TIG welders, in the market for one!
Turbo Mini Forums

Hello, been a lil caught up recently, broken car, no money whatsoever etc etc but santa may help me out but not sure, christ i'm skint!

Anyhow!!!! i'm soon to be in the market for an entry level Tig welder, i want to be able to do steel,aluminium,stainless,
fastcarl maybe the man who'll know on this i feel but i'm sure alot of you have knowledge & experiance in this area, i need to know what to look for? brand? minimum spec needed for my purpose? must be able to work on 240v preferably! i wont be doing anything more than 3-4mm plate thickness

cheers guys, new year new start & all that!

SKYLINES ARE LIKE CLITS, EVERY FLANGE SEEMS TO HAVE ONE: see this sticker on my silvia

the Search-section on this forum is blummin superb & simple to use, unlike some other forums, without the search-section & the help of this bunch of chaps on here i'll never be able to !!!Start the day with a 998cc turbo!!! :) i'm getting closer though!

Tom Fenton says: I have it all, make me an offer

When I looked into buying a TIG I weighed up the pros and cons of being able to weld ally and came to the conclussion that as an AC/DC unit was around twice the price of a DC only that I could live without AC as I don't do much ally anyway.

I bought a fairly cheap invertor style unit and it has performed faultlessly. It is a GYS 160HF, cost around £475 when I bought mine. It is a 240V unit but as it can draw around 20A it needs to be on an industrial plug (I have 32A feeds in the garage) and I would suggest that you have that line on a separate fuse to the rest of the electrics in the garage.

I would advise that you go for one with HF start, variable frequency and a reasonable amount of grunt (especially if your going to use it with the frequency wound up .... gives nice results). If you can find one with a power control on the torch then that will help you a lot as getting used to a pedal can take a lot of practice. If not torches are available aftermarket and not too expensive.

You can get good results on steel with a fixed power setting so long as you take time on your prep (of course you will anyway) but I find it helps to have variable power for stainless.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

Ive been using a Clarke inverter 150A and an industrial Argon bottle. Anything that can be done in ally, can also be done in stainless afaic!

Heres what the clarke can do -







here it is hiding in a draw!



The only thing i can suggest is getting HF start, mine is only scratch start and needs the electrode sharpening after every weld.

Cheers

J

so can i actually weld ally with a dc invertor,
i understand u can weld ally with a mig, can ally be welded with gas to,

i'm a pretty proficiant mig & oxy/gas welder, just getting alot of practice at the mo after a long break, the touch is not lost tho haha! no papers for my minor skills but thats in the pipline,

loverly stainless (i presume) welding there blownimp, i'm "imp"ressed P

i've been looking on 2 sites weld uk & the welders warehouse, i'm kitting myself up now for small run production work, may go self employed if all takes off, have a blummin great big compressor, decent mig & a oxy/gas set is on route, so want a tig, i've never had the pleasure of tig welding but really getting a big interest for it, specially ally work! all help is appreciated, i'm at the point of selling my motorbike (baby) to get a tig welder so all info & help & where to start with tig would be great!

SKYLINES ARE LIKE CLITS, EVERY FLANGE SEEMS TO HAVE ONE: see this sticker on my silvia

the Search-section on this forum is blummin superb & simple to use, unlike some other forums, without the search-section & the help of this bunch of chaps on here i'll never be able to !!!Start the day with a 998cc turbo!!! :) i'm getting closer though!

Tom Fenton says: I have it all, make me an offer

Given the wesk dollar, I'd look at Miller Dynasty 200DX welders on ebay.com.... These are expensive, but there is a reason they cost what they do - it's because they're the best in their class. I'm pretty sure they'll work on any voltage range and frequency aswell.

Also look into the units from 'Thermal Arc' as these have very good reviews.

I'm close to purchasing a dynasty - once a certain magazine decides to finally pay me for work i did a long time ago

Edited by turbodave16v on 19th Dec, 2006.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AC-DC-INDUSTRIAL-TIG...1QQcmdZViewItem

whats this like? I tend to work along the lines the more industrial the better!

Just thinking its a 3 phase machine so may go cheaper. i'm fortunate enough to be able to use 3 phase.

i've been checking ebay. i looked at that one iain! its just i'm not 3phase :( there are a couple of 240v types but i think my motorbike is going to have to go to finance one :( but there is an upside to having a tig+skill using it of course :) which should equate a motorbike again at a later date

dave i'll have a squiz at those miller ones, i'm getting flashbacks of all the miller kit on american chopper P haha! excuse me for bringing up that show!!!!

i've been finding it quite difficult to get ifo on Tig & the equipment needed for the purpose i want, i'm a little unsure about importing one too! would prefer to buy here but if a bargain is to be had securely then thats the option i'd go for, try here 1st tho, keep me updated chaps it's apprieciated at the mo alot!

SKYLINES ARE LIKE CLITS, EVERY FLANGE SEEMS TO HAVE ONE: see this sticker on my silvia

the Search-section on this forum is blummin superb & simple to use, unlike some other forums, without the search-section & the help of this bunch of chaps on here i'll never be able to !!!Start the day with a 998cc turbo!!! :) i'm getting closer though!

