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ac/dc TIG welder recommendation
richardm6994 - 15/5/15 at 12:06 PM

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunatley my dad has moved 200 odd miles away and as such I've lost access to his TIG welder therefore I'm looking to buy one of my own.

What ac/dc TIG plant would people recommend to by with a max budget of £800?

I'm pretty good at welding, but in relation to TIG I've only ever had experience on my dad's machine......which was a very expensive Kemppi machine that I can't afford to buy myself.

The machine will primarily be used for aluminium.


dave_424 - 15/5/15 at 12:33 PM

If you want to buy new, the cheapest, good quality and after sale service I would look at an R-tech welder. What thickness aluminium are you intending on welding, the 160A machine will do most things but the 200A machine would be better if you are looking to do 10mm + thickness

Second hand Miller or Lincoln welders might be worth looking at also

A friend brought a £4500 migatronic ac/dc TIG welder, it released the magic smoke one day and there is practically no-one who can fix it in the UK, the guys migatronic recommended to repair it tried replacing a couple of the internal boards and have determined they can't find the problem and have told him it's scrap. He has recently changed his main MIG welder to a BEAST water cooled Lorch MIG welder because of this


richardm6994 - 15/5/15 at 12:37 PM

Sorry I should of said.....ideally 200amps and bought new


dave_424 - 15/5/15 at 12:47 PM

I'm not sure you will find 200A AC for £800, the R-tech one is around £1200, If you can find an Everlast PowerTIG 200DX in the UK they seem to be cheap and good quality. Jody on the "Welding tips and tricks" youtube channel has done a couple of review/demos with this machine


richardm6994 - 15/5/15 at 12:55 PM

there are plenty new 200a acdc ones about for under £800............STAMOS, STAHLWERK, JASIC, SHERMAN, SYNERGIC.........and I would love to hear reviews from anyone who has one or would recomend one.....


fesycresy - 15/5/15 at 01:07 PM

I've got this one....


prawnabie - 15/5/15 at 01:32 PM

Another vote for RTECH - Mine has been faultless apart from the footpedal stopped working just out of warranty. RTECH sent one next day (saturday) FOC and was a modified design.

I had a fairly decent Kempi machine before, the RTECH is a much better machine to use IMHO.


richardm6994 - 15/5/15 at 02:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by fesycresy
I've got this one....


is that 16 or 32amp power supply?


mark chandler - 15/5/15 at 03:24 PM

I also have the Rtech 200 amp, it's very good, wired in a 16amp socket for it, no need for 32amp.

If you wait they have shop soiled ones, effectively a VAT free price as mine came out at £1000 with helmet, foot pedal and a few kg of rods, I already had a water cooled torch so dropped that off.

Give them a call and see what you can lump together and what they have coming up, I could not see any reason why mine was not sold as new, it was immaculate so would never have known.

Regards Mark


froggy - 15/5/15 at 03:55 PM

Just Px d my 161 for a 251 a couple of weeks back . It was in great nick and they might still have it . The 161 is ok up to 5mm .


madteg - 15/5/15 at 06:37 PM

Got a Migatronic PI 200 you can have for £700.00 Good working order.