Tig welding

[matty12]

here is one that says it does Aluminium

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/200A-AC-DC-TI...item35a9d131c1

That the exact one i bought.

[aussie260z]

Grab yourself a Kempii or an EWM - BOC have a pretty good deal at the moment for their new TIG (it is just an EWM with a BOC sticker on the side), $5k complete with earth clamp, regulator and torch.

I have used the EWM's, Lincoln Electric Invertec's, CIG Inverter, Kemppi and really old fashioned Lincoln Electric Transformer - all were pretty good except the LE Invertec, just didn't like that machine!

The Kemppi can be got with accessories for around $5500 - the LE and CIG for some weird reason cost about $7500 and are no where near as good, same thing goes for the Millers.

I would probably be in favour of the Kemppi over the rest, but the price of the BOC EWM Machine is very good.

If you don't wanna spend that sort of money I have heard good things about the TokenTools machines, but it, like all of the EBAY tig's are just mass-produced chinese stuff - designed on a budget.

They are not half the price (and 1/3 the price of the Lincoln's and Miller's locally) for no reason :-)!

For example, I bought a little Chinese MIG off EBAY and cooked it within about 4 months - I would be so surprised if the same thing didn't happen with most of the sh£t sold on EBAY.

The other alternative is that you grab a Lincoln or Miller form the US direct - over there you buy them new for about $3k Aust, they are 50/60hz machines and run off 230v - just need to change the plug when it arrives and it will work perfectly - no local warranty of course, but they are supposed to be put together well enough!

Another option is a 2nd hand transformer style TIG - you will need to get 3 phase on, but that would probably set you back around $1500 - spend $1500 on a 3 Phase TIG, which will have a welding capacity of something like 5-300amp's and it will sh£t all over the Chinese TIG's.

But, because TIG's aren't cheap (even the cheap EBAY ones) you gotta ask yourself if you are going to be welding that much stuff together to make this purchase worth it - when you could get your hands on a brilliant single phase mig for about 2k that will allow you to also do alluminium work.

[roadsailing]

I used an ebay DC TIG the other day for thin steel sheet and while im still shit at it it was lots nicer than a MIG, much more control. I'd trust a cheap TIG over a cheap MIG as the TIG has bugger all moving parts and the moving parts are what shit me on my MIG (wire feed toruble etc) and it wasn't even that cheap.

I'd consider getting one instead of a mig for sure, much quieter too.

[aussie260z]

They are all pretty quite, not like any of them are powered by a diesel generator :-)!

There is a fellow in Sydney who sells a brand called "EasyTig", has all the functions that the more expensive machines have and you can grab it for $1600 if you hassle him.

http://www.nationalwelding.com.au/ea...er_machine.htm

Think this is the only TIG in this price range with AC Frequency adjustment?

Guy says he makes his own machines - or at least tells the fellow in China what he wants to be made for him directly, he also sells Kemppi's and other major brands.

He advised that you purchase this sort of machine and throw it away after 18 months and buy a new one because it is so cheap but still has all the functions that you need from the TIG welder. Think this sort of mentality could be applied to all of the Cheaper Chinese style TIG's - might get 5 years out of it, but most likely isn't going to stand up to the tests of time like you would get from a Kemppi, Fronious etc.

But still............

If you are doing lots and lots of welding - gets pretty tedious with the old TIG compared to the MIG, particulary if the welds are really just there for functionality and not presentation.

Can you a very good MIG for $2k - a very good TIG will cost you $5k.

This is from a persective of buying a sh£tload of crappy tools and I am over everything breaking :-)! Got to remember that even though these things are much, much cheaper than the Kemppi's and others - still paying $2k!

Replacing a $2k tool every 18months-2years when you might not use it that often sounds like a pretty expensive exercise to me!!!

Another option still is Oxy-Acetylene welding - quite good for thinner material (not alluminium though) and it is much cheaper to get your hands on the required gear............can be a bit more dangerous though, Acetylene is quite explosive.

[Muziiz]

wow a lot of options as i am only probably going to use it on my next project that will require a fair bit of fabrication work welding both aluminium and steel I settled on a cheaper ebay ac/dc tig. I know it aint gonna be anywhere as reliable as a BOC Tig it should still be ok for around the house jobs.

thanks for all the advice I think I ended up with something of a compromise.

cheers
Muz

[wilbo666]

My ebay tig, which is AC/DC was only ~$800 and that was over 4? years ago now... it's still going... I might have been lucky tho

It's the 160A version of this, so has all the features... eBay


You mention you can weld alloy with MIG, and while you can I'd like you to ask how many people have bought a MIG and welded alloy with it... changing the liner and having to hire a separate bottle of gas is a major disadvantage as I see it.

