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Is this reasonable for light steel/ali work?
stevebubs - 28/1/11 at 03:39 PM

AC DC TIG WELDER MMA WELDS ALI S/TEEL UK SELLER on eBay (end time 30-Jan-11 20:20:36 GMT)

bonzoronnie - 28/1/11 at 03:59 PM

I have had one of this sellers older WSE200 models fro almost a year & perfectly happy with the work it is capable of turning out







As with any budget TIG welder .... Never going to match the quality of a high end set but if you get a good one, it will be ideal as a low use/hobby tool

DIY Si - 28/1/11 at 03:59 PM

It looks like it should be, but it seems quite cheap at that price. Last time I looked for AC tig sets, they were double that for a good one. Might well be wrong though, as I was just going on what I could be bothered to find at the time.

froggy - 28/1/11 at 04:33 PM

I've had mine for a few months and couldn't weld aluminium to start with but am getting decent results now . There isn't much adjustment on the a/c side for frequency fiddling but on 2mm thick and thicker it performs pretty damn good for 300 odd quid .

I bought some 2.4mm 2% thoriated tungstens for ally and some 4043 aly rods for general use

bonzoronnie - 28/1/11 at 04:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by froggy
I've had mine for a few months and couldn't weld aluminium to start with but am getting decent results now . There isn't much adjustment on the a/c side for frequency fiddling but on 2mm thick and thicker it performs pretty damn good for 300 odd quid .

I bought some 2.4mm 2% thoriated tungstens for ally and some 4043 aly rods for general use


You should really be using Zirconated tungstens ( White tip ) for ac ally welding

You can also use Ceriated Tungstens ( Grey tip ) as a duel purpose one

Wadders - 28/1/11 at 05:13 PM

Cheap enough, looks a lot like the one people bought through calvinx's group buy
so you might get some feedback.
personally not a fan of chinese stuff i'd put a bit extra to the cost and get a secondhand industrial machine.
A lot of the 200amp ones will run off single phase as well as 3 phase.
Guess it depends on how long you expect t to last and how much room you have.

Al










Originally posted by stevebubs
AC DC TIG WELDER MMA WELDS ALI S/TEEL UK SELLER on eBay (end time 30-Jan-11 20:20:36 GMT)

MikeR - 28/1/11 at 05:16 PM

You'll also need a new helmet if that's the one he supplies for TIG work. Does look a cracking deal if its reliable, nb it will need a 16amp supply to go full powered & check the duty cycle is at full power (heard stories of the duty cycle being quoted at 60 or 80% power - never seen it myself so it could be urban / internet myth).

MikeR - 28/1/11 at 05:29 PM

What did peeps pay for those machines and are they still working ok? Didn't Calvinx buy one extra to use as spares for peeps if they had problems? Did anyone need to call upon it?

All i remember was Calvinx had a face mask left over. I enquired about a price, he said make me an offer (as he'd deleted the prices at this point i couldn't see what he'd charged people). From the picture i googled the model number and found they were about 20 or 30 or 40 quid or something in the states. So I suggested that or he suggest a price. Got an abusive u2u back and that was that!! Never knew if I'd rumbled how cheap they actually were or if I'd offered 30 quid on a 300 quid mask.

(sorry this is sort of heading off topic).

froggy - 28/1/11 at 05:50 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bonzoronnie
quote:
Originally posted by froggy
I've had mine for a few months and couldn't weld aluminium to start with but am getting decent results now . There isn't much adjustment on the a/c side for frequency fiddling but on 2mm thick and thicker it performs pretty damn good for 300 odd quid .

I bought some 2.4mm 2% thoriated tungstens for ally and some 4043 aly rods for general use


You should really be using Zirconated tungstens ( White tip ) for ac ally welding

You can also use Ceriated Tungstens ( Grey tip ) as a duel purpose one



yes i meant white tipped ones that listing is the same seller i got mine from and it is a higher spec with more controls on the h/f for ally. mine is the simpler 200 amp unit and i run a 16amp supply from my board in the garage . i have put a run onto a 1" thick ally lump at 150amp power setting and done some practise runs ok.

it does seem to have some issues at the lower end on steel and stainless and to fuse very thin stuff 0.8 you have to be very quick as it tends to cut off if you come right off the pedal to try and slow down but for the money im very happy

Peteff - 28/1/11 at 06:13 PM

I use ceriated for everything. After you've sharpened both ends you don't know what they are and if you touch down with the tungsten it's quicker just to turn it round.

bonzoronnie - 28/1/11 at 07:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
I use ceriated for everything. After you've sharpened both ends you don't know what they are and if you touch down with the tungsten it's quicker just to turn it round.


I keep a supply of pre sharpened tungstens on standby, on a bad day I am known to have the odd dip or two

Must admit, I havn't tried ceriated ones as yet .... Only ever used to have access to zirc & thor ones, old habits die hard

I took a punt at the chin chong one on ebay purely on price.

Allready have a high end DC tig welder with ongoing BOC bottle rental.
Just needed something reasonable to do the alloy work on my build.

Second hand ac/dc units are like rocking horse poo in this neck of the woods & fetch really silly money

Would say that the set has paid for itself allready & if it lasts till the end of my build, it'll be a resut

Not tried it on alloy thinner than 1.2mm as yet but have welded to 5mm & 10mm plate with ease, no cutting out issues.

baz-R - 29/1/11 at 07:28 PM

i have orderd one of thease
if you buy it direct from thair web site its 399.01 inc vat and p&p so works out a bit cheaper