Topic: Cheap tig welder. need hands on advice from you nogs (Read 33718 times)

ratcityrex · « **on:** March 21, 2015, 08:21:24 PM »

Just like it says. I put my Miller plasma cutter up on craigslist for $800. Looking to get a cheap ac/dc tig. Have any of you guys used the china tigs? Eastwood, everlast, ect. I want a foot pedal and Eastwood has there ac/dc tig with pedal for $750.

Xgenturbo · « **Reply #1 on:** March 21, 2015, 10:07:24 PM »

I remember I had one of those Chinese smiley tools tig welders. I even made a post about it on the old forum. All I recall is that it was a pile of crap and right now it is a $400 door stop. Yep I still have it and walk by it every day. I keep it to serve me as a reminder why to never buy a chinese piece of garbage again. Now that said, I know that since the 2000's the Chinese quality improved on these products a bit and there are a few out there worth giving a shot. A buddy just bought a tig from princess auto which is the canadian version of harbor freight. It's made by Power Fist. He likes it but it also cost $1000 which is a lot for a Chinese product. Apparently (and this is going by reading he has done) it is the same as some Miller unit that is rebadged. Here is the link:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/powerfist-smart-tig-ac-dc-200p-inverter-welding-machine/A-p8560237e

dvst8r · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2015, 11:14:23 AM »

The irony of tig welders is that the hobbiest in his garage should probably have the best tig welder out there. As they have a far more stable arc, are easier to setup and are better units.

The better the welder you are the more you can fudge it and cut corners, give a guy like passanger dave, a bottle of helium and a couple car batteries and a cdm tig torch and with no voltage control he will still make a weld that will be better than 95% of us.

The cdm units I have used, were a bit lacking in their controls, both in the options and in the non linearity of them. They also really struggled to maintain a stable arc at low amperage and would duty cycle out on high amperage way more often than the listed duty cycle would lead you to believe. In the normal 40-100amp range they worked fine, in the 5-15amp they were almost unusable, and in the 200amp flat out welding aluminum they would cylce out before my hand would get to hot.

So I guess it just depends on what you want out of it and what you are willing to live with.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2015, 12:08:09 PM »

I had a guy try and trade me his big ass airco 250 heliwelder with tig torch and pedal for my plasma. I don't know shit about them. So I started looking them up. Looks like they are 30-35 years old and I'm sure it's probably impossible to find parts for.

JohnHandcock · « **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2015, 06:18:34 PM »

Try get a trade for hobart 165 or miller diversion 180 but lack of AC weld setting. Both good DIY/hobby TIG machine for weekend enthusiast. Look on weldingweb.com for reviews on chink machines they all have mix reviews mostly everlast and eastwood. Supposedly they are china brand just rebadge with QC to companies brand. If you go the china route find one that offers the longest warranty.

crxvtec91 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2015, 08:53:01 PM »

everlast!

Has the best ratings, ok price, and great customer service. One of the few cdm tig welders worth getting.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #6 on:** March 22, 2015, 09:43:02 PM »

Quote from: crxvtec91 on March 22, 2015, 08:53:01 PM

everlast!

Has the best ratings, ok price, and great customer service. One of the few cdm tig welders worth getting.

That's what I've heard on the welding forums. Looking to pick one up used. But at the same time I just ford a real nice low use miller for $1000

Avistar23 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 22, 2015, 09:59:56 PM »

i have an everlast 200 amp, ac/dc, pulse etc. and its treated me well, i dont tig much and im not amazing at it but the machine has served me well over 2 years or so.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #8 on:** March 22, 2015, 11:19:59 PM »

Quote from: Avistar23 on March 22, 2015, 09:59:56 PM

i have an everlast 200 amp, ac/dc, pulse etc. and its treated me well, i dont tig much and im not amazing at it but the machine has served me well over 2 years or so.

Want to trade for a miller plasma cutter? Ha ha

Xgenturbo · « **Reply #9 on:** March 23, 2015, 03:33:48 AM »

Why you getting rid of the plasma cutter? Just dont have a use for it or what? Its definitely one of those tools that you never really need till you finally have one then you wonder how you've gotten by without one for so long. Why not keep it, you never know.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #10 on:** March 23, 2015, 09:45:28 AM »

Because I've had it for 3 years and I never use it. Hell it's been sitting at my dad's house for 2 years in the corner of his garage. I weld from time to time and I would love to have a tig. Not that I'm gonna use that all the time but I'll use it a hell of a lot more than my plasma.

Avistar23 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 23, 2015, 10:58:10 AM »

Quote from: ratcityrex on March 22, 2015, 11:19:59 PM

Quote from: Avistar23 on March 22, 2015, 09:59:56 PM
i have an everlast 200 amp, ac/dc, pulse etc. and its treated me well, i dont tig much and im not amazing at it but the machine has served me well over 2 years or so.

Want to trade for a miller plasma cutter? Ha ha

lol i want a plasma but im not in north america.

turbob16hatch · « **Reply #12 on:** March 24, 2015, 04:24:50 AM »

Dvst8r is right get the best tig you can afford. it will make a huge difference in novice level welders ability to produce proper welds.

Best bang for your buck is a Lincoln 225 tig. It doesn't have fancy options but you probably can't effectively use them atm anyway. It has enough power for 99% of hobby/ race car fab projects and there plentiful in my experience.

