does anyone have and use one? I want to learn to do TIG and this one seems to be in my price range and gets some good reviews.
Can't speak to that one but have you looked at what Primeweld has to offer with their TIG units? I have their mig 180 machine and it is built solid and works great. In addition they have a 3 year no questions asked warranty, granted you have to ship it to them in New Jersey (machines are made overseas but the company is U.S. based) but they cover the shipping both ways.
Another for primeweld. Have their tig 225 and love it. Check out reviews, YouTube vids, forums, etc. Primeweld has a very good ratings. .
Mike over on “this old hotrod” On you tube got one. If you’re on IG or you tube maybe you can drop him a message. Don’t see him post here often or I’d figure out his user name To tag him. I do seem to recall a bunch of you tube guys getting them last year, welders and plasma cutter I believe, but don’t recall any complaints
well i just bought one. amazon price $167.99 with $40 off coupon. I'll be tiggin' in no time, will try to post some results
What you will find 99% of the time is that when you buy the way less expensive welder, the components are usually downsized and you have to upgrade ($$) later. When using a Tig torch, you will find that an air cooled torch becomes very hot during use.........enough that you have stop welding and let it cool. Then you consider getting a larger torch that can handle the heat and find that its very large and heavy and ***bersome to weld with. So then you decide that a water cooled torch is much smaller and lighter ($$). But you need a water cooler to use with the torch ($$). From what I could see, the 205DS appears to be a MIG welder primarily with the ability to do Tig welding. It is started by touching the the gun against the part. Doesn't have high frequency so you can start without touching. It doesn't even include a torch and Hose with it and they must be purchased separately. Couldn't find any mention of a foot pedal or how you control the amps.......maybe on the torch by hand. Personally this isn't where I would make a purchase. The "best bang for the buck" seems to be the Primeweld. You can get a few different sizes with the larger one being preferrable and newer. You can pick the torch you want and they are good well known torches. You can also get a water cooler from them for a decent price. People always convince themselves that they want to learn to weld but can't convince themselves that they can afford a reasonably decent welder. They buy junk and then think they just don't have the ability to weld. Buy a Primeweld with a water cooled torch and a water cooler. It ain't give away priced, but they are very reasonable and have a good reputation. I know it like pissin against the wind trying to tell people this, but there are so many little things that they change to get prices down and you don't realize it till after you buy them. Thats why they end up in a corner collecting dust.
this is not to be used in a production shop, but in my little hobby garage, where i will weld a small patch in here & there. the machine i am buying is the HF type and supposed to come with a foot pedal, but it is just an on/off, not variable. i'll post pics of what i get. supposed to be delivered today.
I agree with you, but the thing is that once you get proficient with the TIG, it will become your preferred method of welding and you're going to want the machine you're using to match your skill level, not be an impediment to you becoming a better welder. At least that's how it was for me. IMHO, a TIG welder is a staple tool that once you become proficient with the process, is one that changes your perspective on how tasks can be accomplished. Which is not to say that MIG welding doesn't have its place. I just find that the benefits of the control of the TIG process greatly outweigh any perceived drawbacks. I'm of the thought, like you, that in a hobbyist setting you don't need commercial grade equipment. However, you do need it to do the job. I don't think that a hobbyist NEEDS a Miller or Lincoln, and I can speak from personal experience that my HTP has performed flawlessly for the last 6 years I've owned it. I have also welded with some of the Eastwood and HF units, and the HF unit in particular was very nice as well. But if you're purchasing a machine that does not have the ability to vary current from the foot pedal, then what you have is a glorified oxygen/acetylene gas welding machine. The ability to pulse the current, whether it be manually with the pedal or with a feature on the machine that does it for you automatically, is one of the great strengths of the TIG, not to mention the ability to establish an arc in low current, and move and increase the strength of that arc as you weld. If your machine can't do that, it's a guarantee that you will need to upgrade it in the future, and potentially not far into the future.
thanks Joe and thanks to all who responded. just unboxed it. i may have been mistaken when i said HF, fast read thru the instructions said scratch to start. here are pics of what i got. i did not include the stick welder cable. still need to get argon and tungstons. i think i will get the pyrex clear tips too.
That is a nice compact machine and the duty cycle is higher than some. You will have fun with it. Get the ball float type Argon flowmeter which is more accurate and lets you know when the gas shuts off. Some machines have a pretty lengthy post gas flow, like my Miller Econotig which is supposed to be 15 seconds but is more like 25. While I still have it, got a PrimeWeld 225 a couple of years ago. Post some reviews for us.
That machine will certainly teach you the basics. Learning to control the tungsten, and to get it nice and close to the weld pool without dipping it into it, is an acquired skillset. You'll certainly be able to do that here. And I agree that the flowmeter is better than the regulator, they're available from HF. Have fun!
There are expensive machines that are capable of industrial use. There are mid priced machines that aren't capable of industrial use but work very well for hobbiests., Some of them are even available from the established names, and a few are building decent reputations. Then there are the pretty inexpensive machines. They usually don't last long if used but ususally get little use because of problems and poor results......often resulting in the new welder trainee giving up and thinking he just can't weld. Some features allow specialty welding to be done. Some features however are pretty much a "no brainer" that you want them on any machine you buy. Some machines come with virtually no features and leave it up to the potential welder to get it to work. I hope the OP is the exception to the rule and has good luck with his machine, but I would rather have seen him buy one with at least a variable foot pedal and a high frequency start as a bare minimum. Tungsten contamination is one of the key things when welding . It happens when the molten metal gets on the tungsten and then your "flame" comes out in different directions. If you scratch the tungsten against the metal to start the weld and then turn the power on, there is a good chance you will end up with some on the tungsten. Oh, when I say "tungsten", thats a general term. You probably want "ceriated or lanthanated", not tungsten. You will also have to select a size that fits your torch........but you may need to buy other size collets and other size tungstens. probably something small as I don't think you can use the larger (1/8?) sizes. Let us know how it turns out.........
