kemppi,lorch, miller or stel..... 240v ac/dc Tig...any feedback?

[jonski]

hi i am new here as a member but i have been reading these forums for a couple of years ,

apologies in advance for the long intro but it might help to explain where im coming from

i learned tig as an apprentice for a large aerospace company (avica /meggit) that used to be based in hemel hempstead back in the noughties, welding thin wall stainless/inconel ducting. After a degree and various career changes i am back welding for a sculptor( mostly ally,mild steel,corten) i am also taking on private jobs at the same time.
in the long run i would like to go work on the rigs or something that allows me to see a bit of the world but all that will come with time and experience i guess.....

i am by no means an expert and would not consider myself a pro

i trained initially on a syncrowave 250. whilst working for the sculptor i have used a dynasty 200 until it went pop.it was replaced with a water cooled dynasty 350 which is a solid workhorse and seems to take anything i throw at it

my first purchase was a kemppi 180 mig from BOC ...since then i have been hooked on the kemppi brand and have had a 3phs mastertig 2200, master 1500 arc and most recently a mastertig 1600 ac dc (i wanted to do more ally welding..) all of these have been bought from flebay as i couldn't afford to stump up top dollar on a new machine...

mid way through a current job my mastertig 1600 has died (thermal overload/computer says no) which has put me in a sticky fix . i could get it fixed for around 300-600 quid but potentially have more problems later on. i have only had it for a year, i spent around £1400 on it from flebay and until it decided not to work it was very versatile and gave me the "joy of welding " experience, so im fairly gutted about the whole thing

i have decided to take the plunge and drop some cash on a new machine, im looking at it as an investment to my future

so to the question...which one? i have around £3500 to spend but i need to get as much bang for my buck as possible as i wont be able to spend any more money on the welder for several years to come

my requirements:
-240v (although i do have 3phse in my workshop if the right machine came up)
-AC/DC
-around 200 amps output
-foot pedal
-warranty-good after sales support
-watercooled(although i could build my own cooler unit)
-pulse etc....although not too many bells and whistles if they go wrong later on
-reasonably bombproof,
-universal atatchments
-can handle 4mm aluminium without breaking a sweat


my choice so far:

- Miller dynasty 200 dx- expensive but comes with a three year "blue warranty" seems to be some issues with the hf start on some of the models from reading on forums and i have experience of them going pop.that being said they do seem a good bit of kit

-lorch t220 -a co worker bought one a while back and is still very happy with it,i was impressed by the drop test

-Kemppi mastertig mls 2300 - im a big fan of orange but a bit shaken about getting parts/ trying to get information from kemppi can sometimes be like trying to get blood out of a stone

-Stel dp 201h- this is the wild card as i have not heard of these before but a local dealership compared them to the dynasty as far as output and quality....anyone got anything to say about stel? they seem to provide welders for companies to re badge and sell on



i know this type of question keeps popping up but any thoughts or wisdom is much appreciated

Many thanks

johnny

 

[Premiershipman]

Lorch T220 with support backed up by Matt1978 on this forum.

 

[jonski]

thanks premiershipman thats 1 for the lorch.....

i noticed you had an esab what made you choose that over any of the ones i listed?

 

[jonski]

i ask as my local welding supplier has offered me an ESAB Caddy Tig 2200i for an alright price

 

[Premiershipman]

I looked at an ESAB but the only ESAB item I have is the auto helmet.

I have the Tec Arc arc Welder, Portamig Mig welder, Lorch T220 Tig and Victor gas welding equipment.

I tried the T220 at a supplier in the UK and then I managed to get a good price on it from another supplier.

And any issues I have, I can give Matt on this forum a shout and its all sorted.

 

[chevy2]

Dont need to sell you the dynasty as you know them,
But the newer dynastys all now come with blue lightning hf start which has cured all of the hf issues with the earlier machines,
Another one to consider, the Lincoln V205?

 

[jonski]

Dont need to sell you the dynasty as you know them,
But the newer dynastys all now come with blue lightning hf start which has cured all of the hf issues with the earlier machines,
Another one to consider, the Lincoln V205?

i was wondering about the "blue lightning hf" when i was reading the spec sheet.i thought it was a marketing ploy to make hf start sound a bit more snazzy. are there any issues with the fact that the dynasty is imported to europe and is initailly made for the american market which has a different power set up..(something that the local technician mentioned when the dynasty 200 at work went pop) i also remember him muttering something about ce mark and the fact that the dynasty had been brought into the uk via "unoffical" channels so nothing on it was ce marked.

the fact that the dynasty comes with a three year warranty is also quite a winner one of the suppliers i called quoted me a slightly cheaper price than the kemppi 2300.does any one have any experience using the cordless foot pedal..... seems like a good idea when i think of all the times i have got tangled up in the cable or it stretches just out of reach of the work and the slightly longer torch lead

they have lincolns in the local boc center and they feel a bit plastic(no offence to any lincoln owners) i have to admit i havent actualy tried one out so maybe im just being judgmental. at this point i could add it to my hit list but im wondering if its going to make the final choice even harder.

