WonTon

iTrader: (17)

here soon ill be looking into buying a TIG welder. its been a while since i have messed with TIG

what things do i look for?

water cooled vs air cooled
single phase???
other stuff?

its been like 5 years since i have touched one. thoughts, comments, concerns?


and here is one i found!
Syncrowave 200 TIG Welder

options to keep in mind
250 amps or better(aluminum requires more amps)
miller

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

anybody?

what TIG machines are yall using?

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Man I wish I had input but i'm in to hear the input of some of the experts as i'm curious myself.

I've actually been kind of considering the Diversion series but just dont know enough about them.

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

yeah, there are a few other brands out there i have never heard of and im curious to know if they are any good!

i just want to make sure i make a good decision on my purchase!

Reverend Greg

iTrader: (3)

That miller looks good,you want 250 amps or better if you can,water cooled if you can,and you need to think about how much 3 Phase service will cost.It can hurt you when that bill comes in.Miller is my prefered brand.I am college trained in tig welding and have 5yrs experience.Aluminum will require alot of amps to weld and you do not want to be limited by your machine.
(G)

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

the welder will be used at a shop that is already set up for the option of 3 phase! i like Miller as well, thats what i learned on in school for stick, MIG, and TIG, and its what i used at my last job. we had one water cooled ESAB that broke every other day, thats why i asked about the watercooled vs air cause that thing leaked all the ****** time!

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

I have only had the opportunity to use Lincoln stuff. I'm sure it's the same. I have a TIG185 air cooled which is fine for 95% of the stuff I do. I use the bigass watecooled lincoln at work if I need more amps. They fill in ports on aluminum heads with the thing, it's more than enough for what I need to do.

SKMetalworks

iTrader: (7)

I use a miller dynasty 200 dx and I can weld .25 alu without preheat. Air cooled torch will burn through consumables such as collet bodies more often then water cooled. My work uses all lincoln tig welders and they break down very often and have to be repaired. "The Power Of Blue" holds true in my experiences. What kind of tig are you doin? Alu, steel, chrome-moly, titanium, etc...?

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

pretty much, carbon steel, stainless, and aluminum.......probably wont venture far from that!

im getting ready to go take some more classes in welding, i already have been through a couple but i want more. (i didnt get to do much TIG welding in my TIG class cause we had 20+ students and only 3 or 4 TIG machines) it was somewhat of a bloodbath for time on the machines!

SKMetalworks

iTrader: (7)

Tbh. If you could get a job tigging; that will teach you how to weld better than any class can. I would say to go with the blue my friend.

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

i wanna take the classes to get the fundamentals down better (and to have the certs), and im looking into getting a TIG machine so i can start teaching myself the stuff i wont learn in classes!

i wanna get into custom fabrication!

other classes im gonna take are machining and CAD or whatever the best is?

ftjandra

iTrader: (6)

[Off topic]
Where are you taking the classes?

--Ferdi

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

either west central tech or griffin tech why?

Stein

iTrader: (46)

I have a basic Miller syncrowave 180. It's air cooled, single phase and does everything that I ask of it as a hobbyist. It's not hobby toy welder, though.

I don't know about the Lincoln TIG's bue I have a Lincoln 175 plus MIG. I'm partial to Miller as our company made all of the plastic components in the flowmeter/regulators of their welders for Smith Equipment. Plus, they make good welders. I don't think that you will go wrong with either a blue or a red welder, though.

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

yeh! i have a lincoln mig and a llincoln stick welder in the garage! i likes them!

im a huge fan of miller products. i uses a millermatic (MIG) at my last job, i was doin production welding and the only things i had to replace on that sucker was the drive wheels and the lead! never had a single big problem with it!

miller FTW!

Rennkafer

iTrader: (3)

Find yourself a used Synchrowave 300... they're an absolute workhorse and they will run on single or 3 phase (mine is wired single and works fine).

Bought mine for $650 off of EBay... 2 years ago when I got it they generally were running $1200-1800 but it was mislabeled "synchromatic" in the listing so didn't get a lot of action. Came with a new torch (water cooled) and lead cover, a Bernard cooler, regulator, and a super heavy duty cart.

Downside, they're huge and heavy...

WonTon

iTrader: (17)

sweet! ill start checking ebay!

is there any other places i can look for TIG machines besides ebay, and craidslist?

SKMetalworks

iTrader: (7)

Cyberweld.com is where I got mine but CL will have them cheaper.