I feel most of the forum will suggest the benchmark for portable tig welders, the dynasty 200dx.

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Before you buy a product made in China, watch this first:

http://youtu.be/W0VjwU8cWEw

 

Good one! Thanks for sharing!!

 

I am in a very similar boat. I have a miller 180 mig and just ordered a miller diversion 180 from cyberweld. Currently working on a keggle for a friend and have four empty kegs in the waiting at home. I would have loved to have bought the dynasty but the diversion fits my needs better as a hobbyist with only 110. Try and buy American if you can. We need to keep all of the jobs that we can.

 

I know that this one has been beaten to death.

I currently have a MM175 MIG

Mig can run stainless. Its just when the metal gets thin that it gets tougher. I would prefer TIG in that respect.

Also, when I ahve something thicker on the '4x4 I'd like the option to run stick.

I'd almost always prefer a decent MIG to running stick. Realistically on a truck you should never have something much over 1/8" I suspect you MIG is fine for that. If you are going to build something from scratch, a bigger MIG with bigger duty cycle would fit the bill.

I was thinking maybe setting up the MIG machine w/ 100% argon, and some sort of purge plug might work for sanitary welding? I've done some searching about doing this but its all become rather muddled.

Pure argon is typically only used for aluminum. For sanitary welding, you want a very low CO2 gas - like maybe 2%. The CO2 helps keep the arc stable. Some have reported success with a 98/2O2 (oxygen) mix. Just be aware that carbon is the enemy to stainless and CO2 in amounts greater than 4% will significantly reduce the corrosion resistance. O2 is even more reactive.
The standard, go to blend for stainless is actually a 3 gas combination - typically called "tri-mix": 90 helium - 7.5 argon and 2.5% CO2. The helium will put a lot more heat into the metal. If you are doing tubing, consider tryin .030 wire and the 98/2CO2.

The welder I am looking at is a Longevity 186 TIG machine. It will do AC and DC TIG, pulsed TIG and stick welding.
I plan on doing, maybe 3/16 or 1/4" SS at the thickest.

Well, I'm not a big fan of the Chinese welders. Pick your reason, quaility, engineering, integrity, spare parts, keeping jobs here in the USA - at least North America. Whatever. You may get lucky and get a good one that might last. I would suggest that buying a quality Miller - used - will allow you to recoup your money should you decide to sell at some point. Good luck recouping your money on a Longevity.

Since you didn't mention aluminum, you really don't need AC. That really opens up your choices.
Your going to want high frequency start - and that pretty much dictates using a pedal. You could sell your current welder and go with something like a Thermal Arc 252i. (rumor has it that its made in the USA). That's enough power to do 1/4" easy. If you want to keep the 175, a Miller maxstar 200sx or dx would be a nice add on. Maxstars seem to sell for about 1/3 of what they are asking for dynasty. There are tons of used machines that could fit the bill as well, Syncrowaves, Dialarcs etc. All at different price points. Big transformer machine weigh closer to 500lbs, but will out last your grand kids.

 

Your going to want high frequency start - and that pretty much dictates using a pedal.

I'm far from an expert on all the different welding machines out there, but I'm surprised to hear that. I was under the impression that there were a lot of TIG machines out there that would do HF start/auto upslope and auto downslope/postflow with a button press on the torch. Maybe that's not as common as I thought, though.

 

The welder I am looking at is a Longevity 186 TIG machine. It will do AC and DC TIG, pulsed TIG and stick welding.
I plan on doing, maybe 3/16 or 1/4" SS at the thickest.

Would that Longevity welder be a good choice?
If so, is the foot pedal a good thing to have or can I skip that?

Ugh... I know I typed 'Longevity' (twice in my initial post) but I had intended to put in Thermal Arc 186...

 

Longevity 200EX is 99% same machine as the T/A 186, and made in the same factory. In any case, get the foot pedal. As someone pointed out in another thread, there aren't many "Made in the USA machines any longer, most are made in the USA with import parts.

 

Just remember one thing..
Whatever machine you chose...
It's the OPERATOR not the machine.


...zap!

 

Best advise I can give is before buying, find a member close to you and see if they would let you burn some rod on their machine. You will learn enough to find out what machine will suit you, as well as the primers in technique.

You are welcome to come to my shop and sit down at a machine for some abuse.

 

I'd love to.
Looks like you're in SoCal and I'm in Utardia. Might be a bit of a commute.

I am taking a metal sculpture fine arts class this summer and they have a variety of machines available. SO I am going to play with their machines and see what works for me.

 

Well you're invited out for Weld-o-Drama on June 2nd. Terry'll be there as will an assortment of machines for you to try. Hector's coming out from Yuma as he did for Weld-o-Rama 1, Miller's supporting this one, I know Wes will be bringing out the Longevities hes testing so you'll have alot of welders to try out and more than that, alot of experience to draw from.

 

Because of our technological advancements, mostly transportation, world economic systems now conform to classical entropy. Essentially, we have an unequal distribution of wealth. Because of the lower wealth of other countries, everything will be cheaper. Obeying the natural order of entropy, we will continue to dump wealth on each and every one, until they all equal. Every system in nature behaves this way. EVERY. ONE. Assuming the ability of transfer still exists, or we don't wipe ourselves off the Earth first. If that doesn't sound nice, there are only two options. Go live under a rock, or drop everyone's standard of living to match those of the nations we are trying to avoid dumping wealth into.



Annnyway, as for the welding, essentially any welder capable of generating a good arc will work. Reliability, serviceability, etc, can vary, but the bottom line is that it will come down operator skill to pull off the necessary quality to be classified as sanitary.

 

Sounds like you already have your mind made up on price.

Thermalarc186 from your LWS. That way you are supporting a brick and mortor, and wiil be privy to their. Local service center if a problem arises.

Your LWS can also recommend a weld shop in the area if they cannot answer a question.

Other than that, I am a big fan of the Diversion 180.

Good Luck and try to avoid "Mailorder Mayhem".

 

Out in the plant I use a Maxstar 150, in the shop we have a Syncrowave 350, and I piped in a whole building off of an old round to Idealarc 250 with a scratch start rig.