 

[pedrobedro]

I have an older Stel which welds fine. It did break once and cost me £200 to get it fixed but I had had it a few years and nothing lasts forever. If I could have justified a Dynasty I would have but they were 3 times the price of the Stel.

 

[jonski]

I looked at an ESAB but the only ESAB item I have is the auto helmet.

I have the Tec Arc arc Welder, Portamig Mig welder, Lorch T220 Tig and Victor gas welding equipment.

I tried the T220 at a supplier in the UK and then I managed to get a good price on it from another supplier.

And any issues I have, I can give Matt on this forum a shout and its all sorted.

nice...gas welding is next on my list of things to get to grips with.....everything i have heard about lorch and their sales rep seems positive.i have matts number and will give him a call tommorow on prices

 

[wyn]

I use a T220 lorch.......i had a problem with it, with a week or two left on the 3 year warranty.
I had it sorted with no problems.

 

[jonski]

I have an older Stel which welds fine. It did break once and cost me £200 to get it fixed but I had had it a few years and nothing lasts forever. If I could have justified a Dynasty I would have but they were 3 times the price of the Stel.

one of the welding suplliers localy is the main dealer in the uk(or something like that).they look like they have all the bells and whistles although the Stel dp 201h- is apparently a new model and as of yet hasnt had the time to throw up any problems(all of this information on the different welders negatives could be hearsay from diff reps i have been talking to this morning

at lest with the big brands like kemppi or miller i get the impression that they would still have parts after 6 years.

 

[jonski]

I use a T220 lorch.......i had a problem with it, with a week or two left on the 3 year warranty.
I had it sorted with no problems.

what was the particular problem? anything to be aware of?

 

[rangel]

Hi the STEL welder that you local shop offering is a very dated welder that is the current model http://mikogroup.me/index.php/en/pr...ines/tig-welding-machines/tig-dp-221hpa-ac-dc it gets very good review from the states american welding suplier rebaging and sales as HTP 221 AC DC I would go for KEMPPI OR LORCH if you want MILLER DYNASTY wait for the DYNASTY 280 DX single and tree phase I spook with EMPIRE WELDING and they should come to UK market June July

 

[chevy2]

i was wondering about the "blue lightning hf" when i was reading the spec sheet.i thought it was a marketing ploy to make hf start sound a bit more snazzy. are there any issues with the fact that the dynasty is imported to europe and is initailly made for the american market which has a different power set up..(something that the local technician mentioned when the dynasty 200 at work went pop) i also remember him muttering something about ce mark and the fact that the dynasty had been brought into the uk via "unoffical" channels so nothing on it was ce marked.

the fact that the dynasty comes with a three year warranty is also quite a winner one of the suppliers i called quoted me a slightly cheaper price than the kemppi 2300.does any one have any experience using the cordless foot pedal..... seems like a good idea when i think of all the times i have got tangled up in the cable or it stretches just out of reach of the work and the slightly longer torch lead

they have lincolns in the local boc center and they feel a bit plastic(no offence to any lincoln owners) i have to admit i havent actualy tried one out so maybe im just being judgmental. at this point i could add it to my hit list but im wondering if its going to make the final choice even harder.

I have a dynasty 200 and considered importing it myself,
In the end i got mine from empire welding who are the cheapest by far and its CE marked,
A non CE marked miller has to be sent back to miller holland for any repairs as uk repairers may not be covered legally to repair non CE machines, cant see a problem with uk voltage on a US machine but then i'm no electrician,
Got the cordless pedal also, its super lightweight and you'd never tell the difference from a corded pedal.

 

[wheresmejumper]

Its 50hz vs 60hz I think that gives the problems with some US machines.

fronius magicwave 2200 is one to look at, as well as the EWM 230 tetrix

 

[penfold]

Its 50hz vs 60hz I think that gives the problems with some US machines.

fronius magicwave 2200 is one to look at, as well as the EWM 230 tetrix

As I understand it the power conditioning in most modern inverters is such that they could be specified to take anything from 110-440 and 40-70Hz; it all gets chopped up and regulated by the pixies inside the magic box anyway, so the input power can be messy as you like.

That said what does the specification say? The Miller sheet says '115 – 460 V, 3- or 1-Phase Power' so more or less as I've written.

 

[wheresmejumper]

It was an issue with inverters for years, not with the newest stuff though.
if you were lucky it just derated the power output a little

 

[Jim Davey]

2nd vote for the EWM Tetrix 230, it really is a superb machine. 3 year warranty, German build quality, I've run them on my hire fleet for years with no trouble, Airbus and McLaren use them too so they can't be bad.