Lincoln Electric Invertec V205T AC/DC tig welder.

[rayeastwood]

Hello everyone,
Is there anyone out there amongst all of you welding gurus, enthusiasts and weekend warriors who can give me an honest opinion, review or just you personal experience of the Lincoln Electric Invertec V205T AC/DC Tig welder.
I believe it has been discontinued for the U.S market (not sure about this), but available in Europe.
How good is it? Is it on par with the equivalent Miller? Is it Chinese/ Italian dressed up in good ol' American marketing propaganda? What is the after sales service like here in U.K?
I would be grateful for any information forthcoming as I have been unable to find any decent reviews on this welder.
I would especially welcome the opinions of the professional welders out there.

 

[chevy2]

I own the Miller 200dx which is basically the competitor to the Lincoln V205,
owned mine for 3 years now and am not looking to replace it, they're that good,
especially on AC/aluminium,

I've used the Lincoln V205 and theres really minimal difference in them,

pondered for a while on which to buy and went for the Miller mainly due to preferring the front panel layout for settings and the wireless pedal option (which Lincoln now offer)

Buy from a reputable UK seller and you should get good aftersales backup,

Hotrodder on here owns a V205 and will no doubt be along to give a more informative review.

 

[rayeastwood]

Thank you Chevy2. That's useful info! Do you know when the Lincoln became available with wireless foot pedal?

 

[Rrunnach]

My mate, who is a pro fab/welder, he has the V205. Sometimes I help him out, use the 205, great bit of kit. Up here, after sales are good.

HTH.

 

[chevy2]

Thank you Chevy2. That's useful info! Do you know when the Lincoln became available with wireless foot pedal?

I can tell you exactly, realeased on 1st may 2014 (it says so in the link below)
http://newsroom.lincolnelectric.com...for+tig+welding+applications.htm#.VzOGJtR4WrU

 

[roofman]

I have the The Invertec V160-T...smaller DC unit but from the same family,fantastic machine with no faults or flaws whatsoever

 

[Richard.]

@hotrodder has this machine.
Iirc he's had it many years with no reason to change it. He's a gifted welder with high expectations from his gear so that really says it all.
I don't know where they are made nowadays but the older versions were selco Italian machines. Very well put together units. If your looking at a used one it will never depreciate if you keep it clean as they hold there money very well.
Like Chev I would probably sway ever so slightly towards a dynasty as the millers user interface is second to none.

 

[Jim Davey]

The Miller is better made, the Lincoln is flimsy and very dated now but it's a solid performer and has most of the features of the best current sets.
Don't get suckered into just thinking the Yanks offer the only two contenders worthy of your consideration. Kemppi, CEA, GYS, EWM and Fronius all have great sets that are firmly in contention against the mighty Red and Blue.

 

[Richard.]

EWM and Fronius

These 2 certainly would take my vote above the red and blues.
The kemppi is pretty good too but lacks a friendly interface.
Don't dismiss lorch, Esab caddys, and not that your likely to see one often I recently recommend Rehm.
I've actually used all the acdc's from the players above apart from the Lincoln and it's a mine field as they are all very very close in comparison. (And I'm a picky ######)

 

[hotrodder]

Had mine for over 15 years now! As said dunno if it still applies (may have changed when the v205 was 'facelifted' a few years back) but the European models were made in Italy and while it wasn't a simple swap of stickers i believe they're basically a Selco Genesis in disguise which is no bad thing

Can't fault mine, it's been dropped more than more once and aside from having to repair the plastic end caps & one of the water cooler mounting tabs when it met concrete from about 3 feet it was totally unphased. When i bought it the only other kit on the short list was a Dynasty 200 and the equivilant Kemppi... like Chevy i didn't see much in it performance wise (Kemppi and their wacky panel layout aside), i went with a v205t because it was the best value at the time. As good as mine's been today it wouldn't even make the short list as, based on internet prices, the European brands mentioned are better value as well as outclassing the American brands in other areas like extra bells & whistles and, more importantly, kicking out an extra 20 - 30A at the top end

