Welding Tips and Tricks

I imagine this is a tiresome question around here but thought I would try anyway. I'm ready to buy a tig welder and have about $3500 to spend. I've done a bit of mig and stick welding for the last 20 years or so, but have a laundry list of projects that call for tig so I'm committed to learning.

I've probably spent too much time researching welders. I know what's good and what to avoid but there's a lot inbetween that I can't quite settle on. A Miller Dynasty 200 or 350 with a water-cooled torch would be awesome but that's well outside my budget. The Diversion 180 seems nice but I like the idea of growing into a welder and eventually being proficient with all the settings, so the preset thing is offputting.

Most of my projects involve mild steel tubing - motorcycle exhaust, frame fabrication, furniture, etc... the usual hobbyist stuff. So... you've got $3500 to spend this weekend. What tig welder would you look for and bring home to piss off the wife?

Hey,

Half your luck mate, I wish I had that budget. You will have no trouble finding an excellent welder for that amount. The question is, how much are you likely to use it? No need to get a totally bad ass Miller or Lincoln for 3k if its only going to sit in the garage and get used once a month. There are Videos that Jody has made comparing the Diversion 180 and to an Everlast welder.

I know what you mean about growing into a welder, but it is also possible to grow into "WELDING" meaning start small and do the stuff you mentioned and once you have reached a certain limit, sell up and up grade. Just remember that you dont need to blow your whole 3.5k on the machine alone. It would suck to do that and find that, two years later you havent used it and sell it on ebay for $200.

Jody uses all 3 of these brands in his videos. Everlast is an entry level brand but perfect for starting out. Hobart has a tig but I believe it is a miller in different clothes.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/eq ... lders.aspx

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/Ac-Dc ... bt-Tig.php

You could buy a decent basic AC/ DC tig for around 2k and spend the rest on awsome tools.

Hope this helps
Mick

Hey Mick - very good advice. Much appreciated. I definitely don't plan to spend the whole wad entirely on the welder. I have a laundry list of tools I need as well, including all the goodies to get the welder functional. I tend to become hyper-obsessive with things and the itch I have to weld is a very familiar one. If I know myself, I'll be out in the garage welding every night. I'm confident it will be used heavily, especially since it is just a means to an end. I really want to get to my projects.

I'm going to stay in the $1500-$2000 range, including all equipment. Thanks again.

Hey,

Good to hear, I hope the links were usefull. Let us know how you go, and dont forget to watch jodys tig videos, he's a gun.

Mick

Hey,

I dont want to force your hand but the Everlast PowerTig range are a good entry level, lots of features that, as you said, grow into. At a reasonable price.

I am not afilliated with everlast, just sayin is all.

Mick

I pre-ordered my Everlast PowerPro 205 for $1500CAD taxes and shipping included.
http://www.everlastwelders.ca/product_d ... php?id=371
No complaints, so far. The machine works great and came with lots of extras.

PS: I chose the 205 over the 256, because my garage only has 30amp service.
For the money that the electrician wanted to rewire the garage, I bought my MultiPlaz welder.

i bought a everlast 250ex with the water cooler. this machine is pretty awesome! for the price, size, and being able to be run on a 50 amp circut you cant go wrong with this choise. the duty cyle and amp out put is much better on this machine then the dynasty 200! the only thing that i didnt like was the foot pedal. i got the ssc pedal. its much nicer and more user friendly. you dont need that, but its an option. i bought different torches too, but to get started out the one they send works. if you have any questions please ask. i weld at my job with a syncrowave 500 miller, then later we got the dynasty 700s. so i have experience with other great machines, so im not saying its great with nothing to back it up.

I am gonna aim a different direction here and suggest a used name brand. Watch the auctions. My welding instructor reminded me of how much high art, high science TIG had been done on these older machines. I weld aluminum and 316 stainless most days and never bother with the inverter machine we have. The other thing is, having a budget decide on a lower power machine. I would rather have higher capability old tech than a new one that 'just' will do the jobs. The 250 syncrowave we have was used when we got it and I have been working it hard (maxed) after the fact, every day for 13 years now. Once a year I take the bonnet off and blow it out with the air chuck, change the water in the cooler and that's it.

I agree with TamJeff, consider used equipment among your options. Welding supply stores should have rental returns for sale. It might just be a litttle banged up cosmetically. You can sometimes get good quality for a 1/3 to 1/2 the price of new and if it comes from a welding shop, it should have been maintained fairly well. Trade and Tech schools that are updating their equipment are also great places to look for well maintained used stuff.

Hey,

I never even thought of that. Providing your electrical set up is heavy duty enough, its a great option. Some of the older machines have a steep intial current draw (forgive me if its the wrong term) that means the machine wants all its power from the supply very quickly when the arc is started. This can cause issues with fuses and circuit breakers in the supply. This may not be a problem with a foot pedal, but i have encounted it with a torch switch. Although I'd say it wouldnt be to expensive to have bigger breakers installed.

