I need help with a tig welder

[kctgb]

I have a spool gun for welding thicker aluminum but a half dozen times a year I have weld jobs that require welding thin aluminum. Always small jobs so I don't want to spend a lot of money on a quality tig machine.

Anyone have any suggestions on something that would get me by without spending a lot of money.

I went to the local HF store and they have two but neither is AC capable and I'm not a big fan of buying welders from HF.

[Drf255]

AC tig and cheap don't go together unfortunately.

If you have the power and space, a used tranny machine like a Miller A/BP or equivalent would be your ticket for under a grand. Maybe even a used Syncro 180-200. I've seen ABPs go for under $500 by me.

As for inverters...

The AHP alpha tig and the everlast/longevity have been getting better reviews, but it seems that reliability and customer service still don't match the big boys.

A used Miller diversion might be obtainable for under a grand. A used TA185 for $1200.

I'd buy a TA186 new without hesitation, but at $1700 it may be more than you want to shell out.

If you're not in a rush, keep searching CL. I got my TA Arcmaster 300 brand new and never plugged in for $1000. It's listed at $5500 brand new.

[DSW]

Depending on your location, rental might be an option. Now the down side. AC tig requires a fair amount of skill at tig as well as practice on alum. If you can't already tig weld alum, a rental will do you no good. Tig on alum, especially "thin" alum say less than 14 ga, can be very difficult to learn quickly.

As far as buying your own unit to learn and practice on, I'd have to agree with the above. An older 330 Miller would be a good economical choice on a budget. I've occasionally seen the rebadged Airco units as low as $250 on rare occasions. Typically $400-900 is the usual range though. Newer "better" units will cost you a bit more, say $1500-2000 or so with cylinder depending on options and goodies that come with what ever model you pick.


OA may be another option, but again it's time consuming to learn. Plenty of alum aircraft in WWII were OA welded. If it's not critical, OA brazing is easier to handle and may take care of some jobs.


Oh add your location to your profile so we have an idea where you are at. Someone may know of a deal near by, or you may be able to find someone here you can sub the few jobs out to on those occasions when you need it done.

[kctgb]

I had a dynasty and three months after the warranty expired the circuit board died, it was used very little. If my memory is correct it was $1800 for the circuit board plus labor to fix it. Kind of ridiculous I think. I sold it on CL and took an *** whipping on that one. Kind of afraid to spend to much on something I don't use all that much.

[kctgb]

Depending on your location, rental might be an option. Now the down side. AC tig requires a fair amount of skill at tig as well as practice on alum. If you can't already tig weld alum, a rental will do you no good. Tig on alum, especially "thin" alum say less than 14 ga, can be very difficult to learn quickly.

As far as buying your own unit to learn and practice on, I'd have to agree with the above. An older 330 Miller would be a good economical choice on a budget. I've occasionally seen the rebadged Airco units as low as $250 on rare occasions. Typically $400-900 is the usual range though. Newer "better" units will cost you a bit more, say $1500-2000 or so with cylinder depending on options and goodies that come with what ever model you


OA may be another option, but again it's time consuming to learn. Plenty of alum aircraft in WWII were OA welded. If it's not critical, OA brazing is easier to handle and may take care of some jobs.


Oh add your location to your profile so we have an idea where you are at. Someone may know of a deal near by, or you may be able to find someone here you can sub the few jobs out to on those occasions when you need it done.

I have experience tig welding aluminum so that's not the problem. I just don't want to spend a lot on a tig welder that doesn't get used much. Like I said in my post above I took an azz whipping on one and don't want to do that again. I did see a 330 last summer for $300 on CL a 1/2 hour from me but passed it up, it didn't have any tig accessories with it tho. kicking myself in the azz for that I guess.

[Drf255]

What's your location?

[Gamble]

What's the budget? The thermal arc 186 or longevity 200ex fit the budget pretty well. If that is too much the longevity 200sx is a good/inexpensive alternative. Especially with the 15% off, you can get the thing for like $800. Not bad for an ac/dc dual voltage machine. Granted the foot pedal isn't the greatest but hell for $800 it's hard to complain. It's also IGBT where as the eastwood is mosfet.

[shovelon]

I have a spool gun for welding thicker aluminum but a half dozen times a year I have weld jobs that require welding thin aluminum. Always small jobs so I don't want to spend a lot of money on a quality tig machine.

Anyone have any suggestions on something that would get me by without spending a lot of money.

I went to the local HF store and they have two but neither is AC capable and I'm not a big fan of buying welders from HF.

Thing is if you buy a quality tig welder capable of AC and doing thin alum, you won't be doing it half dozen times a year, it will be half dozen times a month. People cheap out and never realize the potential of quality equipment.

