AC/DC TIG pre-purchase advice needed please

[BGS28]

New here. Grateful for the warm welcome and banter so far. Other half not willing to talk welders with me any more.

I have an old Sealey MIG 150 from about 20 years ago or more, used it to make some big gates from box section, a good workshop bench and done a few bits of welding over the years. was never really that pleased with the quality.

Now got my mind set on AC/DC TIG for flexibility of materials, use of just one gas, and nice finish
The brief:
Brand new machine
Won’t be used that often so shouldn't have a hard life
Something capable of a reasonably good quality finish
Think I need to budget for around £1k at least
I need longevity and a decent finish.
Duty cycle not a concern, very small jobs

Like most, I’ve done my google research and ended up on this forum quite often.
In some ways I’m thinking Hitbox AC/DC TIG, stahlwerk in other ways thinking Parweld, Jasic, RTech, with my mind set so far on the Parweld-TIG-212-Di with its 5 year warranty just under £1K with VAT.
Just when i think I've found the right one, I read some contrasting info.

I can see stick welding being useful, but don’t think I need MIG if I have TIG and not in a rush as jobs will be small. Happy to be corrected.


The sweet spot for me ideally around £1k, and I don't think I should be tempted by the cheap cheap ones.

I realise this subject has been done to death, but for anyone looking for a welder for hobby/domestic use, do we know what people at this point in time who have a budget of up to £1500 (welder only) are currently buying?

Looking to get it sorted and keep long term rather than buy and upgrade or replace further down the line.

What are most people in this scenario doing?

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Brian

 

[Jackimus]

I'm not an expert, but it seems to be if in doubt, get the R-Tech. Proven machines, five year warranty, good people who stand behind it. I've heard tell of them being just as helpful outside of warranty too.

Sit on your hands for a bit as they go on sale for 10% off now and then.

 

[eddie49]

Shame this auction has just been cancelled - a venerable WSME-200 :

Pardon our interruption...

They do break, but we can fix them:

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...welder-wsme-200-clone-for-sale-on-ebay.141580

and so could you!

 

[Hood]

I had a Parweld XTT202P and it was a nice machine, sometime I wish I still had it as I really miss the tapping function when in 4T, so it is probably the one I would go for out of the ones you list.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I've got a hitbox...it does everything it needs to...

 

[BGS28]

I'm not an expert, but it seems to be if in doubt, get the R-Tech. Proven machines, five year warranty, good people who stand behind it. I've heard tell of them being just as helpful outside of warranty too.

Sit on your hands for a bit as they go on sale for 10% off now and then.

Whilst I've read nothing but good things about R-Tech, the 171 and 211 are significantly more (£1548 & £1894) than the Parweld 212Di at £954. The 10% would obviously help but it would be a real stretch and Parweld also have the 5 yr warranty too. I'd expect both to be robust and need to see some value to justify the extra cost. Definitely on my shortlist still though.

 

[BGS28]

I've got a hitbox...it does everything it needs to...

It was Hitbox that initially caught my eye due to price spec and functionality, but ruled them out after mixed reviews etc. Then the budget kept going up. ... Which model do you have and what are you comparing it to please? I need something that's just going to work and work really well with good quality welds (with the limiting factor being me. Most of my life I've struggled with things that don't work great when I've cut corners or bought cheaper.

 

[BrokenBiker]

It was Hitbox that initially caught my eye due to price spec and functionality, but ruled them out after mixed reviews etc. Then the budget kept going up. ... Which model do you have and what are you comparing it to please? I need something that's just going to work and work really well with good quality welds (with the limiting factor being me. Most of my life I've struggled with things that don't work great when I've cut corners or bought cheaper.

I have the 200 amp acdc and basically comparing it to not having a welder...ive had it since January, ran 3 bottles of argon through it, welded mild steel, stainless, aluminium, en16 to stainless etc...if you arent getting half decent welds ita more likely operator error than the machine. It has impressed me so much im replacing my mig with a hitbox and also looking at buying their 55amp plasma cutter.

 

[BGS28]

I had a Parweld XTT202P and it was a nice machine, sometime I wish I still had it as I really miss the tapping function when in 4T, so it is probably the one I would go for out of the ones you list.

Thanks, at the moment Parweld is top of my list, price feels about right for me. It's difficult to make a decision even when the shortlist is really short

 

[BGS28]

I have the 200 amp acdc and basically comparing it to not having a welder...ive had it since January, ran 3 bottles of argon through it, welded mild steel, stainless, aluminium, en16 to stainless etc...if you arent getting half decent welds ita more likely operator error than the machine. It has impressed me so much im replacing my mig with a hitbox and also looking at buying their 55amp plasma cutter.

Thanks for your first hand experience, info like this really puts me in a difficult situation. My initial thoughts were to get the same model. I'm going to need to make a decision soon so will see what the other members recommend.

 

[Guzrik]

Whilst I've read nothing but good things about R-Tech, the 171 and 211 are significantly more (£1548 & £1894) than the Parweld 212Di at £954. The 10% would obviously help but it would be a real stretch and Parweld also have the 5 yr warranty too. I'd expect both to be robust and need to see some value to justify the extra cost. Definitely on my shortlist still though.

