Your thoughts on this cheap tig

EZGZ · Post by **EZGZ** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:44 pm

back to the subject of tig welding.

I owned and used a craftsman high freq tig adapter that you use with your arch welder.

It really works great when you use it as a stick welding attachment.

When doing straight TIG I used a CO2 arrgon blend and your basic tungsten tips. To learn and practice I made a trailer to haul my sandrail and got pretty good with it in both flat and vertical position. No smoke and almost no warping or pulling but you have to be steady.

The problem is doing light work because the type of unit you show and I had does not have a peddle to control the heat. It is almost impossible to any aluminum welding.

You need the control of a foot pedal and that will coast you close to $1,500 for a entry level single phase unit.

I must admit thought that if you get one you will find projects to use it and folks will be lined up with ideas for you to do for them.

They make super fast, small, smooth welds with good penatration control.

Give a pro a peace of junk welder and he can make it work.
Give a beginer with no schooling a pro model and there is a 50/50 chance he will still produce junk.

As far as 3 phase at home? They have converters and adapter for everything if you have the money.

mullet mayhem · Post by **mullet mayhem** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 9:03 pm

Personally, I were just looking to weld say exhaust pipe, I would just buy a little mig, if aluminum, then a decent tig set up, or some aluminum rod for oxy-acet. set up. I don't know anything about these small machines and am suspicious. I'm used to using a Miller syncrowave 250DX on aluminum and steel with a ar+co2 mix.

Bobnotch · Post by **Bobnotch** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:59 pm

mullet mayhem wrote:Personally, I were just looking to weld say exhaust pipe, I would just buy a little mig, if aluminum, then a decent tig set up, or some aluminum rod for oxy-acet. set up. I don't know anything about these small machines and am suspicious. I'm used to using a Miller syncrowave 250DX on aluminum and steel with a ar+co2 mix.

Same here, same equipment at work. I did however buy an econo tig from my local Miller dealer. It was $1537.00 out the door. But I have friend how works in a marina, who's going to send me some prop work, so that should help on the pay off.

Got one here already.

Like someone else said,if you get one, you'll find uses for it.

Can Drive Soon · Post by **Can Drive Soon** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:02 pm

What about 440 volt?

mullet mayhem · Post by **mullet mayhem** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:07 pm

I like that Miller 250. Welds real nice. What model did you get for home? The Miller runs 220 volt but it needs a 90 amp breaker I think.

mullet mayhem

Bobnotch · Post by **Bobnotch** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 7:02 am

The econo tig is a 220 volt single phase machine. It draws a max of 50 amps. I could have bought a 150 synchrowave for about the same cost, but it's size was a little too big for my garage, and I'd have needed a truck to get it home (plus a crane to unload it).

The nice thing about the econo tig, is that 2 people can load it into a car or truck (I hauled mine home in the back of my Squareback), and take it to another location (weighs about 150 lbs).

I set mine up on a 25 foot extension cord (already had 220 power out there for the air compressor), so I can put it anywhere in the building, and do some welding.

I'm also using straight argon with it, as aluminum prefers that, plus it gives you cleaner welds on steel and stainless steel. I've found that if you use pure tungsten on aluminum you'll get better welds too, but I prefer the 2% tungsten for steel and stainless (it's cheaper to buy).

mullet mayhem · Post by **mullet mayhem** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:19 pm

Wow, sounds like a dandy. We also use the straight argon. I think we're using pure tungsten for aluminum. Not sure, to tell you the truth, I just grab the box with the green electrodes in it for aluminum and the red or orange ones for steel. The argon works ok for thin sheetmetal. Havent' tried doing any stainless yet.

Bobnotch · Post by **Bobnotch** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:17 pm

Sounds like you're using the right stuff.

Stainless welds really nice, as it's clean, with no scale to deal with.

Lays down better than aluminum, and welds like steel (uses the same settings). Plus you can polish it up really nice (like a mirror).

mullet mayhem · Post by **mullet mayhem** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:08 pm

Sounds like I oughta try some stainless. What electrode do you use?

Bobnotch · Post by **Bobnotch** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 12:15 pm

Red stripe, or 2%, same as steel.

Have fun.