<p>Last weld from yesterday, playing with the thumb switch. My breaker tripped after about 20 seconds of 120amp AC welding. I don't like tripping the breaker because it doesn't let the fans run to cool down the welder, I wish it had some backup power.</p><p><img src="https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.miataturbo.net-vbulletin/828x1471/80-oykonhflgndxhbqypqqqjmg_914iydbps4snm0q83yzi_w829_ h1471_no_jpeg_6729e2d9a7dfa6c62190ca07145be13fd6ff b450.jpg" title="" /><br /><br />&nbsp;</p>

 

Is the porosity (pinholes) contamination? Seeing what you've done in just days, plus struggling with MIGing aluminum is really pushing me to purchase.

 

<p>Probably. I was just playing around yesterday. So not much time was spent cleaning or brushing anything. Mostly just welding.</p>

 

But the cleaning is the most important part!!!




Damn you guys...now I want one of these. But should really be not spending $700+ on a TIG macine I don't "need".

I knew o shouldn't have clicked on this thread...

 

This thing is definitely awesome. I will find plenty of needs for it.

 

Weird, when my miller gets unplugged from the wall while its running or a tree takes down the power lines, the fan runs for a normal cooldown cycle.

 

<p>Chinese welder problems?</p><p>Thinking about adding a cap inline with the fans so when the power gets pulled the fans keep on chugging.</p>

 

Why not just fix the tripping breaker issue?

 

<p>Because rental house. And safety. I won't rely on the fan caps, but you never know what will happen.</p><p>Longer explanation. In my current house for less than 2 more months. Next house I will get my own fuse box panel and add in my own 220 outlet in the garage. But for now I'll deal with tripping breakers.</p>

 

What happened was when we moved to the new house I had to make a 240 extension cord to go to the garage. Well, some how I got the a wire crossed and when I turned on the welder it made a horrible sound and I thought I killed it. Everything I tried to weld had porosity in it. Took it to Eastwood and called corporate and they thought I had done something to the inverter. I ordered the AHP, it was going to take about a month so I took the Eastwood to welder repair tech, I get a call from him and he said it runs perfect. Turns out I did no damage, but the gas I siphoned off from work was not pure argon and that was what was causing the shitty welds. I was lucky I did not harm the machine. So I sold the Eastwood to a good friend of mine and kept the AHP. The Eastwood ran flawlessly but apparently getting free gas wasn't so free. (I'm sure one of these works )
Cheers,
-JB

 

I hear ya. Though I think I've justified it. Benefits- learning to TIG and having a capable machine for aluminum which I'm sure I'll use more than a few times. IF I had to have the cash back I'm sure I could sell it at $300 loss, which would IMO be worth the benefits already attained.

I'll take the selling of the Eastwood over the AHP as your choice on which is the better unit.

 

I'll take the selling of the Eastwood over the AHP as your choice on which is the better unit. [/QUOTE]

The AHP has more ***** to mess with.

It's almost a flip of a coin. The Eastwood is a few years old. If you base the decision on customer service I think Eastwood will be easier to get a hold of. I have made good welds with both. I think the AHP has the edge because of the digital amp control, meaning if I wanted to weld a couple of razor blades together, I believe it could be adjusted super low and still work.
My

 

Thumb switch is also fits.
<br />
<br />Got my own bottle today. Little 40cf I borrowed from a friend. Also going to pick up a 200cf oxygen bottle later this week.

 

Me too... and I already have 220v wired from my breaker box that was for a hot tub the previous owner had, so it would be a huge waste to not hook that up to something right?

 

There are a lot of other things you could waste $700 on that would show little to no benefit. Let's say a person bought this TIG welder instead of a TV and spent all those TV hours learning how to weld instead. This thread pretty much proves a TIG welder makes you a better person.

I can justify your purchase.

re: Customer Service- I did read a less positive review on Amazon where the guy's AHP had issues upon arrival. He actually spoke to a support person more than once who was able to walk him through trouble shooting and arrived at a decision that a new part was needed (ordered and shipped). No follow up, but that's not too bad.

 

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

 

Don't you have a birthday coming up?

 

Man I really need a mig welder, and a plasma cutter. Using a hole saw in a 10" HF drill press (with a new and improved minimal runout chuck) to make 2.5" holes in 16ga 304 stainless for custom mufflers really really sucks. And using a tig to tack up a big heavy steel jig is also silly, but yay for thumb controls though. Are they any decent mig plasma combos like those tig plasma combos?

 

All the research I did seemed to indicate the combo units aren't that great. Eastwoods has a couple of reasonably priced plasmas, and they have a couple good MIGs as well.

I bought a used Lincoln 25A Plasma, and it's just not enough oomph for 1/4". I think I'm going to CL it and buy one of the Eastwoods this fall...

 

I haven't seen any MIG/Plasma combos. My eBay 50a plasma has worked great so far and the consumables are inexpensive and readily available on eBay. I've seen a few guys locally get good deals (< $200) on used name brand MIGs on CL.