Tom Fenton says: I have it all, make me an offer

DC wont weld ally, AC will. The reversing current flow 'pulls' the slag off the top of the weld creating clean pure welds. Contamination is pretty certain using gas and MIG.

Ally requires a higher amperage range due to is heat conduction abilities, pulling heat out of the weld pool.

As you have a compressor, an air cooled torch is a good idea, as is HF start for contamination free welds.

I also have no bits of paper saying i can weld, but im not too bad!

Cheers

J

Only TIG I have used was an auto start with a liquid cool torch...

It was the muts and so so easy - just like gas but without the heat problems LOL

Alex

AlexF

i bought a cheap Mitech 200A ac/dc tig a few months back, so far its been fine apart from the footpedal that TNT broke.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Inverter-DC-AC-TIG-W...VQQcmdZViewItem

What is that guy like to deal with?? Looking at his plasma cutters but unsure of importing...

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

actually i didn't get it from him i got mine from ebay seller Shop River, i just picked that one as it was the first the same as mine.

the guy i got mine from was ok, gave me a tracking no straight away, TNT on the other hand were a pain, i tracked the package all the way to my local depot at which point it started heading its way back to stanstead, turns out they split the box open with the foot pedal in and smashed it, as it was from china i just glued it back together, TNT then had the cheek to invoice me 50 quid tax,

Considering they had smashed the granny out of the footpedal then taped the box back up to hide it I told them to fuck right off!!

Is that one you show scratch or HF start?

The killer with the US stuff, would be the postage ????

I want one myself.....

I had considered going for a cheap DC machine just to get started. But whats the point really. I want the full kit. As I need to be able to do alu, although I too am limited to single phase.

I was warned not to go near the ebay stuff, as while it is usually good value. If something goes wrong, parts are nearly impossible to source.
Whether this is sincere advice, or scaring me away, I dont know.

But it came from a another forum member over on the Legacy forum who sells welders. I'd be confident his advice is sincere, as he wasnt trying to sell me anything, just advising of options.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

mini13 i have found this guy on egay! seems a good price for what you get features wise, i'm tempted also, has more features than i need but that is'nt a bad point at all!!!!!!!

other than TNT probs how long did it take to arrive?

has it been a good piece of kit so far would you say?

cheers mini13

you all have some great points on this subject, i'm finding this really interesting

is TIG simular 2 gas, i.e if ya good at gas welding the crossover to tig is'nt to hard???????

SKYLINES ARE LIKE CLITS, EVERY FLANGE SEEMS TO HAVE ONE: see this sticker on my silvia

the Search-section on this forum is blummin superb & simple to use, unlike some other forums, without the search-section & the help of this bunch of chaps on here i'll never be able to !!!Start the day with a 998cc turbo!!! :) i'm getting closer though!

Tom Fenton says: I have it all, make me an offer

Gas welding is similar in the fact you create a weld pool and then pull it around the metal. However the distance between electrode and metal is far more critical as is has to be close, but too close and itll stick or contaminate the weld.

Also preparation is far more important than with gas welding, the joint has to be freshly cleaned (i use a dremel and a tungsten burr), also there cant really be any gaps as it can lead to holes being blown. The tungsten should always be ground to a sharp point to ensure a steady and consistant arc.

J

mini13 i have found this guy on egay! seems a good price for what you get features wise, i'm tempted also, has more features than i need but that is'nt a bad point at all!!!!!!!

other than TNT probs how long did it take to arrive?

has it been a good piece of kit so far would you say?

cheers mini13

you all have some great points on this subject, i'm finding this really interesting

is TIG simular 2 gas, i.e if ya good at gas welding the crossover to tig is'nt to hard???????

SKYLINES ARE LIKE CLITS, EVERY FLANGE SEEMS TO HAVE ONE: see this sticker on my silvia

the Search-section on this forum is blummin superb & simple to use, unlike some other forums, without the search-section & the help of this bunch of chaps on here i'll never be able to !!!Start the day with a 998cc turbo!!! :) i'm getting closer though!

Tom Fenton says: I have it all, make me an offer

well it took about a week to get to my local depot from ordering it, then another week while tnt sorted their shit out.

the welder has all the basic stuff, only feature that would be nice is if the fequency could be varied. as it is its just 50 cycles square wave.

On 19th of Dec, 2006 at 03:07pm TurboDave said:
Given the wesk dollar, I'd look at Miller Dynasty 200DX welders on ebay.com.... These are expensive, but there is a reason they cost what they do - it's because they're the best in their class. I'm pretty sure they'll work on any voltage range and frequency aswell.

Also look into the units from 'Thermal Arc' as these have very good reviews.

I'm close to purchasing a dynasty - once a certain magazine decides to finally pay me for work i did a long time ago

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

seconded .. the minis off the road for a rebuild and about this close >< to buying one, found an interesting site on DIY AC/DC/HFstart tig welders and ther aint much to them so confident i could sort an e-bay cheapie if it did ever break.

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

if anyones interested. was guna make one as per that site, but for a smidge over £300 notes the ebay effort is worth it for the parts alone..

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."