Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello,
In an effort to understand more about what the preferred TIG Welding machines are in the market, I would like to ask you what your preferred TIG Welding machine is (Manufacturer, Model) with a brief discussion as to your reasoning. Thank you for your posts. InfoTIG

Well this might not help but if you have a big arc welder like a 300+ you could get some tig leads an argon, then put the tig lead on the positive and switch it to DC-. That's what I do.


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Do you need AC/DC? Amperage? single phase I'm guessing? Pulse? Portability?
This has a lot of answers, It depends on what your using it for.
A little more info might help.

~John

Are you asking what machines work best on the kind of work we're using them for???
~John

Infotig has been accused if being a sales rep trolling for consumer input just to let you guys know. With that being said, the aspects of work on this website are vast, and that is an understatement. For what i do my SA200 works for me in the field but i have a sync 250 in my shop that i do like when i need the pedal. It is to broad of a question to get a straight answer.

Well his posts are rather strange open ended questions - very generalized - but he's polite & thanks us for the input - so I think we should politely reply that what we all like is the Miller Dynasty & when the people he works for can supply them for 1k or less with a water cooled torch many - many members will be happy to purchase them from him - monthly sales quotas will be met ! naturally if they do an invertec for less that would be of interest as well - oh & free shipping to the UK ? - maybe asking too much here !

noddybrian wrote:Well his posts are rather strange open ended questions - very generalized - but he's polite & thanks us for the input - so I think we should politely reply that what we all like is the Miller Dynasty & when the people he works for can supply them for 1k or less with a water cooled torch many - many members will be happy to purchase them from him - monthly sales quotas will be met ! naturally if they do an invertec for less that would be of interest as well - oh & free shipping to the UK ? - maybe asking too much here !

I will take 10!!!!

20!

It's an aging post, I can't help weighing in. I had a trusted friend who happened to be a manager at a local welding supply. I have a lifelong preference, DON'T BUY ENTRY LEVEL EQUIPMENT! Whenever I get into a new love I learn all I can find about the subject, get involved and ultimately want better equipment. In welding there are many disciplines, In oxy/acetelyne I've had three outfits. I love my present one, had I known enough about it I would never have bought the first two sets.
Seeing a pattern I resolved to save a ton of money and skip ahead to the final choice. I can't imagine upgrading my Millermatic 252. When I decided to get into TIG everything went wrong! I reasoned I wanted TIG for aluminum under 3/8" thick. Thicker, I would use a spool gun. Expressing my wishes to my friend, he proposed a Diversion 180. It was neither bottom or top of the line, had all the necessary features, no frills, and had the quality and customer support one should expect from the top manufacturer in the world. If I ever needed more capacity easy as pie, use helium!
In theory it should have worked. In reality the $2000. I spent for the welder and enough necessities to use it was like an appetizer at a great restaurant. You still want dinner! It was out of the question to buy a dynasty 280 with cooler, yet that is my destination. $6000. is a lot of money, $6000. plus 2000 for a Diversion, more for a Dialarc, maybe something else in between will double the expense.
YOU WILL GET HOOKED ON TIG WELDING. SAVE MONEY, BUY THE BEST AT THE START, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, (THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN), SELL IT TO ME OR A MILLION OTHERS IN MY POSITION AT A SMALL LOSS.

If you are a serious welder, even if a serious hobby welder, don't cheap out.

Arizona SA200 lists a syncrowave 250 - I like those and I consider it the minimum if aluminum is in the menu. Used they go for $1000-$1400 around here.

Bill B. lists a sweet machine that I can't use enough to make feasible - but he's right, TIG is an addiction

My machine was cheap and high quality - my favorite!
(I have $250 in my Airco - yay!)

Right now my preferred machine is my HTP Invertig221 because I own one. Ideally I'd love to have a Miller Dynasty 350, but I can't justify the price at the moment. I'm just a hobbyist-level welder, but I certainly do love all the advanced digital settings, even though I don't need all of them at the moment---this is because my hobby involves customizing/fabricating parts for my race car. So granted I don't need to be selling my welding skills, it also doesn't hurt to have machines that afford extra flexibility should they be needed.

I have a few friends that ask me to weld on their drag banshees quite often and must say i would love to own a dynasty 200 for the portability. Loading up their bikes and taking them out to the shop can be a pain. I could also run a 200 at my house. My sync 250 has a power correction factor and is on a 100 amp breaker i believe. The 110v/220v is also a very nice part about the 200.

The learning curve is big with cheap inverters. Those less skilled always seem to buy welders requiring great skill to get good results. While I'm too poor to own a Dynasty, I'm certainly too poor to have taken losses on machines preceding the purchase of the Dynasty. It's true, Jody sometimes makes a video using a cheap Chinese welder, beginners can't expect the same results as he gets.If I added up the dollars I've seen spent on cheap welders that ultimately gather dust under a pile of clutter it could help the National debt.

Preferred dynasty 350. Why it's awesome.

What do I own? Htp invertig 221

Why all the features I need, and saved some cash, plus have the dynasty at work

I have a EWM 230amp 240 volt Pulse (sold under the BOC brand-name) because it was the best at my budget limit.
Its been very good to date, I added a water cooler as the hand piece was heating up to much and slowing down the avalible weld time.

Wes,
Did you ever do a review/comparement 221H vs. 200dx???

AKweldshop wrote:Wes,
Did you ever do a review/comparement 221H vs. 200dx???

I never did a formal write up on it, but I am more than pleased with the htp. My only complaint is with the water cooler, it's louder than the miller, and you can't use a weldcraft torch with it as the flow alarm will sound, but a ck torch and it works fine. Not a big deal but I have a couple weldcrafts laying around. As far as arc start and machine function it's a great machine so far and comparable to the dynasty 200 IMO. I do like the interface on the dynasty more also, it's easier to use, though it could just be that I'm more used to it and I'm sure in time I'll get used to the htp interface. I suppose the real test will be in 10 years to see how it holds up.

Have: ESAB Caddy tig 2200i
Want: ESAB Heliarc 281i

I can find the machine online for less than a Dynasty 200dx and it has 100% duty cycle at 250 amps which is the same as the Dynasty 350. It will be mine when I upgrade AC/DC