Small TIG; any suggestions?

There are two types of TIGs, transformers based and inverter

First off, stick with a Lincoln or Miller

Tranformer Based

You can get great deals on the Lincoln Precision Tig 225 / Miller Synchrowave 200. The next step cheaper would be the Lincoln Square Wave 175 / Miller Diversion . If you have the money , spring for a PT225 / SW 200

Anyone who says you need an inverter tig for welding thin material ( aluminum ) is incorrect. The aerospace guys have been using transformer machines for decades

If you every want to weld 1/4" aluminum or heavier , you should look for a Synchrowave 250 / Precision Tig 275 package

Inverter Based

The advantage for inveter is the variable frequency AC . Increasing frequency ( tranformer machines are 60Hz output ) to over 100 Hz narrows the arc cone. This helps maintain a sharpened point when welding AC

This is nice for fillet welds etc when welding thin aluminum. It does nothing for you for heavier aluminum

Miller Dynasty / Lincoln Invertec are the two most popular in the industry. Problem with the inverters are they cost significantly more. Unless you need the small size and variable frequency AC then the transformers are a good choice

I am in welder service shops just about every other day. You will have a cow when you see how much a board is for a Dynasty / Invertec

Although people play with AC balance ( more DC negative ) to help maintain point, this is not the best way to do it. Reason being is you sacrifice the cleaning cycle ( DC + ) which is needed for aluminum and magnesium. Problem with turning past 70% balance is you run the risk of internal porosity ( aluminum porosity seldom comes to the top as it does in carbon steels )

Trust me on this. I have seen lots of failed welds (seen in descructive test, in NTD , failed pressure test etc ) with people getting forcing machine to penetrate instead of cleaning. Our aluminum welding technology lab has buckets of failed welds that customer send back for analysis. Aluminum is very succeptable to hydrogen porosity , unlike carbon steel , stainless etc

You are much better off running 70% at most and turning AC frequency up to 200Hz

Lastly, don't get sold on the helium blends. If you need a helium blend, you should buy a larger machine. I will spare you the boring details but suffice to say it is much harder on the welder ....the additional energy doesn't magically come from the gas, it comes form the welder
 
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If you don't need to weld aluminum, you don't need AC. You can weld DC tig with a stick machine if you learn how to scratch start, but it can be frustrating on small parts. A Miller Maxstar with lift arc start is a reliable, easy to use machine. They are relatively cheap and stick weld too. I like to have a foot pedal even with DC, not mandatory though. I have Red and Blue brands of welders, but most of my home projects get done with a cheap Chinese 3 in 1 machine. It hasn't melted down yet and is a surprisingly good machine. The Chinese machines are higher risk purchases though, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I got one that works.
 
Definitely go with miller. Service and warranty is excellent with most parts shipped overnight. Lincoln warranty is terrible and takes forever to get parts. I own a Lincoln 355 sqauarewave a miller 350 syncrowave and a miller syncrowave 500 and a small 110v miller 100 amp machine for commercial kitchen work. If you watch the machine and welding shop auctions you could get a larger better machine for cheaper than a small new one. I bought my Syncrowave 500 at auction for only $600. For small steel gun parts the cheapest would be to put a air cooled torch on DC CC Arc welder and just use scratch start.

Wade
 
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TIG WELDING? be cheap...use an inexpensive micro wave conversion (ac/DC), attached your tig unit .. learn how to weld and away you go!!! :) if you need plans PM me.. i have built it, tested it and used it on stainless(316, 410, 420 440) , chrome molly, mild steel and 4120 hardenable steels.. do i need it no!...just another project :)
 
Anvil said:
.....<snippage>...... Chinese 3 in 1 machine. It hasn't melted down yet and is a surprisingly good machine. The Chinese machines are higher risk purchases though, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I got one that works.
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That was a real problem for a friend of mine that was setting himself up to resell them. He walked after the supplier was unable to provide support. The ones that worked, worked pretty well, the ones that didn't, usually meant having to pillage the stock in storage. It becomes unprofitable quite quickly.

