Fantasy JET III TIG AC / DC 200 3in1 WELDER PLASMA PFC IGBT

[Beady]

Hi guys, yet another beginner here looking to spend not much more than a grand on a TIG box that can also handle aluminium. Primary initial use will be stainless exhaust pipe 57mm-60mm OD, max 1.5mm wall.

Was yet another beginner looking at the Thermal Arc Arcmaster 202 but I came across this Fantasy JET III welder on a Polish website that seems to offer the world for half the price of the TE... yeah I know, I know... all that glitters etc!!!

So... any of you guys heard anything about these things? Are they complete *****? Best thing since sliced?

Any and all opinions welcome, **** taking also welcome - just try and make it at least funny eh?

TIA guys!

 

[Richard.]

Never heard of that brand. General rule with welding equipment , if it sounds too good to be true then it most definatly is.

 

[Fred Moore]

Hi Beady

Be careful with what comes cheaper from China via anywhere else in the world.
Most inverter sets are now made under license from china including most of the big brands.

We made some 4000 end post's shaped a bit like a question mark for the end of every row of seats at the Olympic stadium.
They were bent on a mandrel bender then had end caps Tig welded on.
That meant 8000 welds just for the end caps never mind the base plates of various shapes.

We purchased from Blackburn Lancs (seller carol) two Giant 200amp hf start dc tig welders.
They lasted for the job and beyond.
One lasted two year and blew up. the other only lasted another year by robbing parts from the 1st that hadn't gone bang.
Eventually! both were scrap.
Nobody repairs them really as the cost means a new welder.
I used a Thermal Arc Tig set for some years at work and it never ever let us down.
They make some stunning pulsed Mig welders that for stainless are excellent.
I haven't looked to see if they do combined sets that you have viewed.

However! R-Tech based in the UK do.
I have one of their HF50 Plasma cutters and a Tig251 AC/DC set.
Both so far are top notch in operation.
The Tig251 isn't cheap but then look at the price of cebora's.
They do a 160amp AC/DC Tig set for quite a bit less and if you buy a shop soiled one then can save £100 or more.
Mine was meant to be shop soiled but we couldn't find so much as a fingernail scuff so we think they do it occasionally just to move stock.
They have a return to base at their cost for repair should anything go wrong in the first two years of purchase.
The first set the currier delivered to me had its front panel mashed into the set because the box was allowed to slide around in the back of his van.
Its surprising that given all the packaging round it that it didn't survive better but the 251 is an heavy beast even for an inverter set.
I rang R-tech and he said, Another one, Bloody curriers! Anyhow! By the next day I had another new one delivered by the same now sheepish looking Asian lad who obviously got a bollocking.
I went yesterday to see a mate who owns Lee Racing in Colne Lancs and he's purchased one of R-tech's mig/tig/mma sets and it seems so far ok.
Fact is, you'll always get it repaired in the UK. That is as long as R-tech are still in business.
I've had the pleasure of Kempi/Cebora/Lincoln and all sorts of others over the years and the R-tech performs as good.

Fred.

 

[Beady]

Thanks guys!

Yeah I here ya regards service and a reliable home-based company - plus the collect/return service for two years is tempting too!

Here's the welder I'm asking about:

And here's the Thermal Arc:

Here's a video (in Polish I think? but you get an idea) of the Fantasy, this is the non-plasma version:

And the link to the website with specs etc (using Google translate):

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://www.welderfantasy.pl/tigacdc.html&prev=/search?q=fantasy+jet+tig&biw=1088&bih=614

The price works out to about £730... seems a lot of kit for the money

Any input appreciated if anyone knows anything about them...?

 

[blenkie1]

What about tec arc in York? British made and will have parts for the machine for at least 10 years. Excellent machines and service as well.

 

[Fred Moore]

To be fair, that Fantasy looks as good as anything digital today but its what is inside. More so with inverters.
Cheapie tig sets like the Chinese Giant sets have banks of small mosfet transistors that just do not look heavy enough from the start.
I had a giant AC/DC set because of need and quickly so being near I went to Blackburn and got a cash deal.
It was pants on DC. like it was really 100w not 200w.
However! On AC it welded a lot of 6mm alloy checker plate with ease and very long runs at times stopping just before the torch melted
or to pick up another filler rod.
Then I'd hang it off the back so the fan could save it.
I sold it to my boss some time ago so it still works as he rarely uses it.
All the rest I knew of that friends or small businesses had bought, none survive.
Very happy with my R-tech stuff.

Fred.

 

[Fred Moore]

Oh I forgot to say Tecarc sell inverter tig welders that are from the same Chinese supplier as Giant's.
Though their industrial units are better.

You can have any name on them you like. Sip amongst others sell them too.
They all have the same insides.

Fred.

 

[Wallace]

Oh I forgot to say Tecarc sell inverter tig welders that are from the same Chinese supplier as Giant's.
Though their industrial units are better.

You can have any name on them you like. Sip amongst others sell them too.
They all have the same insides.

Fred.

Is that something you know for sure or just because they look similar on the outside?

 

[Fred Moore]

I've seen inside a sip and a cobal or something like that. They were pretty much identical inside.
That said, they may all be different by now.
But I will say they look the same case and control layout but I have not seen inside a Tecarc.
So if you think I'm wrong because you know better then I'm wrong.
If you have access then it would be nice to have a pic of the insides
to compare.

 

[blenkie1]

Don't think they are chinese I know they use Toshiba mosfets and guarantee parts and service for 10 years

 

[Beady]

I'm inclined to agree with Fred Moore on this issue - my gut feeling is that most, if not all, of these 'sub-premium' Inverters share most, if not all, of the same stuff - from the same production line(s) - inside, or as near-as-dammit to not really matter.

