TIG welder what to choose

[bodgitostrich]

hello all, having been rumaging around on t'internet i discovered this website, and found a plethora of information. i'm after a TIG welder at the moment, and having researched, decided not to go for the crappy chinese stuff, but have been looking at miller products, and found this on the bay of E.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TIG-WELDER-HO...QQihZ017QQcategoryZ113743QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

to make it clear, i've been mig welding for 11 or so years, and own a cebora craftmig 180. a friend wantrs me do to intricate welding on his car, inner arches etc, and has bought a spot welder to do the easy parts. currently i'm after a TIG do do the more intricate bits, and do other small fabrications, such as exhaust manifolds, aluminium welding etc. i've also been looking into buying a plasma cutter as well. from a power supply point of view this is not a problem, as long as it's single phase, but for the current, i've got a 40A supply to the garage. ideally i'd like a fluid cooled tip, cos learning tig i know i'll go through a few of them. i'd also like a pedal controled unit. i don't want to spend too much, whether i'd splash the cash, buy one, do the work, then sell it again after is another option, or if anyone out there has one for sale etc i'd be interested.

any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciative as it is a bit of a mine field out there...

many thanks

Phil

 

[malcolm]

Haven't come across the Hobart TG-165 before, though Google searching was interesting. The seller appears to have bought the welder from his supplier of womens underwear who bought the welder a couple of weeks ago. Not necessarily a bad thing - just slightly odd. Another website describes the welder as 3 phase DC only and no HF start.

Couple of things you might want to think about in TIG welders. HF start is really handy - you hold the torch a short distance from the workpiece and the arc starts itself up by magic. The alternative - scratch start is a bit more fiddly, but still acceptable for sceap TIGs.

Other things is whether you want AC or AC and DC. Cheaper TIGs have a DC output so they aren't so good for welding aluminium. It is still possible with DC, but my understanding is it becomes harder and the quality of weld poorer. Secondhand ACDC sets start at about £500 and keep on going up. Decent new ones start at £1000.

Fluid cooled torch won't make any difference to the number of tips you get through while learning - regrind once every couple of inches is my standard ata the moment.

 

[3 Ducks]

I have a eye open for a TIG, will be following this thread with great interest !
Cheers Ray