new tig welder jasic or thermal arc. hf or scratch/lift

[mali]

Hi all new to the forum i have ten plus years experience with mig and im back at college at the moment to back up my experience with the paper and also to get into tig as its something i have always wanted to try it, and lets say i love it im not great yet by any means but really enjoying it. Now my question is and yes i have read through and seen quite a bit cover things, but my budget for machine is really 350 - 450 tops this is just something to play with of 13amps in my shed. i am currently looking at jasic pro180 http://www.weldequip.com/pro-tig-180.htm
or the thermal arc175te
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THERMAL-A...-PACKAGE-/170912844620?_trksid=p2054897.l4275
Now what i want to know is what you guys reckon on having something with hf as ive been to my local welding supplies and the guy there reckons that hf is just for the lazy and that a lot of top field work is still done with lift tig or scratch, now ive decided i cant justify the extra for ac but is it worth paying slightly extra on these machines or save couple hundred and go for scratch start and then use whats left for gas and consumables. although the jasic even tho not really heard of i like idea of the 5 yr warranty

 

[b4lamb]

As you have learnt at the college, contaminating the tungsten by touch downs is a no no and a re-grind is necessary. HF lets you stop start at will without risk of tungsten contamination so I would definitely opt for that and not compromise on price.

 

[chevy2]

No brainer,
Get the machine with HF, you can still do either lift or scratch start with the same machine but if a machine doesn't with HF you cant upgrade it to do so.

never use lift or scratch start on my tig.

 

[mali]

i think its just me being tight an trying to find an excuse to save some money but i am with you guys hf does seem to be better as you say if its there you have choice to use it or not but at least its there. So how about the machines im looking at what do you think i know the jasic comes with longer warranty plus regulator and gas line over the thermal plus slightly cheaper, i know from what ive reas i should be safe with thermal arc but cant find much on here on the new jasics

 

[waddycall]

I have a thermal arc 175 te. I really like it. I find it simple to use and the torch is light with an adjustable neck. If you think you might want to add a footpedal the 175te doesn't have the option. Doesn't bother me though. I've used mine for tigging 6mm stainless steel boat fittings, mild steel weathervanes, exhaust pipe. Very glad I bought it.
I had the mma version before this and got frustrated with the scratch start so put that on eBay and got the te.

 

[Richard.]

Hf is not for lazy welders it's for welders that don't want to contaminate the work and/or tungsten before he/she starts. Lift tig has it's place ie welding in areas or around equipment that are sensitive to high frequency but in my opinion lift/scratch/touch tig is there as a add on to a machine on the off chance you might need it. If you want a machine to tig with then a hf tig is the way forward.

 

[Richard.]

As for the 5 year warranty. Is it supported in the uk? Can you quickly and easily get a replacement if the worst happens. Will the brand still be around supporting those units in 2,3,4,5 years . 450 quid is not a lot for a tig unit and they must be making a good margin on them to offer that warranty so how good are the parts they put into those machines. Sorry to sound so negative about this but these are the questions I'd be asking myself before I lightened my wallet.

 

[overload]

Thermal Arc would be my choice, but then I'm biased because I have the 202 AC/DC.