Looking for a AC/DC Tig Plant

[1974Warthog]

Well, hopefully in a couple of months I will have the Funds for a New AC/DC Tig plant. But due to cost, I really do need to make the RIGHT choice. The budget is £1000. Any advice would be greatly apreciated. The only plant I have looked at is a Butter160 with foot remote. This came in at just under a grand. But it is inverter based technology. What else is out there? Would prefer something around 200amp with a Remote Footswitch.

Watercooled would be nice!

Cheers

 

[Alex]

Have you checked out the Garden centre, they do lots of plants.

 

[1974Warthog]

Have you checked out the Garden centre, they do lots of plants.

Just a comman word used for a welder at my place of work....But hopefully the thread does not turn in to garden time

 

[weldequip]

Watercooled would be nice!

You'll not get watercooled for a grand! You will also struggle getting a (decent) 200amp set for that aswell.
weldequip

 

[karsteb]

http://www.parkermetalworking.com/

Hi.

I find inverters to be very fine technology. They are based on semiconductor (thyristor) develpment in the past ten years, which allow for high current through semiconductors at a reasonable price. This makes powersupplies much cheaper to make as opposed to iron core transformers.

I bought my 160A combined DC TIG/MMA/Plasma cutter on http://ebay.com a couple of years ago. I got it delivered in Oslo Norway for about $1300 including freight from the USA and taxes here in Norway.

The seller was a guy called Phil living in Arizona, USA. When I got the welder, there was a cable loosened inside from the transport, so I gave him a call. Phil is a electronics engineer with lots of electronics experience. The service was excellent and he walked me through the fixing of the welder which was done in 15 mins. Since then the has been working flawlessly.

Phil said that a lot of the cheaper models are made in China these days. There is nothing wrong in that in that I guess most of the design are similar between the welders, but as I understand there is a bit difference in the production techniques in the different factories, leading to a big difference in build quality. He had visited several factories in China and tried out the build quality from several suppliers before deciding on one manufacturer. He said all machines look the same on the outside, but there is a lot of difference in the build quality under the hood.

I felt really reassured that he was an electronics guy and knew the differences in the electronics designs.

Look up Phils, shop on http://www.parkermetalworking.com/, give him a call and see if he can supply you with a reasonable welder.

- Karsten

 

[1974Warthog]

You'll not get watercooled for a grand! You will also struggle getting a (decent) 200amp set for that aswell.
weldequip

I guessed i would not get "Watercooled" for a grand I guess 160amp would be more in the budget restraints. I am swaying towards the Butters160 but What would Portamig have to offer?

 

[weldequip]

170amps AC/DC Transformer based machine @£985 or 200amp Squarewave Inverter with all the whistles & bells on @£1245, including Vat & delivery with 2 year warranty support.




weldequip

 

[karsteb]

Plasma cutter

I would really recommend the combis with tig, mma and plasma. My plasma cutter has really come in handy a few times. Just plug my air compressor into the back of my welder and it cuts steel like butter :-).

One of the advantages of inverter technology is the ability to control the power very accurately so that implementing the plasma cutter is really a cheap add-on.

Do an search on ebay whith the keywords "tig plasma" and you should find a lot of them.

 

[weldequip]

A problem with a lot of dealers offering those things on eBay is they haven't got a clue what they are selling, just trying to make a fast buck! So you need to tread carefully.
weldequip

 

[1974Warthog]

170amps AC/DC Transformer based machine @£985 or 200amp Squarewave Inverter with all the whistles & bells on @£1245, including Vat & delivery with 2 year warranty support.
weldequip

What would remote footswitch cost for these unts?
Do they come with torch and Regulator etc? I would be surely tempted with the 200amp model.

Is there a spec sheet on the www for these models?

Cheers

Warthog

 

[weldequip]

A remote Foot-Pedal is +£185 & prices are package prices with Torch & Regulator yes.
PM me your email & I'll forward specs.
weldequip