tig welders

[turbogu]

Hey all, i want to get my self a tig welder, already got a uni-mig 210 pro craft and im rapt with the job it does but i want to upgrade so i can do a few more things, was wondering if any one can point me in the direction of getting one, no one has any thing in tassie that has really interested me yet and they are all to expensive, i know these are not the cheapest thing around but some one has gotta know where to get good deals

im after a ac/dc 240v cause i dont have 3 phase power

if at worst they are all to expensive ill look at a dc inverter but thats last resort

any one got 1 or recomendations on bbrands, models???

any help would be great

[bru21]

you would be lucky to get change outta 5k for a new one.

i picked up and old style ac/dc transtig 180 1,2&3 phase interchangable for $700 then the 2 bottom coils burnt out (my fault) so i will look at getting them rewound. the coil style are heavier but not much worse than the good new inverter ones. tig is so slow and you need either a std flip down helmet or a $500 plus auto one the cheaper ones are no good.

good luck

bru

[mickbeny]

Hi all...If you want to weld aluminium,your going to need AC High frequencie on your welder.If your only intersted in mildsteel,stainless,coper ect,all you need is DC negative.The better the quality machine you get the more smoother and stable arc.Getting an inverter to change your AC welder to DC does work ok,but the arc is very unstable for top quality work.Look at machines like Esab,Miller,CIG ect.

[turbogu]

ok so i know its probably not the best machine around but for a ac/dc 240 tig it looks pretty good to me and its price is way under the scary 5g mark, any opinions greatly appreciated

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46413&item=4375684272&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

(hope the link works)

[Pauwolf]

lokks ok for the price, doesnt look like total crap, if you arent going to use it to earn a living would prob be ok. looks like hes sold a few, if they were shit I doubt hed be still selling them

[spazbot]

id just get and inverter one for learning etc, something like a esab caddy or a cigweld one

[mickyd555]

at work we had an inverter stick welder with tig attachment, i cant tig weld so im not sure if thats good or bad. it cost about $800 from memory and apparently did an ok job.......

[Bush65]

Fronius Magic Wave.

Or Kemppi Mastertig.

[awill4x4]

As a full time Tig welder in the motorsports trade I would recommend an inverter machine, they are much better in their power use than the old style transformer machines. My old Transtig 180 would melt the plug off the wall when welding on AC for aluminium. The inverters are much better in this regard, My 300 amp 3 phase OTC inverter Tig will pull 250 amps out of a 10 amp plug at the front of the factory our Miller Syncrowave would trip the circuit breaker if I attempted those sort of amps.
Another thing about inverters is the quality of the arc is sensational and the ability to change arc wave forms which the transformer machines can't do.
The top of the line quality Tigs are Kempii , Fronius, Miller Dynasty DX 200. below them I would rate BOC, Lincoln and Thermal Dynamics and below them are the "no name" brands which are marketed often with little backup if a problem occurs.
Regards Andrew.

[turbogu]

hey all, thanks for the replys, im going to follow this auction and see how far it goes and have a bid, going by the specs it seems pretty good, i know it might not be the best quality of circuits inside but its under half the price of esabs, fronius, cig......... and its only for personal use im not running a shop or any thing i just like to play and build my own stuff

as far as the rest go there just a bit to expensive to get just to play with and this has better specs ( i.e output amps at a certain % duty cycle, less current draw) than i lot i have seen so far and i think i have seen just about every tig on the market

thanks heaps for all the input and keep the suggestions coming or if you got any hints to a bargain send em on my way

does any one know of any good trade places that might have second hand units??

cheers sean