Board logo

TIG welding
mookaloid - 4/9/11 at 10:41 PM

TIG WELDER PLASMA CUTTER ARC WELDER NEW CT416 UK SELLER | eBay

Is this a bargain or a load of rubbish? It doesn't seem like a huge amount of money to me for a TIG set

What else would I need to get TIGing Stainless and Ally?

Cheers

Mooky

slingshot2000 - 4/9/11 at 10:52 PM

I would be interested at that price, too! It would be great if someone here has experience of this machine.

Regards
Jon

splitrivet - 4/9/11 at 11:15 PM

Looks like DC only so Ali's a nono.
Cheers,
Bob

spiderman - 5/9/11 at 12:49 AM

quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Looks like DC only so Ali's a nono.
Cheers,
Bob


What part of the spec makes you think it's DC only? I only ask because I will be looking to buy a tig welder in the near future and any info is helpfull.

jabs - 5/9/11 at 06:57 AM

If you google ct520 you'll find it's a chinese one and appears to have no DC/AC function so would assume DC only

Myke 2463 - 5/9/11 at 07:31 AM

DC TIG/MMA/CUT Welding Machine (CT-520) - China electric ...
wenzhouhanlong.en.made-in-china.com/.../China-DC-TIG-MMA-C... - CachedChina DC TIG/MMA/CUT Welding Machine (CT-520) and China electric welding machine,high frequency welder,welding equipmnet,tig welder,mma welding ...
DC Multi-Functions Welder (CT-312/CT-416) - China Air Plasma ...
www.made-in-china.com ›

from google.

A lot of welders on sale with German sounding names are made in China.

[Edited on 5/9/11 by Myke 2463]

Peteff - 5/9/11 at 09:24 AM

YOU ARE BIDDING ON A TOP OF THE RANGE INDUSTRIAL 3 IN 1. For £275 yeah right Industry uses Miller, Lincoln, Fronius, Stel, Lorch and Kemppi not necessarily in that order. Most tig units will arc weld so it's a tig with plasma. Chinese AC/DC units are dearer than that usually like http://www. ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-DC-TIG-WELDER-MMA-WELDS-ALI-S-TEEL-UK-SELLER-/170691384982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27bdffd696 from the same seller.

FASTdan - 5/9/11 at 10:07 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
YOU ARE BIDDING ON A TOP OF THE RANGE INDUSTRIAL 3 IN 1. For £275 yeah right Industry uses Miller, Lincoln, Fronius, Stel, Lorch and Kemppi not necessarily in that order. Most tig units will arc weld so it's a tig with plasma. Chinese AC/DC units are dearer than that usually like http://www. ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-DC-TIG-WELDER-MMA-WELDS-ALI-S-TEEL-UK-SELLER-/170691384982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27bdffd696 from the same seller.


That is very cheap for the WSE200.

'Industrial' is an interesting point. I recently attempted to sub-out the manifold welding to a local fab shop. During discussions the fabricator in question literally scoffed at chinese TIG welders and went on about the usual we run a bla bla woof woof monster industrial machine.......

A week later I called to ask how they were getting on......

'we're having to pre-heat' (I dont)
'we've had to double up the fuses' (Chinese 200A TIG runs on 13A domestic supply)
'we have to weld two tubes, then leave the wiring to cool down' (Chinese 200A TIG, welds full manifold well within duty cycle)

And when I picked them up, the welding was below par and showed obvious signs of not enough current. Now obviously this fab shop simply wasn't set up well enough for that level of AC TIG welding whereas I'm sure if I search about I can find a better equiped one, BUT it just shows that your chinese TIG can perform pretty well all things considered.

For £500 you can buy a 2 yr warranty WSE200 from Cut-40 (UK company) that has been stripped and quality checked by them prior to shipping. That to me is almost unbeatable. Of course longevity is the unknown - which if you were welding all day everyday may well take its toll. But at £500 every 2 years you could almost throw them away once out of warranty and pick up another.

[Edited on 5/9/11 by FASTdan]

big_wasa - 5/9/11 at 01:24 PM

Ive got a cheap chinese dc tig. Its about 3~4 years old. Ive had no problems with it.

Mine is also multi function.

So to start Tig welding you will need a bottle of argon, a regulator and a mask.

MMa will need some rods and to cut will need an air suply.

I am upto about 10 hours practice.

This is 1.2mm stainless steel.


RichardK - 5/9/11 at 05:54 PM

Thats who I bought my faulty one from, Mike at cut40 sorted it out though and would recommend him thoroughly.

Dans used mine and seemed to be upto the job so it would seem I just need more practice and not to be tight with the argon flow

Cheers

Rich

Neville Jones - 5/9/11 at 08:06 PM

I've posted this before..

I've got a WSE200P that I've used for quick general DC tig work, had it for three or more years now, and it performs faultlessly, and done a load of work.

BUT!!!! These things are useless at AC ali work. Ok, they'll weld ali in a fashion, but without proper adjustment of the ac frequency, they're not very friendly and the welds leave a bit to be desired, and a bit of a technique has to be developed to weld ali to any really acceptable standard.

The frequency control on the spec sheets is for the DC pulse, and NOT the AC.

R Tech welders have a 150amp ac/dc on ebay for £699, and it has all the adjustments, and they use the 200amp and 250 amp R Techs at a big(yank owned) boat builder at Hythe, so they must perform.

I'll be getting an R-tech when I'm up their way next, so my WSE will be on the market then.

Cheers,
Nev.

jba falcon - 10/9/11 at 05:49 PM

I bought the WSE 200 AC/DC from these guys in Blackburn. Had it about two years, done loads of Ali welding and more recently Stainless. I have done loads of gas and stick welding. This was my first experinec of TIG welding since college and i am amazed at the results. This is not the multi function model, it only has AC/DC Tig , but does have a pedal which is great as you can vary the current as you go, high current to get the heat into the job and then relax the current as you get going. No problems, although not used every day it has been used regularly.
D

mark chandler - 10/9/11 at 06:50 PM

My WMSE200 is great on DC and AC, and thats on a generator! AC DC TIG WELDER MMA WELDS ALI S/TEEL UK SELLER | eBay

With ali, you need to really clean everything up, even a smudge of marker pen will screw things up and not use steel wire brushes, scotch pads are good, also wipe with thinners before welding.

[Edited on 10/9/11 by mark chandler]