Technical What kind of Tig Welder are you using

Hope this is the right place to post this question, I'm about to purchase a Tig Welder and wanted to know what you guy's recommend for the kind of building we do, is the Eastwood 200 Tig Welder you see in car mags that says it will weld up to 1/4" steel the one or should a guy step up to a Miller Dynasty 200 or ?

 

I hope you get some answers, I am wanting one also.

 

The Dynasty is a sweet machine if you've got the coin, especially on steel. Just don't plan on doing much aluminum with it. 3/16 to maybe 1/4" AL is about it.
I'm saying this as a Dynasty owner.

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I have a Lincoln 175 which I have used for years and been quite happy with. I did change to a water cooled torch and made a cooler:

 

CHINA HATERS..MOVE ON TO ANOTHER THREAD!!

I have used one for six years. Mostly at home but, for a time, it was in use at the shop.

I bought mine direct from the manufacturer that Eastwood buys theirs from.. Mine is one of the TIG, stick, Plasma cutter models.. Try ShopRiver, RiverWeld on Ebay.. Cost less than $400.00 six years ago.

Mostly gets used for Plasma cut function but does get used often for TIG on light duty up to .125" steel/stainless. Have never used the stick function.

The thing works flawlessly. Consumables are available at local welding supplies and I will buy another if this one dies..

As with a lot of modern stuff.. It would cost more to repair, if it had a major problem, than buy a new one..I did have to replace the on/off switch..and the China plumbing fittings are not real nice, but they have not leaked or failed..

I bought another one a few years ago, non working for $125.00, for parts.. So far it is still in the box. Out in the barn..

Biggest bitch is there are no wiring or repair manuals available for most of these China welders and the local repair guys know nothing about them..I found that out when the on/off switch died.. But local electrical supply had a switch for $15.00. I also bought a spare, just in case, from the manufacturer for $7.00..

 

Eastwood 200. So far so good. But I'm just a weekend hobbyist.

 

I've used a Lincoln Precision TIG 225 for five years and it works great for stick welding and TIG on steel. I have a problem welding Aluminum and when I took it to the service guys at the shop where I bought it they made it look easy. Must be me......

 

Miller Syncrowave 250, Bernard torch cooler system. It works awesomely! I need to practice more on my aluminum skills though. A Dynasty 200 is on my bucket list.

 

Miller Syncrowave 200 here. Everything we own is blue and every one has been flawless.

Don

 

x2.

 

I have a Miller Synchrowave 180SD which I think is a 200 now and it has been great. Does everything I need it to.

I am definitely not an anti Chinese goods person but with a purchase of this size reading things like they can't be fixed locally is a complete deal ender for me. Eastwood may have a great 3 year warranty on the machine but this is something I do not want to have to pack up and send back to Eastwood if something goes wrong.

 

I'd say it depends on your needs and budget. I bought one because A) they were on sale last week & B) I have need of a TIG welder sooner than later, so saving up for a Miller is going to have to wait.

It hust arrived and haven't unboxed it yet or gotten gas, so all I can say is get it as cheap as you can if you need something right now and on a thin budget. If you can wait for a bigger war chest, get you a Miller! I learned on Miller and HOBART welders and liked both of them.

 

I have a syncrowave 180sd also, have had it for probably 12 years. It's been great but it does eat the argon being air cooled..I need to convert it to water cooled.

 

I have a Miller Synchrowave 180SD too, and about as long, but my experience hasn't been as great as yours. It became stuck on high frequency after four years and the estimate to fix it would have been about $1000. After some negotiating, Miller supplied the motherboad for free, I paid for the labor that was $150. Then a couple of year later the power switch failed. I'm almost afraid to use it, now I use it mostly for stick welding.

 

I love my econotig for the small stuff, but I need another machine for big stuff.

Rich

 

Mine had a glitch with only a few hours on it where miller had a part that was failing. You would hit the foot control and it would blow holes through everything. Luckily it was still under warranty.

 

Miller Dynasty 200. Works great for me after trading up from an antique 200 Lincoln that weighed as much as a VW ha ha. Get a water cooled torch, or you'll spend more time waiting the torch to cool as you will welding.

 

Miller synchro wave 200 has been good too me, though I don't use it often. Was quite pricey.


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About 20 or so years ago I bought the equipment and inventory of a boat prop shop, and it included an ancient Lincoln Ideal Arc 250. About 5 years ago I sold the business inventory and most equipment and the purchaser had a tig, so I kept the Ideal Arc.
It's a monster weighing about 500 lbs, I think, and requires a 100 amp dedicated circuit. But I have welded aluminum as thick as a half inch with it with good success.
Not as good on really thin stuff as some of the newer ones, and doesn't have the features you find now such as pulse, balance, and such, and the new inverter ones are far more efficient on electrical draw.
I'm 76.5 yrs. young and the machines in my shop are all old, some older than I, but we get along fine together. If I was 20-30 yrs. younger, I would buy a new tig, but for the years I have left in the shop it doesn't make sense.
My mig is a newer one from HTP, and I like it just fine. HTP makes and markets a lot of machine types and thy are imported, but from Europe, not China, Austria, IIRC.
Their customer service is superb and prices are reasonable, with parts readily available.
http://www.usaweld.com/Default.asp

 

MIller synchrowave here but was used at a shop so a small hobbyist box wouldn't do . I have tried the HTp suitcase units , and I like them , but the cost is a killer , and it doesn't justify my needs .

 

Miller Diversion 165 with a foot pedal is a nice little machine for the home shop and affordable too.
Works well with high frequency start and will do small aluminum jobs.

A nice machine.

 

Ive got a syncrowave 250, and 350, and a dynasty 350...the later is one of the best machines I have ever run.. just my 2 cents

 

Miller 180 SD here, And it had a connector problem from new that caused a problem on AC welding only. The problem was fixed locally under warranty and no other problems since. Welder was purchased in 06.

 

I have a Sync 250. It's air cooled, but does everything I need it to. If I were to do any production aluminum again, I'd convert it to liquid.




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Mine was just out of warranty, so after four years on a barely used machine and $1000 repair bill didn't go to well with me. After some discussions they did what was right, but they didn't go there without some prodding.

 

Miller Synchrowave 250 with a water cooled torch

 

Lincoln ideal arc 250 with a linde water cooler and a 50" torch. It has the factory hi freq on it along with the foot control. I purchased it in the late 80's to weld cracked harley cases.

 

I use a Syncrowave 250. I absolutley love the machine. It's got the pulse setting which I got addicted too. Lays down a fantastic bead

 

I bought an Eastwood 3 years ago right after they were released. I spent years with an Idealarc 300. Too big and too thirsty juice wise for most garages. I just finished a pro touring chassis built mostly from .125 and .187 steel. It has worked well. Right after I bought mine they went on sale. That frosted me a little. They are $700 this week I believe. If you can afford a Miller, get the larger 1 that has both foot and hand controls. That's the thing I miss most from the Lincoln I used to use. Inverter powered stuff is fabulous compared to the older transformer based machines. If you read in eastwoods reviews, there are some that are doa. They seem to respond well to replacement. I do not use mine everyday, all day long. It has been used alot since purchased.