Changing kemppi minarctig 180 A to Rehm 230 dc welder...

[chris pruteanu]

Good morning guys, looking for a portable water cooled setup to take on sites/jobs and looking for a portable welder, so far i have a kemppi minarctig 180 Amps welder which is very light and portable but i keep burning myself i not carefull...so looking for a portable set i came across a rehm Tiger 230 DC high package which has a 230 Amps capability and runs from a stock plug...The welder has a cart on rolls and a nice digital/TFT display and many features... So far i am happy with the smooth arc the kemppi has and i really like the very long torch- i often work under/inside lorries and having a long reach earth and torch is a godsend.
I am not keen on futuristic designs but i get along really easy with the simple interface o the kemppi although i am missing pulse when welding really dirty metal. Now the rehm comes in both ACDC and DC only flavors, a acdc set is out o my budget but looking at both models they look very similar and the AC option is blocked in the menu- is there a plug in module available that could upgrade later on to full ACDC capabilities ? The setup looks very compact as it is so really keen on it at the moment...
Wanted to upload pictures but for some reason the pictures doesnt have the right extension !

 

[hotponyshoes]

I would think you would need extra/changed hardware to get ac from it as well.
Also you need to find out how to unblock the software if it really does have the extra options in there.
I can well believe that they would only write one set of software for the top end machine and then just block out or delete features as appropriate for lower machines but I would have no idea how you would go about reactivation of it?
Possibly if the machine has a usb connection or something you could just load in the firmware from a ac/dc machine. I know some dealers can update some machines that way.

You might get lucky and find empty labled holes/spaces on the board for the ac components and dip switches or jumpers to set the software but I would want to look at the inside of one before spending any money and hoping!

If you like your welder then why not just build/buy a rugged trolley and fit a water cooler to that?
Or get a smaller portable cooler as most of them have quick-connects and get some blanks so you dont loose all the cooling fluid each time you unplug the torch.
You will have to buy a w/c torch as well but you can get an 8m kemppi one if you really like them.
I dont know about your set but some kemppi's can have a remote control module fitted in the handle which might be usefull if you are often working 8m away from the front panel!

 

[chris pruteanu]

This is the set i am thinking of buying...

 

[hotponyshoes]

Never heard of it but it looks nice.
Just check prices and availability on replacement screen lenses first!

 

[chris pruteanu]

Rehm does expensive welding gear made in Germany, not sure if it’s on the same par with Lorch or Fronius quality wise !

 

[chris pruteanu]

There is definitely a weight difference between dc and AC/DC models which implies that a module is available to plug in and extra options need activation in software... the AC/DC is 7.9kg and the dc only weighs 7.5kg...
It also certified to survive a drop from 1m and the display is protected according the blurb...
As I mentioned, this will be the backup welder for jobs on site, I am already set up for AC/DC welding at the shop...

 

[Brad93]

@Richard. had a tiger 210.

Brilliant machine. Most compact on the market by a long long way.

 

[chris pruteanu]

Thank you ! The Kemppi minarctig180 is also very compact, probably weighs about 10 kg, trouble is lacking features and a factory water cooler is damn expensive ! However, it does what you ask from it without putting too much fuss. It also burns rods very, very well, better than the Thermal Arc TA202 AC/DC I was using for a while...

 

[Akimbovermon]

Thank you ! The Kemppi minarctig180 is also very compact, probably weighs about 10 kg, trouble is lacking features and a factory water cooler is damn expensive ! However, it does what you ask from it without putting too much fuss. It also burns rods very, very well, better than the Thermal Arc TA202 AC/DC I was using for a while...

Where did you see the machine / going to purchase? I’m very interested in there synergic mig range.

 

[Robbie260]

Only other options I could think of in that range would be the lorch handy tig and cooler, ewm pico tig and cooler or there is a castolin one that is really small too casto tig 2302, I think @Jim Davey sells them. I think though the lorch and the pico tig are both physically bigger than that but not by a significant amount. That looks a really nice machine though. Lorch and ewm are limited to 200 amps but a few of the guys that have the lorch say it feels at though its giving a couple of amps more that what it's set too.

Edit: The rhem and the casto tig look suspiciously similar actually I'd be willing to bet they are the same machine.

 

[Jim Davey]

That little Rehm is an amazing little set. I’ve got one on my hire fleet in Castolin Eutectic branding and unbelievably light and compact. Makes my EWM 230 feel like it’s hewn from lead ingots.
It’s gone out on two hires so far, the second has kept it for ages so I’ve not had much of a chance to play with it myself (I didn’t even test it before buying it, I took one look at the specs, switched it on and went through the menus and that was it, I was sold). Since then I have had ten or fifteen minutes on it but when it comes back next I’ll give it a proper test run.

 

[Brad93]

Richard had a Rehm once. What a machine! Rehm Tiger 210. Amazingly small and lightweight. Nice arc too.

The latest castolin TIG is a rehm rebadged. Castolin have always rebadged top flight machines. Fronius they used to use.

 

[Jim Davey]

Richard had a Rehm once. What a machine! Rehm Tiger 210. Amazingly small and lightweight. Nice arc too.

The latest castolin TIG is a rehm rebadged. Castolin have always rebadged top flight machines. Fronius they used to use.

That’s right, we were selling powermax inverters (fronius transpockets) castotigs (magicwave) and totalarc pulse migs (transpulse synergics) all with eutectic branding but made by Fronius back in the late nineties onwards. Did quite well with them too for some time.