in various threads here about the poor quality of Thermal Arc's customer service. I recently had an occasion to judge their customer service for myself. I have a TA ProWave 300GTSW AC/DC inverter welder. It's an older model that I purchased as a reconditioned unit 5 years ago and it's been running smoothly all that time. About a month ago, though, its flowmeter began showing an argon flow of 5 to 10 cfh anytime the welder was turned on. Since I promptly turn off my welder and the argon tank's valve in between welds, the argon leakage didn't concern me much. Two weeks ago, however, I phoned TA's customer service to ask how I might resolve this problem. A very cheerful sounding guy came on the line and explained to me that the gas solenoid valve probably had a speck of dirt that was keeping it from closing fully shut. He then went into some detail explaining how I should get to the valve and blow the valve out with compressed air. Several days later I opened the case and took off the gas solenoid valve. Looking into the end of its brass barrel I spotted a brown discoloration that appeared to be some kind of corrosion. I tried unsuccessfully with a tiny screwdriver to scrape this off and then blew it out with compressed air. After replacing the valve, I reconnected the welder and then turned it on. Again its argon flowmeter showed a constant 10 cfh flow. I turned off the welder and phoned TA's customer service number again. This time it was to inquire about the part number of the valve because I felt it probably needed to be replaced. The guy that came on the phone line was pleasant but didn't sound too cheerful. He listened to my tale of woe and then looked up the part number for the solenoid valve. After giving me the part number and the price of the part, he had no other suggestions to offer. I then thanked him for the information and hung up. So far I had encountered one cheery customer service rep and a second slightly morose rep. Both, however, attempted to be helpful.
Before ordering the valve at a LWS that is a TA distributor and shelling out $150+ for it, I decided to see if I could find a service manual for my welder. Thermal Arc's website has a lot of operating manuals and some service manuals that can be downloaded from their site. The service manual for my 300GTSW was not one of them, however. But I did find it under their "Order literature" listing. I therefore sent an e-mail to the person in charge of ordering literature and asked the price of the manual. She responded the next day and surprised me by stating in her e-mail that the manual would be sent at no charge to me! About 4 or 5 days later I received the 95 page photocopied manual sent by first class postage. In my book that was first class service I received. From my recent experience I now feel that Thermal Arc's customer service is great. I have no complaints about it
LarryL
Before ordering the valve at a LWS that is a TA distributor and shelling out $150+ for it, I decided to see if I could find a service manual for my welder. Thermal Arc's website has a lot of operating manuals and some service manuals that can be downloaded from their site. The service manual for my 300GTSW was not one of them, however. But I did find it under their "Order literature" listing. I therefore sent an e-mail to the person in charge of ordering literature and asked the price of the manual. She responded the next day and surprised me by stating in her e-mail that the manual would be sent at no charge to me! About 4 or 5 days later I received the 95 page photocopied manual sent by first class postage. In my book that was first class service I received. From my recent experience I now feel that Thermal Arc's customer service is great. I have no complaints about it
LarryL
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