Look at the controls available on that Thermal Arc above - pretty much the same as that Fantasy (oh what a dumb name...) and many other digital control panel welding machines I've looked at all look the same except the layout of the controlling 'buttons' and graphics are different. I very much doubt there is 1,000 Chinese factories all producing this stuff in the volumes required to allow western sellers the buy-price headroom in order for them to offer two year warranties on the stuff. imo this stuff has to be really MASS produced to keep unit costs low enough to make the business model work.

I notice on this site that there is much banging on about R-Tech (and I ain't knocking em) - but where are the internals for their machines made? My guess is that if it was in the UK the item would cost a couple of grand more instead. There are enough people saying they've had to send their R-Tech back as it had failed (and, yes, great customer service etc, replaced it) - but that's hardly 'bullet proof' reliability is it? Their business model has enough profit margin built into the cost of the units to allow it to work. Therefore... my GUESS is that we can probably obtain much cheaper machines of the same effective component quality...

Or summat like that anyway...

OK... I'm ready for the

 

[Beady]

Don't think they are chinese I know they use Toshiba mosfets and guarantee parts and service for 10 years

Has to be said - some of them LOOK identical to some of the cheapo Chinese units at least...

 

[Wallace]

I had the cover off my Tec Arc 206i Tig recently and meant to take some photos of the internals to compare with a WSME 200 that was shown open on here but didn't have the camera to hand, similar layout but definitely different boards. There were also UK QC labels inside as the machines have CE approval etc.

If you Google WSME 200 and look at the images there are different cases about now, stick a BMW badge on this one.......

 

[Beady]

I had the cover off my Tec Arc 206i Tig recently and meant to take some photos of the internals to compare with a WSME 200 that was shown open on here but didn't have the camera to hand, similar layout but definitely different boards. There were also UK QC labels inside as the machines have CE approval etc.

If you Google WSME 200 and look at the images there are different cases about now, stick a BMW badge on this one.......

Ah sorry mate I didn't know that and, tbh, didn't look too closely into it either - my apologies and thanks for putting me straight!

 

[Wallace]

Ah sorry mate I didn't know that and, tbh, didn't look too closely into it either - my apologies and thanks for putting me straight!

No need for all that! I was in the same boat as you back in 2009 looking for a Tig and bought a Tec Arc 206i. Also like you I and had concerns about the fact it looked a lot like the cheap £300 Ebay Tigs but was 4 times the price with a pedal. The choice back then in the £1k range was a lot less than today so I did as much research into the Tec Arc and cheaper clones as I could. One thing that swayed me towards the 206i was them being a UK company reworking the machines to get through approvals plus the warranty and support compared to chancing your arm off an Ebay box shifter. Also seeing the industrial welding equipment they build and supply gave me a bit more peace of mind that they were a manufacturer not a box mover.

 

[Richard.]

Thanks guys!

Yeah I here ya regards service and a reliable home-based company - plus the collect/return service for two years is tempting too!

Here's the welder I'm asking about:

And here's the Thermal Arc:

Here's a video (in Polish I think? but you get an idea) of the Fantasy, this is the non-plasma version:

And the link to the website with specs etc (using Google translate):

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://www.welderfantasy.pl/tigacdc.html&prev=/search?q=fantasy+jet+tig&biw=1088&bih=614

The price works out to about £730... seems a lot of kit for the money

Any input appreciated if anyone knows anything about them...?

This fantasy machine (name is a bit pants) looks a lot like the RTech digital tig. I'll be honest I don't know much about what machine is a rebadge of what etc but I do know from experience that there are only a few brands I really trust and they cost an arm and a leg for the spec you want. We do have to adapt to the fact that these china machines are there and to those of us that want a good machine at home on a budget the likes of RTech thermal arc gys etc are a god send. The machine in question dose look good but the price looks too good which is why personally I would give it a wide birth and seek a brand I know .

 

[steve.h]

From my understanding it is a case of quality control, chinese companies will build anything to a price, they are no doubt made in the same factories by the same people, but if a customer specifies a certain level of quality and pay the extra I think they get a better machine, I think it is probably the same the world over.
I bought a cut40 years ago, the guy explained that he opened up every machine and inspected them, he said a lot of the time it is silly little things that let the machines down, so if checked and sorted before use then they last well. MY cut40 is still working well after nearly 4 years, even with me oerating it....
I dont have a problem with chinese built stuff, it is who/where you buy it from that is key, a good reputation for customer service and a good warranty from a company that will still be around in a years time. I would pay the extra for a uk supplied machine simply for the back up and peace of mind.

 

[Richard.]

From my understanding it is a case of quality control, chinese companies will build anything to a price, they are no doubt made in the same factories by the same people, but if a customer specifies a certain level of quality and pay the extra I think they get a better machine, I think it is probably the same the world over.
I bought a cut40 years ago, the guy explained that he opened up every machine and inspected them, he said a lot of the time it is silly little things that let the machines down, so if checked and sorted before use then they last well. MY cut40 is still working well after nearly 4 years, even with me oerating it....
I dont have a problem with chinese built stuff, it is who/where you buy it from that is key, a good reputation for customer service and a good warranty from a company that will still be around in a years time. I would pay the extra for a uk supplied machine simply for the back up and peace of mind.

Every thing is built to a price. The unit in question is 700 quid. It's a lot of money in general but it's #### all for an ACDC 200amp tig.

 

[Wallace]

Every thing is built to a price. The unit in question is 700 quid. It's a lot of money in general but it's #### all for an ACDC 200amp tig.

Almost white goods or a welding consumable!

 

[Richard.]

Almost white goods or a welding consumable!

Adflow welding masks go for more.