Recommendations for a TIG.

[mattsluxtruck]

Hi all
I am chasing up some recommendations for a TIG for home use.
I will be starting out with it and want to weld up some aluminium toolboxs etc for my camp trailer further down the track so I know it has to be an AC unit.
I am not looking for top of the line stuff here like a professional would use but dont want to buy a pile of junk that I have issues getting consumables for and getting repaired if required.
Im in Sydney and my budget is around the $1200 mark so if you have any good pointers chuck them in.
Cheers Matt

[OUTLAW565]

Kemppi or Fronius...

[91Mav]

G'day Matt,
The cheapest (new) high frequency AC/DC TIG I've seen is a unimig from H&F for $1600. You might find a 2nd hand one cheaper on eBay? I know you said you were keen on a TIG but a decent MIG will weld ally almost as sweet and much faster. GASWELD sell a Lincoln 180c MIG for about $1100 from memory. You'll want either a teflon lined hose or the torch with the small spool of wire attached for ally though.
Maybe go and visit both shops when you get a chance and have a look.
Good luck.

[mattsluxtruck]

Cheers 91 Mav.
I have my current BOC MIG that Im actually very happy with as far as welding with goes.
I might pop over to a welding joint when I get a chance and look at seeing if I can get a gun with the teflon liner as you recommend or the gun with the small wire spool that will fit it.
Either way I will still need to do the extra hire of the argon cylinder so it might just be a better option all round.
Cheers.

[Ice]

Kemppi or Fronius...

You may have missed a 0 in his $1200 budget, not 12k

[mick3434]

We have one nearly indentical as this at work with different name on it, not the best welder to use by far but has done a bit of work now with no problems. But you do get what you pay for.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROSSI-TIG-WELDER ... 20b5645823" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mattsluxtruck]

We have one nearly indentical as this at work with different name on it, not the best welder to use by far but has done a bit of work now with no problems. But you do get what you pay for.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROSSI-TIG-WELDER ... 20b5645823" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was actually looking at that one in particular.
Just not convinced yet on the quality. I would rather not get one at all instead of getting one that was going to end up causing a whole heap of issues.

[bru21]

I have a unitig 200 and love it. Cost me 1698, but they are around $1400 now if you look. Try trade tools or as mentioned hare and forbes

[Northside 4x4]

Anything around $1500 will be your entry point ac/dc TIG.

We have a Kemppi at work and its nice to use and does have alot of 'quick setup' buttons and settings so you can just punch in metal thickness etc... and it sets it all up for you when your just doing minor work.

For the average person though, even on a cheap welder you will spend days and days setting it up and finding out what each setting does.

I would recommend jumping onto some of the welding forums and reading their FAQ's and Guides before having a crack at it.

[Yo_jono]

Hey mate.

I highly suggest giving Silverwater welding a call And talking too a bloke by the name of Mark Thomas, There phone number is 9748 1868

I have gotten some top deals from them, And This bloke is great to deal with. Really knows his stuff!

Cheers
Jono

[wrinkled bits]

Buy from a local dealer.
my son-in-law bought a mitech 200 from ebay, for $1100-00 had all the bells and whistles, ac dc, plasma, worked like a treat for about 4 weeks.
then the hi frequency board went , can't get parts, or any one to fix it, seller not interested, as he already had his money, and positive feedback. sold it for parts in the end.
it may be worth paying a little more, for the peace of mind that if it brakes , you can get it fixed, or at least chock the shit out of the basted how sold it to you.
ps. a small business, relies on referral and repeat business.

[KRAWLA]

mate i bought a unitig 200 acdc for what u want to do it will be fine ive used cig and fronius machines both are really good but for the money u want to spend the unitig is great! read the book and hook it up... just my 2c...
i got mine from sydney tools for $1300 money well spent

[awill4x4]

The generic chinese Tig machines (and this includes the UniTig 200) are ok for home handyman type use but won't hack it in an industrial evironment where you start to push the machines close to their duty cycle.
The on/off switch and H/F boards are cr@p, the air cooled torches become a limiting factor when running high amps on AC and will overheat quickly (as do the earth leads) but when you add a water cooled torch that's when the fun begins.
A water cooled torch allows the user to push the machine pretty hard and it's then you see just how quickly you will hit it's duty cycle and it's internal thermal overload switch.
Terrible pulse control with not much chance of getting them to pulse much below 2-3 pulses per second. AC balance adequate (just) but not much better than an old square wave transformer machine.
No Hertz adjustment on the AC cycle, I use this a lot on my Kemppi and know just how good a feature this is to have.
For the home handyman, yeah, I can see its uses but for the professional welder particularly if you do a lot of AC Aluminium welding you would be disappointed.
Regards Andrew.