Thinking of buying a TIG- opinions please lads
Turbo Mini Forums

I was going to ask if this was a HF start machine. Had a quick scan over the advert and wasn't sure if it was HF.

Botton line right hand side dont look to bad. Its just practise Tom, keep at it. Can you add a peddle, these are really a must if you wanna do much ally work.

Pulse is nice if you can get a machine with it.

We have 3500w AC/DC Pulse kemppi where i'm working at the mo. Very nice, but way pricey.

http://www.kemppi.com/inet/kemppi/kit.nsf/...gACDC_br_EN.pdf

How's the machine performing , done much sustained work with it ; looking to get a tig , but worried that the reasonable priced machines have too short use before overheat shut down ?

Its performing well TBH, I've done quite a bit of DC work with it now and I'd even go so far as to say that Im getting reasonable at it. Did probably an hours welding with it with probably 20sec welding 5 sec off 20sec welding, no problem.
The machine I have got has a 9" fan in the back of it running constantly, it has never overheated and tripped out on me.

Thought I'd update this- 11 months on and I've done a fair bit of welding both stainless and ally, and its going strong, hasn't missed a beat. Worth the money in my eyes for sure, definitely pleased I bought it.

You can use any inert gas for welding even helium. Basically it all comes down to cost. pure argon shield is gonna cost a load more than co2, but Pure argon will cover you for snything that ya gonna weld. I'm an aerospace tig welder and use a very expensive Miller syncrowave 351 which would weld anything and it's massive but a fellow worker has had a Murex tig welder. Compact in size and very affordable. His machine is all digital and would probably out preform mine.

Sorry peeps I'm a newbie and keep forgeting to go to the last post to say anything. The post above this should have been at page one.

Where do you get your argon from Tom?

you open an account with BOC and get one from your local stockist.

pal up a local garage

we get ours from a farmer that is an old friend of the family, the guys at the depot think im his son haha

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

i should add youll need to 'come across' a bottle from somewhere to exchange, which will prob be the hard part.

oh, and if you 'come across' a boc bottle, youll have to find a friend with a boc account, and ditto for air products.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

or pay an anual rent on one... Another 55 quid out of my pocket this month

As above, set up an account with BOC (or AirProducts, but BOC were cheaper when I last checked) and lease a cylinder.

Yearly or 5 yearly lease charge and a charge for each refill (exchange).

BOC and AirProducts quite rightly will only touch their own genuine cylinders.

The cylinders are potentially lethal because of the amount of stored energy (the only reason the general public can lease them and carry them in the back of a car legally is because the gases are non-flammable) and because of the stored energy the cylinders are uniquely numbered and traced as they have to have examinations and tests by law every so often.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Do they still sell these?

bump, the link doesnt work any longer tom, whats the brand name/model bud?

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Was a REHMANN, TBH think this particular one is no more now, not seen them on ebay and "Feltzen Trading" who I boiught it from have disappeared too.

yeah, they seem nla?

from what ive read on the welding forums they are still chinese albeit distributed through Germany

these seem to be quite reputable on the forums:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=130245399563

*edit, just spotted the bump up on the postage :(

Edited by joeybaby83 on 6th Jun, 2009.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

I think that they all come form the Shenzen factory in China, but are badged for whoever sells them on.

I bought a Mitech and it looks much the same sort of thing.

So far it has made two exhaust manifolds and an inlet manifold in stainless and I'm just doing the intercooler tanks in ali.

I paid the high postage but it arrived in about 4 days from Hong Kong in perfect condition.

Still a lot cheaper than "British" welders that are probably made in the same factory.

The guy I bought mine from two years ago is still trading, which is encouraging:

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/welder-shop_...634Q2ec0Q2em322

Notice how he sells the same welder under three different brand names.

Edited by Paul S on 6th Jun, 2009.

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."

reading on an american welding forum, a supplier stated that apparently the design is actually owned by the Chinese Govt, and several chinese companies are licenced to build them, and as such, there are several different build qualities of the 'same' machine.

so in short its seems its just pot luck

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

To save starting a new thread i resurrect this one.

As everybody else was i'm after a ac/dc tig, but need a few suggestions, as all of the above ebay links are dead.

Seen things like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...=STRK:MEWAX:VRI which are obviously very basic on the controlls side of things, an am thinking i'll be shooting myself in the foot scrimping at this point.

Then you can venure to the shipped from china machines. This one caught my eye due to the plasma facility: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IGBT-AC-DC-200Amp-AC...=item5633817e5b And seems the same as a Butters welder.

Would appreciate some suggestions please, mainly going to be used for thin mild and SS and some moderate alluminium.

Thanks in advance.

the first one looks just like my Mitec but a differnt name/colour,

the second one looks worth the extra to me.

Thats good to know, and a bit easier with it being a uk seller.

What controlls/settings do i want to be looking for, as some seem to have only a few knobs and others have lots?

the extra knobs are usually for the plasma stuff if its included

Team www.sheepspeed.com Racing

R-tech seem to have a good reputation although there chinese made there made to uk specs