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What type of TIG to buy


R Cubed

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Check out the video's by ChuckE2009 on YouTube, If you buy a TIG welder make sure the gas valve is in the machine and not on the handle of the TIG torch, also that it comes with a TIG torch.

 

Diana

 

 

Hi all, I am in the search for a single phase TIG welder about 200Amps ish. Will be used for stainless, Ally and also steel what are the options to look for in a good unit, any make to steer clear of ?
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Hi all, I am in the search for a single phase TIG welder about 200Amps ish. Will be used for stainless, Ally and also steel what are the options to look for in a good unit, any make to steer clear of ?
not sure what Ally is ,

if it's Aluminum, 200 amps will let you weld about 1/4" thick using AC , maybe a little more if it has balance control. I just got rid of our old Transformer based machine because even though it went to 320 amps and was water cooled, with no balance control and 60Hz default it really struggled on thicker AL . Unstable Arc and unable to get enough heat into the weld.

 

To give you an idea of what the modern units do, my New Miller Dyansty 350 is AC balance Default setting at 75% electrode negative and 25% electrode positive at 400Hz. Reason for the first one is you don't need that much electrode positive cleaning action for freshly machined AL bar sock and at 400Hz the Arc does not wander, much better focus on the arc puddle.

 

Second, you didn't say how thick of stainless. Our old unit was good down to about .06" thick sheet. I have to weld much thinner than that sometimes and then I need the machine to be stable down to 15 amps or less in straight DC mode.

 

The old transformer based units are dirt cheap used and run forever , our LTec (ESAB) was wired single phase 400 amp service. Our new Miller is 60 amp 3 Phase. If you don't need the extremes like I do of really thick AL and really thin stainless then your choices are much greater and cheaper.

 

There are small budget inverter based units which are much smaller than the old transformer types but I have never tried one. A friend bought one for a few hundred dollars and he had no complaints on typical stainlesss tubing and schedule 20/40 pipe he welded up for his brewery. I don't think it had AC or HF arc start, DC with scratch start only.

 

I would strongly recommend a water cooled torch as well. A commercial cooler can add hundreds of dollars in cost, but I think it's worth it if you plan to do a lot of welding.

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Would also depend on how deep your pockets are. R tech units work well.
not bad, only $1700. US including VAT , comes with Torch and foot pedal + plenty of modern features and 2 year warranty.

http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/tig-welder-240v-ac-dc-200amp/

 

I paid a hell of lot more than that for the Miller , 4X times more and the pedal was extra and I used my old torch

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Hi all, thanks for the input. Have found a company which is British and stock parts for their welders for 20 years....

Was considering one of these beasties, bit ugly but I am not going to be looking at it.

 

http://technicalarc.co.uk/index.php/tecarc-tig/ac-dc-tigs?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=20&category_id=18

 

Not overly sure about the reliability of inverter unit, like the old school ruggidness.

 

Thoughts please

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I'm not a welder (yet), but I have been watching the ChuckE2009 videos to learn a bit before I get some lessons. This video of a portable battery welder looked interesting for those of us with big lumps of metal that may not be near a convenient socket, albeit DC 150 amp only.

 

It is rather expensive, but thats probably a lot on batteries and fast charger.

 

Something went wrong...

 

If you follow the videos theres another portable unit without the batteries that works on a long extension cable.

Edited by Lauren Child
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Hi all, thanks for the input. Have found a company which is British and stock parts for their welders for 20 years....

Was considering one of these beasties, bit ugly but I am not going to be looking at it.

IMO the basic essential features are all there. They don't specify on a couple, like AC frequency control but.........

 

Not overly sure about the reliability of inverter unit, like the old school ruggidness.

 

Thoughts please

that is not an inverter based unit , it's transformer based
These robustly constructed machines use conventional transformer and thyristor technology, and are not inverter based; this ensures a very long life, good reliability & serviceability and British made quality you can trust.

