Kayla Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 I'm thinking about buying a TIG set to play with, and I'd like something that can do aluminium alloys as well as steels. Doing a little bit of ebay research has led me to this- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eastwood-TIG-200-AC-DC-Welder-BY12746-Brand-New-/140700150585?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20c261eb39#ht_2174wt_905 What do you think? I know it's difficult to say 'yes' or 'no' to something that you can't actually fiddle with in person, but a few words of advice would be splendid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy sie Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 migtronic is the best you can get,we have a one that was 4 grand one ,single phase and is lovley to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomfoolery Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Useful reply as always there, Sie. I'd love to learn to weld, but the cost of that one listed puts me off. £600 is a lot of money for something I'd hardly use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overload Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Chinese made by the looks of it. R-tech or even http://www.weldequip.com/inverter-fusion-tig.htm can do a similar job. Both machines are british built so you will get good back up if the machine ever decides to go knee's up! It really depends on what type of thickness's you're gonna weld. The thicker the material is, the more amps you will need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla Posted February 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Chinese made by the looks of it. R-tech or even http://www.weldequip...-fusion-tig.htm can do a similar job. Both machines are british built so you will get good back up if the machine ever decides to go knee's up! It really depends on what type of thickness's you're gonna weld. The thicker the material is, the more amps you will need. Don't you need AC to TIG aluminium? I'm not looking to weld bridges or tanks together or anything, just small stuff like alloy subframes (so probably around 3-4mm thickness at the most) Tom- I did a MIG course at my local college and it was brill, I can definitely recommend it if you fancy having a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy sie Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 oh...here goes.. wot you need....the best duty time... more amps then you need,is best. the thing with cheep set is...they seldom have a good spark,the dearer set have very controlable sparks,and with tig an ali is all about spark control,been tig welding for over 15 year,and it pays to use a good set,go to a nigh scool first to have a go al ali tig and use the difrent set they have and you will see wot it about,any help needed then drop me pm and ill send you my number and i can talk you through it as it ti much info to post up here. hope this helps oh and yes a/c for ali,but you can do it with d/c but you have to be well, quite tec on the way the welder works,and the setting,to be honest d/c can be done but only for small welds and it a pain in the ass to get all the right tungsten and shrouds.. and tig and mig are well fields apart..you can mig in a few week,but to tig ali can take years of use,as its very technical to do,as in get good beeds and the set up....and the cheeps set make this harder,the one we have is ex Rolls Royce ..and is one if not the best single phase you can get. mig is one handed tig is two handed as in you feed the filler, you control the spark..and with the foot prdal you control the amps...and then theres pulse and all the other ways you can weld...and the gasses..it realy is a quit tecnical to tig weld proper,as in nice,and it is rather like had writing you are either neat of weell crap,see people who have tiged for years and still not neet,to get good nice beeds is a skill on its own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Have a look at the Lincoln V205T, its really compact, loads of features. Proper bit of kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svingel Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Sie is on the right track. Migatronic, Miller, Fronius could be worth buying used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overload Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Don't you need AC to TIG aluminium? I'm not looking to weld bridges or tanks together or anything, just small stuff like alloy subframes (so probably around 3-4mm thickness at the most) Tom- I did a MIG course at my local college and it was brill, I can definitely recommend it if you fancy having a go You're right!! you do need AC. Thought they do a AC version of that model. In that case, check out R-Tech http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/ for their 240v ac/dc 160amp welder if you're still looking for an alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy sie Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Migatronic 260amp ....fully digital....yumm,yummmm...pedal and pulse...even has some other top notch options...nice set,and after the migtronic 500 amp 3 phase last used(yep a 500 amp tig set 10 mm ali plate 5mm filler no problem) it is a dream.. like single phase set they have such a clean spark,and nice and bright...yummm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel.ted Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Kayla if you can find an Inverter based machine they are alot better and nicer to use and reliable . I worked at Migatronic many years ago and they are excellent machines to use(as Sie said) Have a look at this these are local to me and have a mate who works there will get price for you if needed http://www.sip-group.com/acatalog/05162.