Don't even think about the old millers ( dialarcs, etc) they need massive power to run and although they work decent are just crude and I bet you can't power them in any typical garage setup.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #13 on:** March 24, 2015, 10:34:29 AM »

Ok all great info. I see lots if the old miller/dialarcs on craigslist. That being said, my breaker panel is in my garage and I have the room to add it in the panel and I was just gonna put the 220 plug right under it in my garage. That's what I did for my air compressor. Have a guy that suppose to come look at the plasma today. At least that's what he said on saturday. Who knows craigslist is full of flakes so I doubt it.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #14 on:** March 24, 2015, 11:00:21 AM »

I did have a guy offer to trade me a old school airco tig heliarc 250.

Avistar23 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 24, 2015, 02:54:49 PM »

the thing to watch out for with alot of the old transformer machines is needing 3 phase power, and even still your going to need a good size 240v feed for any of these single phase welders mentioned, i feed mine off of a 40 amp double pole breaker with #8. you may be able to get by with a 30 amp #10 feed for some of the smaller inverter machines, but id rather have a little head room, especially when using a breaker on a welder they like to pop alot easier than a fused disconnect.

Avistar23 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 24, 2015, 02:58:51 PM »

it seems according to miller a dynasty 200 only need 15 amps at 240 for a full 200 amp output

https://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/spec_sheets/AD4-8.pdf

using that as a baseline it would indicate that a dedicated 30 amp feed would be more than sufficient.

dvst8r · « **Reply #17 on:** March 24, 2015, 03:23:43 PM »

Miller dynasty is a new style inverter machine (it is what I own). It is extremely power efficient vs the old transformer boxes. Many of which need 40amps or better.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #18 on:** March 24, 2015, 03:38:31 PM »

That's why I was going to put in a 50amp plug. Pretty much would run anything I need.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #19 on:** March 27, 2015, 08:18:36 PM »

So I'm thinking about this....

http://www.eastwood.com/tig-welders-eastwood-tig-ac-dc-welder.html

turbob16hatch · « **Reply #20 on:** March 28, 2015, 01:52:49 AM »

That is a rehashed longevity tig welder. The welder is a giant paperweight do not waste your time. Pedal is garbage, arc control suck sat low amps. Personally I have used one for some odd jobs at work and I would avoid it. Btw the fittings are not Miller/Lincoln universal. There a weird style converter fitting pure garbage.

Seriously look into a Lincoln 225 used we have bought them for under $1000 and beat them hard fan running almost all day on some projects, biggest issue is Lincoln's weak pedal connector that can cause issues when it wears out.

I have used almost every random tig brand from hf tig box, longevity (3 models), everlast, thermal arc, Miller, Lincoln, ect. If a/c is a must have honestly go name brand used. You will thank me.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #21 on:** March 28, 2015, 02:01:23 AM »

Ac is not a must, but it sure would be nice to weld on radiators and shit. I don't think I've seen a name brand welder on craigslist for under $1400-1800 used. I me fuck, there is a guy local that is selling his Lincoln setup for 3300. Granted it has every bell and whistle but way more then what I need.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #22 on:** March 28, 2015, 07:18:49 PM »

What about the ahp units? Been reading some killer reviews about them. Seems like a lot of welder for $800 and I sold my plasma cutter today for $700 not bad considering that I paid like $40 for it...lol

ratcityrex · « **Reply #23 on:** March 30, 2015, 11:11:57 PM »

Ok, so after reading for hours, and watching hours of videos, I decided I'm going to end up with one of the 2015 ahp alphatig 200x, "IF" I don't find a used miller or Lincoln on craigslist in the next few weeks. Been doing lots of reading and for a hobby welder pike myself it seems like it will fit the bill just fine.

Here is a few videos to watch if you want to burn some time.

AHP AlphaTIG 200X https://youtu.be/tHN0OqTg4UI

Welder Comparison - AHP AlphaTIG vs Eastwood TIG200 vs Longevity TigWeld...: https://youtu.be/oISSe0Itq7U

ratcityrex · « **Reply #24 on:** March 31, 2015, 10:26:24 PM »

What do you nogs think of this old beast? http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/tls/4958353105.html

weirtech · « **Reply #25 on:** April 01, 2015, 10:56:16 AM »

i had an everlast. it was a 3monthlast.

miller or nothing.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #26 on:** April 01, 2015, 11:27:38 AM »

Quote from: weirtech on April 01, 2015, 10:56:16 AM

i had an everlast. it was a 3monthlast.

miller or nothing.

How often were you using it? How many hours did you have on it b4 it died? And how long ago was that?

turbob16hatch · « **Reply #27 on:** April 02, 2015, 07:15:43 PM »

Quote from: weirtech on April 01, 2015, 10:56:16 AM

i had an everlast. it was a 3monthlast.

miller or nothing.

Our everlast at work failed quite quickly and if I remember correctly it is probably still being "fixed". This was 2 years ago.

ratcityrex · « **Reply #28 on:** April 02, 2015, 07:16:53 PM »

Quote from: turbob16hatch on April 02, 2015, 07:15:43 PM

Quote from: weirtech on April 01, 2015, 10:56:16 AM
i had an everlast. it was a 3monthlast.

miller or nothing.

Our everlast at work failed quite quickly and if I remember correctly it is probably still being "fixed". This was 2 years ago.

What is it exactly that you do for a living? I mean I'm looking for a welder that might see 30 - 50 hours of run time a year.

turbob16hatch · « **Reply #29 on:** April 02, 2015, 11:48:17 PM »

I owned a welding fabrication shop for quite a few years had 6 welding stations that built just about anything automotive exhaust related. Welders on at 7 off at 5:30 5-6 days a week. Makes the cheap welders bust quickly. Miller's were always rock solid.

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Author Topic: Cheap tig welder. need hands on advice from you nogs (Read 33718 times)