Mick

I just bought a Everlast 250EX with and added flex-head torch, cart and cooler. With sales tax it was delivered to front door in 3 days for right at $2K. I have never used a TIG machine before but wanted to learn how to weld aluminum. With the info I received here from Sir Jody Collier (videos) and utilizing the advanced settings offered by this inverter, I am laying beads like a pro.

The old syncrowaves are monsters (750lbs) and need a 100 amp circuit to function at full tilt, plus are absent many features of the 250EX. There's a good ol boy on craigslist selling one 8 mo old for 1200 and it's got a bunch of extras. He's paralyzed and was hoping he could TIG, but it's not working out for him. He'll trade his unit for a good MIG set-up. I'll leave the link for ya.

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/sear ... k=&maxAsk=

Thank you, Nils, for the review.

That machine gets a great number of "thumbs-up"s, here.

The only weakness (in the reviews, not the machine), is nobody can yet say,

"I've had my Everlast for fifteen years, and..."

I suspect one day we'll see that, as I rarely see complaints of any kind.

Steve S

BTW, Nils,

Welcome to the forum.

There's never any BS here. Everyone is social and as helpful as they're able.

I am of the opinion that you should try and find a used name brand welder as well. That is what I did for my home shop. I bought my syncrowave 250 for 300 bucks from my old work, came with water cooler and 25 foot flex head and bought my dynasty 300 for 800 bucks from my old shop. Will soon be getting a dynasty 350 through my new shop hopefully!! Its s great way to get the best without the big price tag.

AJ, good heads-up on a Dynasty 300 for $800! OMG, brother! I just sold a Syncrowave 300 for $2250 with bottle and cooler, so you killed that one too!

Ya I got lucky on that one was kinda a thank you going away tmy present from my last job. Its old and been pushed hard but I have yet to have problems. My current job is going to get rid of a couple dynasty 350 just cause they are 5 years old LOL. I am hoping to get one. Ya my buddy who also bought a syncowave 250 for 300 sold his for 1500 LOL. I could never sell mine it was the first I welded with and I love old transformer machines, they lay some of the nicest beads, they have some drawbacks but for corner to corner you can't beat them.

One thing that's cool with the old machines is they are often quieter on AC. My ABP is quieter than an egg frying. The Dynasty screams in comparison. I was welding in my shed with the ABP and a welder buddy of mine says, "damn, I had forgotten how nice it is not to hear square waves." Then there is that duty cycle thing when you start needing to weld over 200 amps.

As much as I weld, you would think by now I take welding machines for granted, but the opposite is true. I am in awe of what I have put these machines through day after day.

The absolute best TIG machine I have ever used for aluminum has been hands down the Miller Aircrafter. I would buy another one of those in a heartbeat over just about anything out there. The most stable arc in AC mode of any machine I have ever used, including the Dynasty, and was a joy to use welding 308 and 316 SS.

I keep forgetting about power limitations of small ops, but houses these days come with a 200 amp minimum in many places. When I thought of even a moderate welding environment in my own home, that was the first thing I upgraded. I am kind of a gear head in that regard, and I often forget that many people are not THAT into it when posting recommendations.

Never used a aircrafter. Are they older than the syncrowave?

Never used a aircrafter. Are they older than the syncrowave?

werkspace.... i hate to be the bringer of bad news but i just found that machine for $650 U.S. and after listening to yall rave on this bad boy i think im fixing to drop the dough on it...man what a deal.....

ajlskater1 wrote:Never used a aircrafter. Are they older than the syncrowave?

Yes. I think they were the machine between the ABP and the syncrowave. I may be dreaming this, but I swear that I heard or read that Miller designed the Aircrafter specifically for Boeing.

That thing is pretty old than, can you still find them?

ajlskater1 wrote:That thing is pretty old than, can you still find them?

Yes. I just saw one for sale at a local welding supply place for 600.00 with Bernard cooler, torch and regulator. I was tempted.

Their only issue is with the circuit board with the gas or high freq relay, which last time I bought one was over 300.00, but, you can get them rebuilt at some electronics rebuild places for 1/10th of that. The machines we used were worked hard for 10 hrs/day so the boards may not be an issue in normal use. Ours were doing a lot of tacking so it was the constant starting and stopping that would wear out the mechanical (breaker points) relays.

Actually, one could learn to repair the boards themselves being it is typically the same parts that wear out. Still much easier than trouble shooting one of the modern units.

Ya that is the draw backs to the inverter, that's why still keep my sybcrowave 250, I love that thing never had issues with it

I thought it was just me with liking the aircrafter, but after a brief search on the web, I came across quite a few seasoned welders that also claim it to be a fine piece of equipment even by today's standards. It's a beast tho. I think it weighs over 700#'! After welding on a SW, you might be tempted to ask yourself, "how can something this quiet, have as much punch as it does?" I am a SW fan as well as you, but only because it is the next best thing compared to what I was used to. On DC it's really the same as anything else of it's type, but in AC, the Aircrafter wins hands down on aluminum, and is likely where my bias stems from.

On DC, I can weld with any machine pretty much the same once I get used to it.