So the Parweld could have watercooling for the same budget?

 

[chunkytfg]

New here. Grateful for the warm welcome and banter so far. Other half not willing to talk welders with me any more.

I have an old Sealey MIG 150 from about 20 years ago or more, used it to make some big gates from box section, a good workshop bench and done a few bits of welding over the years. was never really that pleased with the quality.

Now got my mind set on AC/DC TIG for flexibility of materials, use of just one gas, and nice finish
The brief:
Brand new machine
Won’t be used that often so shouldn't have a hard life
Something capable of a reasonably good quality finish
Think I need to budget for around £1k at least
I need longevity and a decent finish.
Duty cycle not a concern, very small jobs

Like most, I’ve done my google research and ended up on this forum quite often.
In some ways I’m thinking Hitbox AC/DC TIG, stahlwerk in other ways thinking Parweld, Jasic, RTech, with my mind set so far on the Parweld-TIG-212-Di with its 5 year warranty just under £1K with VAT.
Just when i think I've found the right one, I read some contrasting info.

I can see stick welding being useful, but don’t think I need MIG if I have TIG and not in a rush as jobs will be small. Happy to be corrected.


The sweet spot for me ideally around £1k, and I don't think I should be tempted by the cheap cheap ones.

I realise this subject has been done to death, but for anyone looking for a welder for hobby/domestic use, do we know what people at this point in time who have a budget of up to £1500 (welder only) are currently buying?

Looking to get it sorted and keep long term rather than buy and upgrade or replace further down the line.

What are most people in this scenario doing?

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Brian

I've been having the same dilemma. I already have the R-tech 181 Mig so a Big for me would be more for playing with and trying to see if I can work out how to weld Alu. I like the idea od a stack of R-tech machines with the possibility to then add a plasma cutter to the stack at a later date but the price jump from the paroled to the R-tech is hard to ignore even with the 10% discount and the customer services back up.

My local Welding supplier is a really friendly place and sells Parweld so so in all honesty I'll probably end up with that one as the money saved will happily offset the slightly shorter warranty.

I've considered the Stahlworks like you but when you include the import duty and Vat on top the prices are not cheap enough to justify the risk of it going wrong and the ensuing headache of trying to deal with a foreign warranty provider

 

[doubleboost]

You will not be disappointed with the R Tech machine.
Ask them about shop soiled and X demo machines .

 

[zzr1200]

There was an Oxford ac/dc tig for sale on here about a week ago for £1200 for a quick sale in Norfolk, can't seem to find the listing atm.

Top class machine with simple controls, would be worth the day out to collect it.

 

[Hood]

Just to expand on what I meant by tapping in 4T.
With the Parweld (or at least the one I had) when you are in 4T mode you can set it up to drop to a lower current when you tap the button, so press to start, once started you release the button and continue welding, if the weld is getting too hot you tap the button and it drops to a lower current and you continue welding until it is getting too cold, tap again for full current to continue welding then when you want to stop you hold the button until it is at minimum then release. It is a very handy feature for aluminium. The Sherman (Jasic in disguise) I have now does not have that feature and I miss it a lot.
There will be other welders with that feature I am sure but can't say which ones.

 

[Wozzaaah]

There was an Oxford ac/dc tig for sale on here about a week ago for £1200 for a quick sale in Norfolk, can't seem to find the listing atm.

Top class machine with simple controls, would be worth the day out to collect it.

The OP asked for the ad to be removed as it wasn’t selling.

 

[Nederlands]

I had a Parweld XTT202P and it was a nice machine, sometime I wish I still had it as I really miss the tapping function when in 4T, so it is probably the one I would go for out of the ones you list.

Just to expand on what I meant by tapping in 4T.
With the Parweld (or at least the one I had) when you are in 4T mode you can set it up to drop to a lower current when you tap the button, so press to start, once started you release the button and continue welding, if the weld is getting too hot you tap the button and it drops to a lower current and you continue welding until it is getting too cold, tap again for full current to continue welding then when you want to stop you hold the button until it is at minimum then release. It is a very handy feature for aluminium. The Sherman (Jasic in disguise) I have now does not have that feature and I miss it a lot.
There will be other welders with that feature I am sure but can't say which ones.

The parweld xtt212di has that same function
En at my job the ewm tetrix has the same function

Love that function to

I do have the parwld xtt212di watercooled
With a 20 toorts on it
Small flexible and i like it more than a binzel arbitig 20

 

[Hood]

The parweld xtt212di has that same function
En at my job the ewm tetrix has the same function

Love that function to

I do have the parwld xtt212di watercooled
With a 20 toorts on it
Small flexible and i like it more than a binzel arbitig 20

I am not surprised at the EWM having it as my EWM Phoenix Mig has it and again it is great when welding aluminium.

 

[Nederlands]

Did not know it would be handy
To have on a mig

 

[Hood]

Did not know it would be handy
To have on a mig

It is excellent, I often have to weld aluminium on boats that has varying thicknesses due to wear and corrosion and being able to drop the current at the tap of the torch button is a godsend.