Looking into buying a tig machine

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I'm looking into buying a new tig machine but I can't decide on which one. My budget is $2-$2,500 and it's going to be a Miller. We are going to use it mainly on aluminium, stainless, and some thin steel. We currently use a Lincoln spool gun for aluminium or stainless steel.Whats ya input on this? Where should I buy from? By the way, the thickest we are going to use it for is 1/4" maybe 3/8".
Reply:If you will be welding 3/8" Al then double your budget and look into getting a Synchro wave 250 dx.
Reply:At $2-2.5K you're budget is probably low. New at that price you are looking at the Syncro 200, and it's underpowered for 3/8" alum. My Syncro 200 will do 1/4" with a bit of preheat, but I wished I'd gone for the 250 to do the 1/4" stuff. Also if you plan to do alum in 1/4"-3/8", the water cooled torch/cooler will be manditory for a shop. I can't run my aircooled WP17 for very long doing 1/4" before it's too hot to hold with thin gloves. The cooler and torch will blow your budget most likely. You can save a few bucks if you get the basic machine rather than the "tig runner" that comes with wheels. There was no difference other than the wheel kit when I bought mine and I saved about $200-250 IIRC. Since mine is stationary anyways it didn't matter to me..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:You should look into a used syncrowave. I bought my syncrowave 300 on ebay and it has performed flawlessly. I paid just under $2k including freight. The prices are a little higher now but still quite good. Here are a few that caught my eye:http://cgi.ebay.com/Miller-Syncrowav...item3a4c91cb7ehttp://cgi.ebay.com/Miller-Syncrowav...item438be3e80chttp://cgi.ebay.com/Miller-Syncrowav...item483b61c10ahttp://cgi.ebay.com/MILLER-SYNCROWAV...item4150d3253dIan TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools