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Which starter TIG for Aluminium
AdrianH - 12/8/14 at 12:07 PM

OK, need the advice of the knowledgeable.

Do not do a lot of welding, but every now and then would like to have facilities to do aluminium welding. What can anyone recommend as a starter machine, needs to run from standard mains outlet as garage supply is single feed. So current I expect will be around 100 max.

Machinemart seem to only do DC machines and I believe AC is best for ali. DC for steel?

Looking for new, so it has a warranty.

Do not have loads of money, but what could you suggest?

Adrian

Brian R - 12/8/14 at 12:25 PM

Something like this perhaps?

http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/welding_equipment/Tig_Welder/Tig_Welder_R-Tech_Tig161

Not dealt with them myself but two customers of mine have R Tech inverter mig welders and say they are very good.

Don't buy cheap chinese. It will work for a while then give up.

mark chandler - 12/8/14 at 12:50 PM

As above, rtech here although I have the 200 amp model 160amp should be fine for most work.

Prior to this I had a Chinese £400 job, worked well then went wrong after a few months although was fixed quickly.

This replaced a 350 amp Marshall Dynabolt, same as a basic millers which consumed huge amounts of power but did work well, wired straight to the consumer unit strapped for single phase!

Ask rtech for shop soiled gear, mine was immaculate and worked out at maybe 20% off list. You will need to add a decent helmet, £60 gas bottle £110 from adams gas (get a big bottle) regulator (50), gauntlets etc.

I run a water cooled torch made from an old central heating pump and tank, much easier to use as light and flexible.

HTH

r1_pete - 12/8/14 at 01:18 PM

My Rtech 161 is fine, I've been making and modifying ally inlet manifolds, its done all I've needed.

FASTdan - 12/8/14 at 02:39 PM

Another vote for R-tech. We use the 251 but never get anywhere near its limit (usually around 180A for inlet manifolds). For home use the 161 will be fine (worst case, you'd have to pre-heat an item that exceeds the machines capability).

R-tech customer service is faultless!!

AdrianH - 12/8/14 at 04:39 PM

...................
Thanks for the responses, still a lot of money to me I am sorry to say. I know that you get what you pay for sometimes!

I note it comes with the torch regulator and consumables. Have a mig/tig mask and the fireproof gear.

Ah well, perhaps one day when I can justify the outlay, so who local can do a TIG job for me?

Adrian

loggyboy - 12/8/14 at 06:10 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
...................
Thanks for the responses, still a lot of money to me I am sorry to say. I know that you get what you pay for sometimes!

I note it comes with the torch regulator and consumables. Have a mig/tig mask and the fireproof gear.

Ah well, perhaps one day when I can justify the outlay, so who local can do a TIG job for me?

Adrian


This was the conclusion I came to a while back when I wanted to upgrade from mig. Im thinking upgrading to a better spec mig, higher amp, euro torch etc instead.

ashg - 13/8/14 at 07:15 AM

having used an r-tec i wouldn't say they are a great great machine but they work ok. they are cheap and reasonable performance but that's about it. I'm an Esab fan boy the Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC is just awesome the micro pulse function on it makes welding ali as easy as steel. i also love my Caddy MIG c200i

AdrianH - 20/11/14 at 10:59 PM

Well I finally have a TIG welder, got the R-Tech 161.

Manages to get some gas today and had a play with it earlier on and the biggest bunch of holes in some sheet I did not want to make

I had arc wander, no welding at all, as in could not join to bit together. Think this will take me some time to learn.

Also need to clear some space as I have now run out of it.

Any one got an idea what an Oxford RT 180 would bring?

Adrian

edthedrummer - 20/11/14 at 11:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
Well I finally have a TIG welder, got the R-Tech 161.

Manages to get some gas today and had a play with it earlier on and the biggest bunch of holes in some sheet I did not want to make

I had arc wander, no welding at all, as in could not join to bit together. Think this will take me some time to learn.

Also need to clear some space as I have now run out of it.

Any one got an idea what an Oxford RT 180 would bring?

Adrian


Are you welding steel at the moment?

What's your tungsten like? it should be sharpened on a bench grinder preferably! with any grinding marks going down the tungsten not around it. Sharpen it to a point, the sharper the better. The point should be about twice the diameter of the tungsten. And the tungsten shouldn't poke out the end of the ceramic by any more than 5 or 6mm unless your using a large ceramic cup and much higher gas flow rate to compensate, but that's a story for another day when your welding exhaust manifolds.

This should go a long way to curing the arc wander, although this could also be caused by you being too far away from the work. The sharp pointed tungsten when welding steel effectively aims the current where you point it, so providing you have the tungsten sharpened, your not holding the torch much more than 3-4mm at most from the work, it should be okay.

And as for the holes, that's just too many amps! If your welding steel you don't need a foot pedal. For 2mm sheet, 60-70amps should be about maximum, 3mm requires about 80 usually.

AdrianH - 20/11/14 at 11:38 PM

I am messing with aluminium, only thin sheet.

With the kit I got two tungsten's Red and White tipped 1.6mm and 2.4 mm. I was on the white for this AC and basic settings, no pulse.

Was trying down at around 40 amps , with a no 6 cup? (got 3 sizes 5, 6, and 7) was running around 10 LPM according to my basic flow gauge. I could be to far from the work, just not sure.
Did have the current to high initially and was burning back the tungsten at 80 amps, down at around 40 to 50 amps the ball stayed put around 3mm sticking forward of the cup.

I either need to view lots of vids or get some help. Many years ago I got quite good at gas welding, too many years ago to count, this to me is completely different.

Adrian