R Tech 180, do I still need Clarke AT165?

[Zak99]

Hi,

I’m new to this forum.

My good friend passed away, he was a good engineer and I’m grateful I’ve ended up with his welding gear.
There’s an R-Tech 180 and a Clarke AT165. I plan to now sell my old Clarke 135TE.
I wonder why he had both the R-Tech 180 and the Clarke AT165 ? Could the R-Tech cover all eventualities for me with the right bits?. I also have his Hobby weld bottles of Argon and HobbyWeld 5.

I’ve done a bit of MIG and stick in the past. I notice he has lots of aluminium sheet around the workshop, and also stainless rods. Would be nice to increase my material abilities.

What’s your thoughts please ?

Les

 

[JOEPRO]

An inverter arc welder is always handy to have and save lugging a good mig about.

However I have 6x welders so don't ask for my advice! Which is keep them and buy more. You know you need an AC DC Tig too.

 

[KemppiFrog]

Check the new prices on the welders. That might give you an idea on 'quality' One is inclined to think the Clarke is lower end?

I tend to lean to transformer machines, as pretty bullet proof. But have a little GYS inverter 160 for on site jobs. The Portamig 285 is a bit heavy to take out.. But it is the best.
I still have a basic Black and Decker 160 amp bought in '85? Simple buzz box, but did years of solid work.

Local friend bought a cheap inverter mig off the net. Bought it round for a test and 'is as good as the one you are teaching me on...' Needless to say, lots of cheap plastic and while it did weld reasonable well, pretty horrible if one had to rely on it.

 

[zzr1200]

You'll also have a scratch start DC tig, with the addition of a tig torch with a manual gas valve....

 

[Turbo]

Keep both! Whilst you could use the rtech for tig, setting it up would not be easy.
The clarke would be very handy as a mobile welder to use outside your workshop.
The rtech is really a workshop welder.