Change of mind

[Pigwelder]

I have decided to invest in a mig/mma welder instead of getting a second hand mig to run alongside my stick welder.

I am looking at the Thermal Arc fabricator 181 or the 221. I then called my local dealer and he said he had a SIF mig/mma 200amp for the same price as the 181. I can't find any info on the SIF. Does anyone know anything about this welder?

 

[Mr shiney]

No info on the SIF but I can tell you the Thermal Arc has proven to be supremely good value for money for me for the last two years. Lovely welder, ultra reliable, a doddle to set up and produces fantastic welds.

 

[daleyd]

Thermal arc has good reviews on here, never heard of the sif machine, though googling it comes up with a nifty looking piece of kit.

Other names with multi process machines are r tech and inverter fusion (ifl) both of those are also well thought of here. Weldequip (above) also stock jasic machines which have a 5 year warranty and look pretty good.

 

[Pigwelder]

http://www.weldability-sif.com/pages/view_product.asp?product_string=TSX1D200MTS

Here's a page from the Sif website, can't find any reviews yet.

 

[daleyd]

Looks good, I presume its recently come out as it wasn't around when I bought mine (2 years ago) as I did quite extensive searches and reading up on all the various multi process units that were around at the time.

 

[Kent]

Its a downgrade of some way in my mind to go to a SIF plant. Not all dealers will stock Thermadyne because its dear stuff when you look across the board and hard to get a discount on (which usually means overt dealer control / appointment). I think if you set yourself up selling welding kit with decent credit you could be selling SIF very quickly.
Hard to talk in car similes' now that Scoda are so respected etc. but lets look back in time " Sir, I have a lovely Austin montego you can have here for slightly less money than that Merc"

 

[daleyd]

I don't have any direct experience with SIF kit, it doesn't seem to be commonplace over here, but I thought SIF were a well respected brand? I wouldn't have considered them a step down from TA products as such

 

[Pigwelder]

I have got the sif welder i'll let you know what it is like when i have put it through it's paces

 

[wheresmejumper]

Looks very similar to an ebay special available in germany since last year
http://www.ebay.de/itm/SCHWEIssGERA...-MMA-MAG-MIG-200A-DIGITAL-2-4-T-/171560768436

 

[Pigwelder]

Here are some pics of the welder and some weld tests. I initially had some problems with the welder not running the wire through and after a quick phone call to the supplier and a very sarcastic 'have you turned the tensioner down?', the welder ran like a dream. Having never used a mig before i spent an hour welding loads of scrap changing the volts and the wire speed which i think i have pretty much got used to now. The controls seemed a bit confusing to start with, there are a lot of options with one control dial but after a while i got my head around it. At the moment i have only played with the wire control and volts but there are inductance controls and gas controls which i think i'll leave alone for a bit.

All in all i have found the welder very lightweight and easy to use, and coming from a mma welding background i find mig so much easier to use. Thanks for everyones comments on here and my previous thread, spending a bit more money has definitely been worth it.

 

[daleyd]

That looks a nice bit of kit, and some good welds!