At least with the 'local' brands, you have someone to talk to for parts.

Cheers
Trev
 
wadedc said:
Definitely go with miller. Service and warranty is excellent with most parts shipped overnight. Lincoln warranty is terrible and takes forever to get parts
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Lincoln warranty ships parts overnight UPS Air as long as warranty / order filed by 2PM to 3PM EST .

If its not warranty, it boils down to how much you want to spend shipping it since the distributor is paying and will pass on the charges

Exception are parts that cannot be couriered . Miller is the same btw . Can't courier a armature ...just too damn big

Lincolns warranty was pretty by the book for years, but has come a long way in the past 8 to 10 years. Now they are pretty flexible

What makes or breaks welder repair and service is the local shop. There are lots of awesome Lincoln / Miller etc repair shops, and there are some horrible ones. Generally speaking the smaller the town, the worst they are because small towns seldom have more than one field service shop
 
I'm at best only fair with a TIG but have spent my working life fixing them among other things, stick with Miller or Lincoln. They both are top machines and parts and service are excellent on both. Don't know what happened in Saskatchewan but my guess is a bad service depot not a Lincoln problem. Parts will be available for any Lincoln or Miller machine until till long after you no longer want to use it, as well. Good luck on getting any of the off brand ones worked on or fixed, there is absolutely no after sales support and in some cases zero parts availability. For what it's worth after 40 years of fixing welders.
 
Great support from Miller. Haven't had a problem with my Lincoln yet. To be fair to the Miller, I bought it in pretty rough condition, the Lincoln was new. So I'm not making an comparisons.
 
trevj said:
That was a real problem for a friend of mine that was setting himself up to resell them. He walked after the supplier was unable to provide support. The ones that worked, worked pretty well, the ones that didn't, usually meant having to pillage the stock in storage. It becomes unprofitable quite quickly.

At least with the 'local' brands, you have someone to talk to for parts.

Cheers
Trev
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I can't disagree with you about sticking with local brands.
I bought the Chinese machine because I was curious about it. It cost me $500 delivered to my door, runs on 110v or 220v, puts out ~200 amps welding and cuts 1/2 steel with the plasma. Quality control is the issue with these machine. I expected my machine to go up in flames the first time I used it, but it is still going. There are a couple of importers that claim to have warranty for them, time will tell.
 
I looked into getting CSa approval for some popular Chinese welder s and plasma cutters. The mfgrs couldn't provide the necessary info on components to get it done. I guess they don't have consistent suppliers, and just shop the market for components, a dicey qc risk in china.
 
Look into the canadian made line of everlast welders, are a great unit, and half the cost of the big names for same or better quality, they use a siemens parts inside so you know they will last, ive got a power tig 185 and are comparable to miller, there is even a guy on youtube ( welding tips and tricks.com that compared the 2 directly, ive heard customer service is top notch too
 
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Are you sure they're Canadian Made? Everything I ever found on them says Chinese(including the price), even some of the look is very chinese in design. Along with their horrible tactics on the internet and shady website that says nothing about who and what they are. They have to advertise on kijiji, ebay, and spam websites. Personally I wouldn't touch them.

Stick to Miller, Lincoln, Thermal Arc, HTP, or ESAB. I'm not sure if HTP does much in canada though.
 
Lead Loader said:
Look into the canadian made line of everlast welders, are a great unit, and half the cost of the big names for same or better quality, they use a siemens parts inside so you know they will last, ive got a power tig 185 and are comparable to miller, there is even a guy on youtube ( welding tips and tricks.com that compared the 2 directly, ive heard customer service is top notch too
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They are Chinese.
 
I've always wanted a good TIG welder, but for the $ there is no point in cheaping out.

you either spend a lot on a machine and hope for the best, or a LOT! on a machine and get good warranty

You really do get what you pay for with these machines.
 
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