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdunc Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Kayla That machine in your post will do all you need it to, 3/4mm aluminium no problem,6mm alloy should be doable too. Duty cycle is only important if your doing production work, or laying down 6ft of weld on 3mm alloy in one go. As others have said, there are better machine available, we have a cheapy like the one listed and a flash 3phase Miller. The cheap welder does everything I want, but the Miller does lay down a nicer bead no doubt. even I can lay down a neat alloy weld with the miller. The down side with buying a second hand Migatronic or Miller is that single phase machines are desirable and priced as such,best part of £2000 last time I looked, also if they go wrong they can be pricey to repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaighn80 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 i want one of dem Weldmate P178HF. how much are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregorious77 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 No one has said Kemppi, they do decent sets, and Lincoln well recomended. Big money though for a decent tig set. Really you want foot control and high frequency start. You will also need some argon of course. http://www.rapidwelding.com/dynamic/Category.aspx?c=ATIG240V&o=0&zl=2&sq=4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy sie Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 used the Lincoln and the kemmpi set just did not have the feel of the migaronic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregorious77 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 We have a migatronic MIG and I do prefer it to the kemppi, its a lot smoother and easier to tune. The Kemppi TIG sets are ok though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla Posted February 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Kayla That machine in your post will do all you need it to, 3/4mm aluminium no problem,6mm alloy should be doable too. Duty cycle is only important if your doing production work, or laying down 6ft of weld on 3mm alloy in one go. As others have said, there are better machine available, we have a cheapy like the one listed and a flash 3phase Miller. The cheap welder does everything I want, but the Miller does lay down a nicer bead no doubt. even I can lay down a neat alloy weld with the miller. The down side with buying a second hand Migatronic or Miller is that single phase machines are desirable and priced as such,best part of £2000 last time I looked, also if they go wrong they can be pricey to repair. Brill, that's what I wanted to know Thanks for all the replies, most of it's helpful I posted the low cost option up as that's all I can afford to spend, if I had a few thousand to spend on a TIG set I'd be able to employ someone to do the welding for me! So, this one- http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/welding_equipment/Tig_Welder/Tig_Welder_R-Tech_Tig161 looks similar to the one on ebay, but blue (which is nicer!) and it's from a company that is at least easily contactable should anything go wrong with it. Right, I'll have one of those I think. It's just for messing about with to start with and if I end up blowing holes in practice pieces, so what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdunc Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Kayla, the people selling the welder in your original post are well established too, and good to deal with. One other thing with these cheap Tig sets, is to forget the pedal set-up, they are usually just an on of switch, and don't modulate the amps like a more exspensive machine. Worth baring in mind if you are going to do a course on Tig welding at college and they have a nice fancy welder with a throttle pedal, and yours just has a switch on the torch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla Posted February 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 I just bought one of these, plus the bits and bobs to have a go, and it should be here tomorrow http://www.r-techwel...r_R-Tech_Tig161 Now to learn mesel welding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garage19 Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 R- tech have the best customer service i have ever come across. My advice would be to buy the most amps you can afford as larger ally fabrications just suck the heat away and make sure you have a foot pedal. You might need 200 amps at the beginning of the weld but only 80 to maintain as the work heats up and 50 to finish. So as you can see you are on a road to no where without a foot pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla Posted February 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 R- tech have the best customer service i have ever come across. My advice would be to buy the most amps you can afford as larger ally fabrications just suck the heat away and make sure you have a foot pedal. You might need 200 amps at the beginning of the weld but only 80 to maintain as the work heats up and 50 to finish. So as you can see you are on a road to no where without a foot pedal. I'm not going to be nailing beam frames together or anything but thanks for the advice regarding the heat soaking, I hadn't considered that It'll be nice if I can just get a decent tack on some ally stuff and then get someone who knows what they're doing to finish it off (for now, anyway!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaighn80 Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 i still have those plans for an ac/dc tig welder if anyone is interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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