The thing I love about TIG is that you can go from welding Alloy to Steel in about 2 mins, and you can only have one bottle of gas on hire

Cheers
Wilbo

[Muziiz]

Wilbo this is the one I got

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....=STRK:MEWNX:IT

hoping it will do as its asked !

[marc280]

I picked up one just like this

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/200AMP-AC-DC-...item35a9f5e976

and it has been going great for about 3 years. The funny thing is BOC is now selling the same units rebadged with the BOC label...

http://www.bocworldofwelding.com.au/...c200ac-dc.html

These units have just about all the controls that most people would want for use at home. It also has pulse and can vary the frequency when welding AC. If I needed definite reliabilty and used it every day it might be worth getting a brand name one... but I picked up my ebay unit for about $750, which makes it pretty good deal to me.

Also if you need spares there is a guy called 'shop river' on ebay that I have been told can get parts (new circuit boards) for most of the chinese MIG/TIG machines if anything goes wrong.

[Muziiz]

I picked up one just like this

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/200AMP-AC-DC-...item35a9f5e976

and it has been going great for about 3 years. The funny thing is BOC is now selling the same units rebadged with the BOC label...

http://www.bocworldofwelding.com.au/...c200ac-dc.html

These units have just about all the controls that most people would want for use at home. It also has pulse and can vary the frequency when welding AC. If I needed definite reliabilty and used it every day it might be worth getting a brand name one... but I picked up my ebay unit for about $750, which makes it pretty good deal to me.

Also if you need spares there is a guy called 'shop river' on ebay that I have been told can get parts (new circuit boards) for most of the chinese MIG/TIG machines if anything goes wrong.

mate you are correct those two links you give are identical. i would be surprised if they were different by much .

nearly everything is made in china these days so no surprise there.

[twentyEight]

They do look very similar, but they're not identical, look closer...

[Muziiz]

They do look very similar, but they're not identical, look closer...

well very close then

[marc280]

Yeah, there are a few differences in the layout of the panel on the front, but I've checked the manual of the BOC one against the one I have and they both have the exact same specs (at least rating plate wise).

So your right they might not be identical, but at least very very close.... I'd love to get some pics of the insides of a BOC unit to compare.

[aussie260z]

You mention you can weld alloy with MIG, and while you can I'd like you to ask how many people have bought a MIG and welded alloy with it... changing the liner and having to hire a separate bottle of gas is a major disadvantage as I see it.

Make sure you get a MIG with a Euro-Torch attachment and keep a seperate gun with the right kind of liner hanging on the wall - but your right - is just easier to hit the AC button, change your electrode and filler wire and away you go!

Marc280 - that BOC Smootharc is just the same as the EBAY TIG's I think, but it costs $2500 compared to $1500 :-), comes with a shorter warranty too!

I think I am going to save my pennies and grab the BOC EWM or Kemppi Machine - just don't wanna spend $2k and have to buy a new one in 2 years time, because I know I will break it if it isn't put together properly :-)!

Marc280 - How have you found your TIG for welding alluminium, doing sh#t like fillets and outside corner welds?

To get slightly off-topic here - hows the 280zx/1UZ coming along mate?

[marc280]

I've found the TIG to be great welding aluminium. You have all the control you need to get the heat input right and I also got a pedal with mine so you can easily control what is going on. Fillets and outside corners aren't a problem. I've used a Cigweld (think the model was TransTig 200 ACDC) machine a lot a TAFE and I can't find much difference in their operation. I think the main thing would be the Cigweld has a nice digital display for every setting where mine only has the amps with the digital readout.

When it comes to build quality, that may be a different thing, but no problems for me yet (fingers crossed)! I did quite a lot of searching before I bought mine and there were some really good threads on welding web and woodwork forums about different machines. From what I can tell there can be a big difference from one chinese manufacturer to another for the same model. Some have full ISO9001 (quality standards) certification, others have none...

The conversion is coming along nicely and I've been meaning to start a thread. The engine is running and other major bits are sorted, I'm now trying to sort out the smaller issues. Hopefully should have it driving in a month or two.

[AAAAGZE]

at work we have in stock a 182 amp 3 in one, mig, stick and tig inverter welder.

made by weldmaster, it is a quality unit, with tonnes of power. will outweld others in it's class, and weighs about half of the equivallent transformer style due to it's inverter config.

http://www.weldmaster.com.au/product...d=110&pid=3219

comes with leads, ready to go, from memory around $1800inc gst