If your looking at used examples then the facelifted versions (easily identified as they have 2 stick welding modes) added some useful stuff like fan on demand and improved/extra HF starting options. Apparently there was software issue with some machines made around 2005 where the HF was a bit on the fierce side and was prone to blunting tungstens in DCEN

Oh, unless they've changed things the water cooler while nice & compact is 'kin noisy due them using a positive displacement pump

 

[Richard.]

is 'kin noisy due them using a positive displacement pump

I'd happily put up with the noise for the compact design.
My old mls had a rotory vane type which was lovely and quite but it's size and weight was just unreal and in practical for mobile work.

 

[Jim Davey]

I'd swap quiet and reliable for noisy and light everytime, one mans poison and all that.

 

[Richard.]

My Fronius Fk2000 cooler was 16 years old as is hotrodders cooler. Both use the exact same pump ceme et 3009.
At 16 years old they were noisy granted but hardly unreliable.
Like you say each to there own.

 

[Richard.]

For a stationary solution I'd adopt a quiet one. Unfortunately I don't get that luxury.

 

[Jim Davey]

I've replaced a lot of those pumps Rich, I've owned 20 watercooled invertecs, the rotary style fail less and are much more pleasant to be around.

 

[Richard.]

I've replaced a lot of those pumps Rich, I've owned 20 watercooled invertecs, the rotary style fail less and are much more pleasant to be around.

Fair enough. I can only vouch for 2 machines.
For me personally having owned both types I'd adopt for portable UNLESS my unit stays in one place then it can be as big and heavy as it likes.

 

[Jim Davey]

Kemppi use a really small plastic rotary pump in some of their sets, is have to say it's on a par size and weight wise with those noisy CEME piston pumps.

 

[Richard.]

Kemppi use a really small plastic rotary pump in some of their sets, is have to say it's on a par size and weight wise with those noisy CEME piston pumps.

The master cool20 is not at all like that. It's extremely quiet. Very heavy and the pump is what looks like a shurflo or similar rotory vane type. I'm sure it's quality stuff it's just not mobile.
Fronius have kept with the portable ones on the newer fk types which is nice. Like I say Jim. Each to there own. I've used various types from various brands and been able to move it about and stand it in the boot is more important to me .

 

[hotrodder]

I'm kinda in the middle about coolers... my world is mostly aluminium so noisy water pumps (and/or fans) aren't so noticable while welding and the cooler switches itself off after a few mins when the machine is left idling. If my bread & butter was DCEN work it'd bug the crap out me and i'd happily lug something a bit bigger & heavier about for mobile jobs in exchange for some peace & quiet while welding

That Kemppi rotary pump sounds interesting, any chance you'd a have a part # or manufacturers name for them to hand Jim? I'm guessing it's not that different in appearance/size to a charge cooler water pump?

 

[Richard.]

Rehm are just about the worst possible coolers imaginable for someone with my needs from a welder. The cooler is like the Empire State Building.
I'm sure it's a great performer and very quiet but it needs wheels on it just to get it about which is a shame as the unit itself is so beautifully sized compared to its rivals. The kemppi was ok but I had to fit it behind the passenger seat and push the seat right up against it to stop it falling over it stood so tall. And it was a ball ache to separate. The Fronius was just a heavy machine. The cooler was lovely and stood only 5 inches tall but its overall weight was over 25 kg so it wasn't that great even with a light cooler.
Ewm Triton cooler was a lovely set up. Tad noisey too but never let us down. The tetrix one is a monster. I'm sure like the rest of the kit it's excellent but again I'd be jamming it in to stop it falling over and I bet it's a weighty kit combined.
Imo the best I've seen by a clear mile is the set up produced on the gys208. It may not be as high a quality as the top liners but that unit and cooler set up is such a great looking design.