ESAB Rogue ET 230iP AC/DC or

[gruvan]

Hello Welders!

I'm looking to purchase a new TIG welding machine, primarily for advanced hobby projects and light fabrication (including both steel/stainless and aluminium).

I have a very solid budget of around €4000 (or equivalent in local currency) for the complete setup, and I'm looking for the best value professional AC/DC machine I can get within that range, ideally with a water cooler included.

The machine that has currently caught my eye is the ESAB Rogue ET 230iP AC/DC, ideally with the water cooling unit.

Questions​

1. ESAB Rogue ET 230iP AC/DC: Does anyone have hands-on experience with this machine? How does it perform on AC (aluminium)? Is the integrated pulse feature useful
2. Alternatives: Given the 4000 budget, are there any other professional or high-end machines you would recommend I look at? I'm open to brands like Kemppi, Fronius, etc

Thanks in advance!

 

[Munkul]

For your budget you could have Lorch, if not a T220 at least a handytig 200. Made in Germany, not china.

 

[gruvan]

For your budget you could have Lorch, if not a T220 at least a handytig 200. Made in Germany, not china.

Thanks for the advice. The Lorch looks sturdy, however a bit old school. Does it have all the new features and technology that the ESAB has? I'm new to TIG. So a user friendly machine is a big plus.

 

[smallgarageworkshop]

I tried them when they first come out last year and nothing special as the Jasic ACDC was still better other than the 200 amp to the Esab 230 amp. I sometimea get the EWM 230 xq tetrix a few weeks old with like 30 mins arc time for a tad less and really no comparison to those kind of machines .

 

[Munkul]

Thanks for the advice. The Lorch looks sturdy, however a bit old school. Does it have all the new features and technology that the ESAB has? I'm new to TIG. So a user friendly machine is a big plus.

Sorry I thought I replied to this a while back.

With TIG, there’s not really any new features been created in the last 20 years to be honest. All the mainstream brands have something that does most of what you want.
The only “innovation” has been colour display screens, which in my opinion, do absolutely nothing to help your welding.
What you want, is something that has a logical display/controls, all of the main features at the primary menu, and everything else hidden in the background.
Then it comes down to the quality of the machine, and the arc characteristics.

The jasic as mentioned above, is easy to use and has a nice arc.
The esab you are looking at, I have no experience of.
I like my Lorch machines for a variety of reasons, not least the digital torch controls, and I’ll continue to buy Lorch.

The top 3 brands in Europe at the moment, in my opinion, are Fronius, Lorch and EWM.

 

[tom2207]

After a bad run with EWM resellers of late , I now own three Fronius machines ,,, soon to be four . The machines are no better or worse than EWM different to use but not better or worse ,,, just different , the big change for me was a local supplier ,,, buy what you will get backup on.