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Hey everybody what's up.. I need advice/opinions from welders or anybody who knows a thing or two. I'm in the market looking for a welder. I already have a stick welder but i need a mig and tig welder. I MOSTLY want the tig but having a mig as well would be great. This welder will be for home use and to practice at home while i'm not at welding school. I have a couple of welders in mind that I've been looking at a lot. What do you guys think about these welders and which do you think I should get?Everlast PowerTig 185 AC/DC (185 amps on tig & 150 amps on stick)Thermal Arc 186 Tig AC/DC (200 amp welder)Thermal Arc Fabricator 252i (3 in 1 multi-process welder MIG/Stick/Tig) (300 amp welder)HTP Invertig 221 Tig AC/DC (220 amp welder) (Stick & Tig)If there is anybody out here that has any experience with any of these welders please let me know how they run and what your experience has been like with them. Any advice will be highly appreciated.Last edited by Tx_1994; 06-16-2014 at 05:10 AM.
Reply:Are you looking to do aluminum tig? If so, the TA252 will not do that. You need a machine with AC output. The 252 may state aluminum is possible, but that's with an added Spoolgun in Mig mode. So forget any thin Aluminun. Not looking to start a war here, but I'd stay away from the Everlast machine. Some are built on the same assembly line as the TA models, but there still remains issues with them. Mostly customer service and quality control issues. Some people have the machines and love them. They are a great value if they work properly. A few pros here have some models and say they are the best welders they've used. I'd personally still stay away. Of the AC/DC tigs you've listed, the most tried and true is the HTP221. If it's in your budget, go for it. Customer service is top notch and I've never heard any complaints about the machine, ever. It has a ton of features including independent EN/EP amp control.The TA186 is supposed to be a great value as well. There were some pedal issues in the beginning that I've read they've ironed out. So if you never plan on thin aluminum welding and you are not willing to accept the learning curve of aluminum TIG, go for the 252. Otherwise, grab the 221 and buy a mig used at a later date.
Reply:Drf255 yeah I actually do want to weld aluminum tig but i sort of forgot to mention I have NEVER tig welded in my life i've only done stick and mig before. I will start my intro to tig welding class in August so i'm on my own until then. Yeah i hear ya on the Everlast thing heck i have a stick welder from Everlast and it acts all funny sometimes AND just about 90% of people i see talk about "Neverlast" always bash on them. Budget wise i'm at around $2600 so I think I should be alright. and btw do you weld for a hobby or what?
Reply:Hobby guy purely. I'm better at pricing and picking machines than actually welding with them. I've gone through many machines in a quest to get all the features I want at the right price. I've owned a Lincoln AC/DC buzz box with an HF251D, Syncro 250, a TA185, a Dynasty 200 and finally now have a TA300. Those were my AC tig machines.I also have a TA161S, a Maxstar 150 STL and an XMT304 with a suitcase feeder. Don't do what I did. Buy a quality machine hat has all the features you want and will fit your shop in terms of size and power requirements. It takes a while till you realize it's the Indian and not the arrow. All of those feature help people who know how to tig. Nothing replaces hood time/practice. Zap, a mod here, welds with a Dinosaur sine wave A/BP330. No features at all. Not even square AC wave or balance. The guy turns out robotic precision welds with it. So get a good machine you can grow into.
Reply:Oh man you really have had a bunch of welders. Yeah i guess im gonna end up going with the htp 221 and put in the hours. I hope to get pretty good to land a job in a year or so. I'm 19 and I want to learn as much as I can so i have bigger chances for job opportunities. I hear tig welding is pretty hard or so they say
Reply:Originally Posted by Drf255Hobby guy purely. I'm better at pricing and picking machines than actually welding with them. I've gone through many machines in a quest to get all the features I want at the right price. I've owned a Lincoln AC/DC buzz box with an HF251D, Syncro 250, a TA185, a Dynasty 200 and finally now have a TA300. Those were my AC tig machines.I also have a TA161S, a Maxstar 150 STL and an XMT304 with a suitcase feeder. Don't do what I did. Buy a quality machine hat has all the features you want and will fit your shop in terms of size and power requirements. It takes a while till you realize it's the Indian and not the arrow. All of those feature help people who know how to tig. Nothing replaces hood time/practice. Zap, a mod here, welds with a Dinosaur sine wave A/BP330. No features at all. Not even square AC wave or balance. The guy turns out robotic precision welds with it. So get a good machine you can grow into.
Reply:Originally Posted by Tx_1994Oh man you really have had a bunch of welders. Yeah i guess im gonna end up going with the htp 221 and put in the hours. I hope to get pretty good to land a job in a year or so. I'm 19 and I want to learn as much as I can so i have bigger chances for job opportunities. I hear tig welding is pretty hard or so they say
Reply:I don't have any experience with the others, but I have demoed the TA186 for Thermal Arc. A bit noisy but a beast of an AC/DC welder especially on alum. Mine did have the stepping in the current control that has been resolve I hear. The optional foot control which I recommend is made by SCC controls, and they make the best foot controls out there IMO. Hated the torch for procuction work, but would have worked fine for odd jobs or field work. Aside from that I do not know of an unhappy HTP customer.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:I will throw in one more option, just to confuse you. A used Syncrowave. A Syncrowave has AC and DC, so works well for aluminum or literally any other metal up to 3/16 thick You can always stick weld thick steel. You could sell your stick welder and save shop space. A used syncrowave should cost you 1000 to 1500 dollars, although the Syncrowave 250 will probably cost more.A good TIG welder is the most flexible welder of all. To mig stainless requires a different gas, to Mig aluminum requires a spoolgun, and yet another gas, and would not work for thin aluminum. With TIG, argon gas covers any metal. That said, TIG is the hardest welding to learn, MIG the easiest.Good luck,RichardSculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:Oscar alright ill give em a holler! And hey I hear it's confusing to dial it in right because it has so many adjustments? I'll be mostly doing mild steel and stainless here and there..I'll start aluminum once I have more experience with tig..what kind of torch does it come with is it still a CK or weld craft? And do you have the water cooler for it?
Reply:Originally Posted by Tx_1994Oscar alright ill give em a holler! And hey I hear it's confusing to dial it in right because it has so many adjustments? I'll be mostly doing mild steel and stainless here and there..I'll start aluminum once I have more experience with tig..what kind of torch does it come with is it still a CK or weld craft? And do you have the water cooler for it?
Reply:Originally Posted by Tx_1994Oscar alright ill give em a holler! And hey I hear it's confusing to dial it in right because it has so many adjustments? I'll be mostly doing mild steel and stainless here and there..I'll start aluminum once I have more experience with tig..what kind of torch does it come with is it still a CK or weld craft? And do you have the water cooler for it? |
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发表于 2021-8-31 23:08:22