The Tungsten you want is 2% thoriated probably a couple of sizes 1/16” and 3/32”. This will work well for carbon steel and stainless steel. A poster above mentioned that you don’t want tungsten and that’s not accurate. All Tig welding electrodes are Tungsten ranging from the green color coded pure tungsten to the tungstens with varying percentages of alloying elements such a thorium oxide or lanthanum or cerium oxide. Another common one is Zirconium oxide. Each of the different tungsten types have different specific uses. And of course you want 100% Argon shielding gas. By the way don’t waste your time and money with the Pyrex gl*** shielding gas nozzles. They break easily and you will be better off with the regular ceramic ones. Personally as a career Welder Fabricator /Welding Instructor I would have said NO to the “Yes” welder. In the world of Welding equipment you definitely pay for what you get. Cheap price usually indicates cheap imported junk. Poor duty cycles and poor durability. I have Miller machines in my garage and they have served me well for many years through lots of different projects including the building of my 26 RPU. I have an Autoset 180 Mig welder and a Diversion 180 AC/DC Tig machine that has High Frequency arc starting for steel and stainless steel and continuous high frequency for welding Aluminum. It’s a great machine to use and has a foot pedal control as well. The problem with small cheap machines like that one you have is that they first of all don’t use standardized consumables such as the gas collet/tungsten holder/ gas nozzles. You won’t be able to go down to the local welding supply shop and buy parts for the Tig torch, you’ll be limited to ordering from China.com AKA Amazon or the “Yes” welder people, also another branch of China.com. Without a decent high frequency arc starting capacity the machine could be difficult for a beginner to learn to use. Not impossible but more difficult than it needs to be. That’s why many of these cheap machines wind up sitting unused until they wind up on the swap meet table or listed on the local buy and sell. You would have been better off with Miller, Hobart, or Lincoln. Good luck and if you’re struggling I suggest a beginner’s Tig welding course at your local community college.
What Blue said ^^^^^^^ I wish he was my neighbor when I was "teaching" myself to weld 30 years ago, bought a new 200 amp Millermatic and thought "how hard can this be"!
Blue one is correct. Instead of saying "you don't want tungsten" I should have said that you don't want a "pure" tungsten tungsten.............you want a tungsten that has either lanthanated or ceriated added to the tungsten.
Good correction however the 2% Thoriated is superior in performance to either of those options. For Carbon steel and stainless steel it’s the best choice. Why because it maintains a clean sharp tip during welding (as long as proper arc distance is maintained and it’s not dipped into the puddle or touched with the filler rod) and maintains a smooth focused arc better than the Lanthanated or the Ceriated which due to the fact that they have a lower heat carrying capacity will lose the sharpness of the tip and the focus of the arc while welding as the tip rounds off slightly.
You’ll definitely want the high frequency. My 3-1 Airco has scratch start and a HF box. I was having a bear of a time, sticking the tungsten, resharpening, etc. My ex FIL was a welder, he told me turn on the HF box, etc. Man, was night and day. I’d thought it was only used for aluminum. My setup is kinda funky though, have a thumb valve thing for gas flow, no pedal or water cooled torch. Never have done well on sheet metal, so I defer to the Mig.
That's what I like about my primeweld. It came with a top quality C-K 17 torch head, parts available anywhere. Excellent foot pedal, hi frequency start, pulse, balance, etc. I have yet to find a you tube video where they could hit its duty cycle without first having to stop because their gloves got too hot to proceed any further. Comes with a flow meter also and set up and comes with stuff to use it as a stick welder. Not to mention Excellent reviews, Excellent warranty, and at 850 bucks it's the best bang for your buck out there. ...
very busy with other stuff right now and havn't gotten it all put together to try, hoping next week slows down and i can get to it. i don't know how to do a video yet, so thats the first thing i've got to learn.
While you’re at it take the time to read all of the replies here. Educational p*** time that should help you out.
I have had an HTP Invertig 201 for years, but have never had the time to master it. We spend the winters in the Southwest now, so last fall I decided to get serious about improving my Tig skills and bought a Primeweld Tig226x on Black Friday, when it was something like $750 shipped to my door. it’s a nice machine, with ac/dc and high frequency capability at around 35%of what I paid for the HTP years ago, and 24% of what I paid for a lighthouse used Miller multimatic 220 AC/DC multipurpose machine last week. In fact, the Primeweld duty cycle is spec’d higher than either the Miller or HTP. They also have a newer model, the 325, with a higher power rating, for about $1500. There are cheaper machines out there, but they either lack HF start capability or have questionable reviews. Primeweld has an active Facebook page, and based on everything I can find, has outstanding customer service, including a three year warranty that includes shipping both ways, something that, as best I can tell, nobody else offers. One anecdote is that they shipped one customer a new unit for free when his garage burned down and destroyed the contents, including his welder.
I bought the Primeweld 225 in May. Been really happy with the way it welds. And as has been said, the air cooled torch gets really hot if welding at high power or for long periods of time. I usually can't stay focused that long, so when it gets hot it's time for a break... Depending on how good I've been this year I may ask santa for a liquid cooled torch
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