best tig welder for me

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i wanted to ask you guys what would be the best tig welder setup for me.couple of quesionsa good tig welder with a plazma cutter built in?>?????good tig under 1000 bucks?i would like to weld aluminum and some steel. etc etci only have household voltage in my garage(110). panel is in my garage thoughi do have a 30amp braker though :/ let me know what you guys thinkTHanks!!!!FSAE CAR 1000cc Engine )))lincoln 125+argon conversion kit40cf acly 80 oxy= 97 jeep wrangler lifted 33" tires88 dodge dakota project truck
Reply:For all practical purposes, It's not going to happen. Sorry.Good 110v tig and alum = Big money. Miller's Dynasty 200dx will set you back close to $4K and top out at probably a bit under 1/8" alum on 110v. Miller's Diversion 185 is what I would list as "fair/good" on alum, but still set you back almost $1700. There's no plasma with either.Drop the alum part and you can get a "good" DC tig for that money. Miller's Maxstar150 runs about $1K, but no still no plasma.Add plasma and most will agree you've dropped the "good" part of your request.Up your price a bit and you could get a TA95 that would do DC tig to 95 amps for light steel and stainless, and a Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 39 plasma and still be close to $1500. All "good" but you've given up the Alum part of the equation..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:Your request seems a bit similar to this one:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=44612Some parts are a bit different (the request for a plasma), but there is some good info in there.KevinHobart Handler 210Tweco Fabricator 181iLincoln Squarewave Tig 175
Reply:if the main panel is in the garage,  whats stopping you from putting a 240vac two pole breaker into it for a new circuit? Originally Posted by moneymaker17i wanted to ask you guys what would be the best tig welder setup for me.couple of quesionsa good tig welder with a plazma cutter built in?>?????good tig under 1000 bucks?i would like to weld aluminum and some steel. etc etci only have household voltage in my garage(110). panel is in my garage thoughi do have a 30amp braker though :/ let me know what you guys thinkTHanks!!!!
Reply:how hard is it to wire up a 220volt setup?and or whats the price wiseFSAE CAR 1000cc Engine )))lincoln 125+argon conversion kit40cf acly 80 oxy= 97 jeep wrangler lifted 33" tires88 dodge dakota project truck
Reply:Originally Posted by moneymaker17how hard is it to wire up a 220volt setup?and or whats the price wise
Reply:Me thinks you need to try the search function.  This question has been asked repeatedly.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Sounds like the best tig/plasma for you is the one your buddy already owns because with those "requirements", it doesn't exist.Of course, if you'd done ANY homework prior to posting, you'd already know that.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:With your limited electrical knowledge, do yourself a favor and hire a licensed electrician to come make a 240v outlet for you.   No sense burning the house down for being too cheap to do it right and not knowing how to do it safely yourself.As said earlier, the machine you seek does not exist.  Equipment for welding aluminum is not cheap, that's just the way it is.  You gotta pay to play, no way around it.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Guys don't be that hard on him, he didn't say it had to be new equipment.  Ebay is your friend.To try and answer your question, I don't think anyone has had the best things to say about the combo tig/plasma machines, and most haven't been around long enough to prove that they age well (which is why I suspect most people are diehard miller/lincoln fans).  The only one I would consider would be something like a CC power supply with a Pow-con starcut plasma added to it, since powcon got bought out parts are probably not that available anymore and I think the units were pretty rare to begin with.  I wonder why nobody else makes an add-on like they used to.The used market is great right now, if plasma is a priority there are some great deals out there.  I recently picked up a used Esab PCM-750i for $600 with a cart, consumables box, user manual and some other misc pieces.  I got mine from a machine shop that went out of business and sold everything at auction.I built my tig out of an old lincoln buzzbox I added an SCR and ebay foot pedal to for current control, and built my own high-frequency arc starter out of a broken hotsy ignitor, transformer core and some welding wire and racing ignition cable.  Even if you don't have the confidence or experience to tackle a project like that yourself you can pick up a used dynasty or syncrowave (or even econotig or 330 A/BP) to do aluminum with for far less than 4 large.  Might want to clue us in on what exactly you see yourself doing to help us get a better idea of what we should recommend.
Reply:You will spend more, on very few options, and get less with a 110V AC TIG setup.If your load center has any open, unused positions, adding a 240V circuit may not be much of a problem or very costly.  It will be easiest if your panel is surface mounted (sticking out from the wall, likely with some wiring or conduit exposed around its perimeter) than if it was flush mounted (where the "lid" or cover sits flush on a finished wall, and all wiring, etc sits behind the finished wall.)  If you have a newish load center, they also have cheaper breakers than some older, discontinued load centers do.  So check out what brand of load center you have and check out the price on a replacement breaker.  One could be as cheap as $7, or as expensive as $70.  If you plan on having an outlet installed near the load center, it would be easiest, with least amont of wire routing / fishing.  It may even be possible to fasten a metal receptable box directly to the load center (on the side of it or below, etc.)How large of a circuit you need of course depends on the requirements of the welder you get.  An 200+ amp inverter (plenty for your purposes, IMO) gets by with just a 30 amp circuit.  I think my Super200P (200 amp TIG) needs only low 20's amps at max TIG current.  However an old transformer might need much, much more... like a 50amp circuit, or even larger.  You should check out how big of an electrical service you've got, and how much capacity you have to spare.There are some very decent performing, 160-200amp, 240V chinese made AC/DC TIGs on the market, that are in the < $1k price range.  Some of them have plasma cutting function as well (they generally have "Super" in their names), such as my Everlast "Super200P", although switching back and forth (between TIG and plasma) is kind of a pain, so I'm not sure if I'd recommend it or not.You could also consider used TIGs in that price range.(I gather you passed on that used, off brand, transformer based AC TIG you found and posted about a while back?)
Reply:Originally Posted by SundownIIISounds like the best tig/plasma for you is the one your buddy already owns because with those "requirements", it doesn't exist.Of course, if you'd done ANY homework prior to posting, you'd already know that.
Reply:Originally Posted by SundownIIISounds like the best tig/plasma for you is the one your buddy already owns because with those "requirements", it doesn't exist.Of course, if you'd done ANY homework prior to posting, you'd already know that.