In any case, I would buy new or used welders that have a national dealer support and service. Whatever the price, service and support will bring you down. Eastwood for example will warranty as many times as it takes, but the shipping is on your nickel. The cost of thier import brand is so cheap, they can afford to replace continually. That is the business model. Eventually you may just give up and trash the welder.

I won't mention any other import regurgitaters.

[Willie B]

I haven't found a new machine less than $2000.00 I'd care to own. This includes my Diversion 180. Low cost new machines are limited in what they will do, or aren't dependable. Some have embarassing duty cycles. My Diversion is OK in its place with small steel. Aluminum needs much more heat. It is constantly heating up. New machines that actually weld 16 gauge cost more than $2000.00.
I paid too much but I am coming to love an old Dialarc HF 250. The learning curve has been a long one, but I'm getting good, not yet great, good. I like Miller, others Love Lincoln, the old Ford or Chevy argument. Buy a Syncrowave, pay attention to duty cycle, wait until you find a clean one, don't be afraid to pay more, you'll love it.
If you are buying it to save money, don't buy it! Find someone near you, like me, who buys these things for fun, get them to do your welding. Save a fortune!.

[Gamble]

Everyone worries about duty cycle. I am willing to be that less than 5% of you have actually hit it. And it's an issue for less than .1% of you guys.
I hit the duty cycle once on one of my machines and it cooled down after a minute or two. Big deal.
Also haven't you figured out yet that half the duty cycle ratings are inflated? Or does anyone even look into the temperature the duty cycles are measured at?

[DSW]

I'm not sure I agree with that statement on duty cycle Gamble. I see guys regularly exceeding duty cycle on smaller machines. Just because the machine doesn't turn off, doesn't mean you are not exceeding the duty cycle.

It's much easier to exceed duty cycle when we talk about mig, especially small units. Stick machines tend to be tougher to hit duty cycle limits on average if you stop and clean welds between runs. However it's very easy to exceed duty cycle when doing high amp processes like air arcing. Tig is hit or miss. The speed that tig gets done at and the need to manually add filler tends to help keep duty cycle down. However when you toss alum in the mix, it gets much easier to exceed duty cycles, especially if you are doing shop work and time is money. If you tack up and prep an mid size 1/8" alum box and go around and weld all the seams using a water cooled torch, It's easy to exceed the duty cycle on a 180-200 amp light commercial unit like a Syncrowave 180 or 200. It's almost impossible not to exceed the duty cycle on a machine with a really low duty cycle like a Diversion 165/180.

I'm assuming that the OP is using this for work and not as a hobby from his post. When you make money, it's not always convenient to stop and let your machine cool down because you are pushing the machine hard. I know a lot of guys who really need to jump up to a 250amp class machine for work they do, but because the work isn't regular, make do with a smaller unit for finance reasons. The gamble that they won't break the machine abusing it by exceeding the duty cycle on occasion. David R here comes to mind right away as one example of this. This makes it different than say the home hobbyist who can wait as long as needed for a machine to cool.

[MinnesotaDave]

Everyone worries about duty cycle. I am willing to be that less than 5% of you have actually hit it. And it's an issue for less than .1% of you guys.
I hit the duty cycle once on one of my machines and it cooled down after a minute or two. Big deal.
Also haven't you figured out yet that half the duty cycle ratings are inflated? Or does anyone even look into the temperature the duty cycles are measured at?

Ah, a rant to loosely insult anyone reading it who actually considers duty cycle of a machine important - not very helpful.

Duty cycle is a big deal for me, I have limited time to make money and can't have my machine turn 2 hrs of welding into 4 hours because it can't hang with me. I have zero patience for 20% duty cycle. Yes, I'm in a hurry - it's just my nature

I look for higher duty cycle, about 50-60%, in the ranges I plan to use the machine for. That way it will last a long time.

When I can, I tend to "batch" jobs to pick up speed. Tack a lot together and then have at it.

If I did not use welders for money, I might have a different attitude about it though.

Granted, my Airco 300 is overkill, I would have settled for a Syncrowave 250, but it was dirt cheap.

[CEP]

I can't say I've ever hit the duty cycle, but this is what we got on the job.

[Willie B]

I'm guessing that old Lincoln has a different sort of protection than a limited duty cycle. It cools down while you refill the gas tank.

[CEP]

I'm guessing that old Lincoln has a different sort of protection than a limited duty cycle. It cools down while you refill the gas tank.

What about the 8 to 12-hours it ran at 400 + amps?

[Willie B]

It's a monster, I'm jealous.