tig welder suggetions?

[idragbodys10]

looking at finally buying my own, tired of using a buddies and already have a mig...


any suggestions on what to get?


was looking at a lincoln 275, but dont have the $$ for it...

[AssDragginSdime]

What are you planning on using it for? and what price range are you looking in? I just got a flier from airgas and they have the precision tig 225 with the cart, regulator and whatever else it comes with for $2100. And the guy told me those prices are good until the end of january. They are also selling the syncrowave 200 for 2099. Both are really good. I have never welded on the lincoln 225 myself. I have welded on a miller syncrowave 200. And my opinion is for the average user its more than enough. But if you plan on doing alot of aluminum, Especially thicker stuff, Your gonna want a bigger machine, preferably with a water cooled torch. Welding aluminum, or anyhting at high amps for a little while, the torch is gonna get really hot. even with gloves it gets too hot to hold onto.


if you just want to do smaller stuff. The 200 will be more than plenty. I used to run a syncrowave 180SD at work. which is much less of a machine. It was good for steel, I ran welds across 1/4" and even 3/8" carbon steel and it worked out pretty well. aluminum was a different story. 1/4" aluminum was do-able, but the machine did not like it. i had to grind, and wirewheel every joint. even if it was brand new material, Then run the torch over the joint at low amps to boil out the impurities and pre-heat at the same time. THEN, i could run my weld and add filler. If i tried to just wire brush, and weld without boiling out the material, it wouldnt weld for shit. IT also was slow to get a good pool going. I warped the shit out of welding 2 12x24" pieces of 1/4" aluminum together as a butt joint. Just because of how long i had to hold the torch there to get a good puddle. And with that yo can imagine how hot the torch got. I had to stop and let it cool down every so often, cus it woud burn my hands thru the glove.

So for steel it was good, safely up to 1/4" id say on average. Aluminum, I wouldnt go over like 3/16 comfortably. And to be honest thats even pushing it. Im sure most comparably sized welders will do about the same job.

The 200 ive only welded steel on. Never tried aluminum so i cant say from experience. But from what i saw with steel it was an excellent machine. the arc was very controllable, and it had plenty of power for what i needed.

My personal tig is an old lincoln idealarc 300amp water cooled tig. It will weld just about anything that can be thrown at it. from 2 amps up to 300 aps ac or dc. BUT.. its massive, its super heavy, and its old so no pulse or square wave.. But.. i need something that big, as i run a legit weld shop and need to be able to handle any size jobs that come in.

So from my experiences, my recommendation would be a syncrowave 200 or comparable for the average user. I personally perfer miller over lincoln, But either or is fine, Personal preferance.

[Geat]

I have a Miller maxstar at home, its expensive, but it being small and having 200 amps is realllly nice. Last weekend I had to go weld stuff for my neighbor, carried everything in one load. If you need something that is portable look into an inverter machine. If your not going to be moving around any I would look into a syncrowave. I use a Hobart welder at school, I think its from '84. It does not have a lot of features to it, but for no more than we do it serves us just fine. That's another option too, you could look into a used welder.

I'm looking into a used one for my own at my house, a miller syncrowave 350.

[raven2510]

any miller syncrowave is a great model.

[70welder]

i like the millers

[badmatt]

Lincoln PT225.. or 275