I apologise in advance for the long post, but I've tried to know my **** from my elbow before posting anything here.
I've been researching buying my first single phase mig or multiprocess inverter welder for a few months, I'm very much in the buy right buy once camp so I'm looking for a good welder to grow into and pass the test of time rather than good 'for the money'.
At the same time, I'd probably bench my budget around 500-750 (I want to have my cake and eat it) I could push a little further for the right machine but ultimately it's not going to be in daily use, so I don't want to break the bank completely.
I'm starting off mig welding my van, but I also build campervans, am interested in sustainable housing, and am generally pretty hands on so i would like something with versatility.
I'm interested in tig and have been considering some with lift or hf tig, but also wonder if it may be better to get a separate tig machine further down the line.
Here, in no particular order, are some of the welders I've narrowed down to, and if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.
First up is the obvious entry level mig R-tech mig 180, specs look good, 13a plug is a plus, and price and warranty/aftersales all seem good. I can't help but feel these are hyped so much largely due to price/warranty/service though, build looks cheap, and I've heard the digital control is next to useless which is off putting. It also isn't as feature rich as some others, and only does scraych start tig but obviously aluminium spool gun is something to consider too.
https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/mig-welder-r-tech-i-mig180/
Next are two parwelds, the xtm182i and xtm201i. I don't understand why the 182 is so much heavier if anyone has a clue? The build quality of these units looks much better, and I like the range of features inc lift tig. What puts me off of these a little is the duty cycle, I've found conflicting info online (20% online, 30% in the manual), but it seems a bit low compared to others. Parweld also does 3 year warranty on these and 3 year servicing, so similar to that offered by R tech but not sure if parweld put their money where their mouth is when it comes to it.
https://advancedweldingsupplies.com/products/parweld-xtm-182i-synergic-mig-inverter
https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/brands/parweld/parweld-xtm-201i-mig-welder.html
Around the same price range as the R Tech is the Lincoln bester 190c. This machine seems to have similar functions to the Parweld and the backing of a major name, but I've not found much info from users online, and tend to find posts from merchants and distributors which makes me suspicious.
https://www.unitedwelding.co.uk/lin...g-tig-mma-240v-1ph-inverter-welder-6868-p.asp
Finally the Tec Arc 200i multiprocess, I know Oxford sell these and similar to the rtech they're Chinese imported and rebuilt. What attracts me to this are the specs and particularly the HF tig function, duty cycle looks good, and power goes nice and low. I've just not heard the name kicked around much compared to oxford themselves, or other Chinese imported rebuilds like rtech or jasic so I'm not sure how widely used they are. I've also heard their after sales service can be poor.
https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.c...ti-200i-multi-process-welder-with-hf-tig.html
Other machines I've looked at include thermal arc, stealth, and cros arc, but I'm not too familiar with these yet in comparison to the above. I've also considered jasic but they're just a little pricy for me without adding multiprocess functionality as you can find in some others around 750/800 Mark.
Any advice would be much appreciated, every day I decide, and by morning I'm looking at different machines again!
I've been researching buying my first single phase mig or multiprocess inverter welder for a few months, I'm very much in the buy right buy once camp so I'm looking for a good welder to grow into and pass the test of time rather than good 'for the money'.
At the same time, I'd probably bench my budget around 500-750 (I want to have my cake and eat it) I could push a little further for the right machine but ultimately it's not going to be in daily use, so I don't want to break the bank completely.
I'm starting off mig welding my van, but I also build campervans, am interested in sustainable housing, and am generally pretty hands on so i would like something with versatility.
I'm interested in tig and have been considering some with lift or hf tig, but also wonder if it may be better to get a separate tig machine further down the line.
Here, in no particular order, are some of the welders I've narrowed down to, and if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.
First up is the obvious entry level mig R-tech mig 180, specs look good, 13a plug is a plus, and price and warranty/aftersales all seem good. I can't help but feel these are hyped so much largely due to price/warranty/service though, build looks cheap, and I've heard the digital control is next to useless which is off putting. It also isn't as feature rich as some others, and only does scraych start tig but obviously aluminium spool gun is something to consider too.
https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/mig-welder-r-tech-i-mig180/
Next are two parwelds, the xtm182i and xtm201i. I don't understand why the 182 is so much heavier if anyone has a clue? The build quality of these units looks much better, and I like the range of features inc lift tig. What puts me off of these a little is the duty cycle, I've found conflicting info online (20% online, 30% in the manual), but it seems a bit low compared to others. Parweld also does 3 year warranty on these and 3 year servicing, so similar to that offered by R tech but not sure if parweld put their money where their mouth is when it comes to it.
https://advancedweldingsupplies.com/products/parweld-xtm-182i-synergic-mig-inverter
https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/brands/parweld/parweld-xtm-201i-mig-welder.html
Around the same price range as the R Tech is the Lincoln bester 190c. This machine seems to have similar functions to the Parweld and the backing of a major name, but I've not found much info from users online, and tend to find posts from merchants and distributors which makes me suspicious.
https://www.unitedwelding.co.uk/lin...g-tig-mma-240v-1ph-inverter-welder-6868-p.asp
Finally the Tec Arc 200i multiprocess, I know Oxford sell these and similar to the rtech they're Chinese imported and rebuilt. What attracts me to this are the specs and particularly the HF tig function, duty cycle looks good, and power goes nice and low. I've just not heard the name kicked around much compared to oxford themselves, or other Chinese imported rebuilds like rtech or jasic so I'm not sure how widely used they are. I've also heard their after sales service can be poor.
https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.c...ti-200i-multi-process-welder-with-hf-tig.html
Other machines I've looked at include thermal arc, stealth, and cros arc, but I'm not too familiar with these yet in comparison to the above. I've also considered jasic but they're just a little pricy for me without adding multiprocess functionality as you can find in some others around 750/800 Mark.
Any advice would be much appreciated, every day I decide, and by morning I'm looking at different machines again!