The transformer units are generally longer lived and more robust, but yeah all that Copper makes for a bigger and heavier chassis. I don't think that's an issue, I want my welder to look like a welder, not a toaster :-D

 

They're warranty is a little disingenuous IMHO

These models have a one year warranty with five years on the main transformer (the heart of the machine).
short of a lightning strike, the transformer is never what fails. What's the warranty on the rest , control board, etc.? They don't say

 

how much are they asking for this thing? keep in mind that the torch and pedal are options too

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looks like £1449 (inc VAT) for the TEC-TIG 225 amp. Add the foot pedal, torch, ground cable and clamp, gas regulator and your going to be back up approaching 2K .

 

 

To me personally, the R-tech 200 amp inverter machine for £1378 complete package is a better choice, but to go inverter or transformer is a personal choice.

 

I would also ask around on a UK forum specifically for welding discussion

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Hi all, thanks for the input. Have found a company which is British and stock parts for their welders for 20 years....

Was considering one of these beasties, bit ugly but I am not going to be looking at it.

 

http://technicalarc.co.uk/index.php/tecarc-tig/ac-dc-tigs?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=20&category_id=18

 

Not overly sure about the reliability of inverter unit, like the old school ruggidness.

 

Thoughts please

A friend of mine is a commercial welder. He has a little inverter set bought about ten years ago. Funnily enough he had it up last week to repair a trailer mud guard. He reckons they are useful little beasts, and have come down in price a lot, but wouldn't use it for heavy work.

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A friend of mine is a commercial welder. He has a little inverter set bought about ten years ago. Funnily enough he had it up last week to repair a trailer mud guard. He reckons they are useful little beasts, and have come down in price a lot, but wouldn't use it for heavy work.

 

That's a good point too, most people don't give much to much attention to duty cycle but if you exceed it the chances of blowing something go way up.

 

Here the standard cycle is 10 minute intervals. So 35% duty cycle rating is 3.5 minutes on, 10 minutes off, 3.5 on etc.

 

oddly enough of the 2 units discussed above the inverter has a higher rating @200 amps , 60% vs. 35% for the transformer. Which makes sense as transformers generate a lot of heat while switching power supplies are way more efficient, run cooler .

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Hi,

 

I have an R-Tech AC/DC 200 Amp invertor unit and i'm very pleased with it. Another good thing about R-Tech is the service is brilliant!!

 

ChuckE is one to look at on Youtube, but I think even better than him is: welding tips and tricks.

 

Good luck, Richard

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Cheers all for the advise, the thing which concerns me with the inverter units is that the welder will not be used often and I have heard inverters dont like sitting round in cold dampish workshops for months on end where the transformer ones are more robust and have lots less electronics in them, oh well we shall have to see.

 

Never TIGed before so whats with all the different filler rods ect and what are the opinions of type of gas to material !!!!

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Most of the inverter welders are light enough to be carried around and even stored indoors. In my experience it's transformer based equipment that can be affected as much by damp, especially when it gets into the windings.

 

I have a multi process welder by Thermal Arc, Mig is ideal for filling bolt or screw holes in panels, so as far as I am concerned a multi process welder is ideal and the bees knees.

 

Diana

 

Cheers all for the advise, the thing which concerns me with the inverter units is that the welder will not be used often and I have heard inverters dont like sitting round in cold dampish workshops for months on end where the transformer ones are more robust and have lots less electronics in them, oh well we shall have to see.

 

Never TIGed before so whats with all the different filler rods ect and what are the opinions of type of gas to material !!!!

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I'm in the USA, so can't say much about brands. Miller has the market around here pretty much locked up though my Lincon welders have always been just as good to me, in theory the Miler support is better.

I can say a bit about inverter VS transformer though having owned several of each over the years:

 

Transformer units tend to last forever but you are going to need 60-100 amps of power to run it. It will weigh several hundred pounds and take up some floor space. The duty cycle tends to be surprisingly limited.

 

An inverter unit will cost a lot more but you can pretty much plug it in to even marginal household power and run a couple hundred amps, your duty cycle will typically be 3x the same rating of transformer welder and you can get 200A in under 50Lbs. I haven't ever had one break but when they do it's often expensive.

Welding Al, I appreciate the frequency control of a inverter welder.

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