Welding Tips and Tricks

Thinking of getting a new TIG machine. I was going to go the transformer route with a Lincoln 225 Precision or a Miller Syncrowave 200. Then ......I was told of the Thermal ARC 185 TIG. A little more money but a better unit???


I am a serious hme hobbyist with the possibility of starting a small home based fab shop. I want a machine with AC/DC, pulse and AC balance. Kust welding carbon, stainless and aluminum.


Is the Thermal ARC 185 TIG a better machine???

Howabout parts availability and customer support on Thermo ARC???

I dont know if thermal arc is better, but I bought one a few years ago (through the company I was working for at the time) and I really like it. After learning the TIG, (TIG is "almost" better than sex!) I havent stick welded anything in 4 years. Everything works as advertized, But the manual (I think) assumes one has at least some knowlege of the various settings used for TIG. The shop where I bought it (AirGas) is less than 3 miles away, and I asked a LOT of questions, but only once about how to weld. These guys knew how to set the machine, but not how to actually weld, they are first and foremost, salesmen. They always had the correct answers for me though.
In the last 2 months I bought a Lincoln dual 180 wire feeder (this too is almost better than sex), which took about 15 minutes to get passable welds.
At the time of purchase, through the company, the 185 was cheaper than similar machines, and w/o the discount, I prolly would have bought a different brand. Now, I would probably replace it with the same machine, if I had to.
I replaced the gas & elec lines with a 'superflex' line, if you buy one, get that at the same time. -corn-