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Tig Welder?
- Thread starter Av8r3400
- Start date
Trakternut
Active member
You can't go wrong with Miller welders. I have owned a MillerMatic 135 for several years. It's a 110V wire welder, if you're interested, and I've welded thicker material than you're really supposed to, with a machine like that, and got good penetration.
I just bought a used Miller portable welder, but haven't had a chance to give 'er a try. I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
About the only thing I'd consider, after Miller, would be a Lincoln. Century stuff has some downfalls.
I just bought a used Miller portable welder, but haven't had a chance to give 'er a try. I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
About the only thing I'd consider, after Miller, would be a Lincoln. Century stuff has some downfalls.
Looks like an older model:
http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o207d_mil.pdf
Hard to go wrong with Miller or Lincoln. They both have good reputations.
http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o207d_mil.pdf
Hard to go wrong with Miller or Lincoln. They both have good reputations.
av8r,could not find the older catalog...must have trashed it, but from what i can come up with its a DC unit for 3/32 " steel or thinner with a 20% duty cycle,i do not believe this unit is an AC type and is not liquid cooled,(so not used with aluminum) bets bet is calling miller direct for complete specs.,i own two miller welders,made in Appleton WIS.,just down the road,
to weld the exotic metals you need frequency box's and ac capibility for small aluminum work you don't need the water cooled head for larger stuff you will to all those who like miller products i have a little buzz box that blew out a diode set while welding with a 1/8 th inch 7018 rod still works fine in a/c but the dc side is under powered most industrieal welding is dc nad in my mind this is a weakness.i can post a pic of my tig set up which is a controler and water cooler attached to a lincon welder for power supply works good i weld up plumbing on tank trucks with it.
I have the maxstar 150 and love it
It is a dc stick and tig machine (well suitcase)
Its a low duty cycle but that hasent been a problem for me
It does run better on higher stick currents on 220 than the 110.
Tig doesn't seem to matter but i ususlly am on thinner material any way.
tom
It is a dc stick and tig machine (well suitcase)
Its a low duty cycle but that hasent been a problem for me
It does run better on higher stick currents on 220 than the 110.
Tig doesn't seem to matter but i ususlly am on thinner material any way.
tom
jackaustin
New member
I have a Lincoln Electric, K2535-1, TIG Welder,.
Red or blue, you cannot really go wrong if you have the money. I have used some cheap machines too. My current one is a multiprocess Vulcan that does dual voltage, MIG, TIG (HF start with pedal), stick and spool and the unit comes with default settings for those who do not know how to run one. Just put in the process, gas, and material/thickness and it gets you to a good starting setting.
There is one main reason welders and plasma cutters fail. Duty Cycle. Each welder has a duty cycle rating that most people just ignore (or don't know about). If your machine has a 40% duty cycle at whatever setting you are using, that means after 4 minutes of welding, you must let the machine circuitry cool for 6 minutes before continuing. I've always seen duty cycle examples in manuals given based on a 10 minute period but always tried keeping the duty cycle to a minute period or so. Just be generous with the cooling periods! The only two complaints on youtube for my Vulcan are 1-the MIG gun can melt and 2-the display can fail. The gun melting is because the machine can do 200A and the stock gun is rated for 180A. If you crank it up to 200A, ignore the duty cycle, and hit some 1/2" steel without reading the box, yea, it will melt the MIG gun lol. The display failures I think were related to a bad power switch arcing, and I think they fixed that issue. My switch doesn't arc when powering on so who knows...
Even name brands can fail. My brother had a $1200 27A Hobart plasma cutter, used maybe 4 times, and when he disconnected the air hose to put the machine away, the circuit board exploded. It hadn't ran for hours so it wasn't hot... On the flip side, those $600 40A Chicago plasma cutters seem to be quite good for the price for the little I've used one. Some welding nuts will tell you that you NEED to go "red or blue", but if you are not doing production level stuff, the cheap ones will do just fine if you mind the duty cycles!
There is one main reason welders and plasma cutters fail. Duty Cycle. Each welder has a duty cycle rating that most people just ignore (or don't know about). If your machine has a 40% duty cycle at whatever setting you are using, that means after 4 minutes of welding, you must let the machine circuitry cool for 6 minutes before continuing. I've always seen duty cycle examples in manuals given based on a 10 minute period but always tried keeping the duty cycle to a minute period or so. Just be generous with the cooling periods! The only two complaints on youtube for my Vulcan are 1-the MIG gun can melt and 2-the display can fail. The gun melting is because the machine can do 200A and the stock gun is rated for 180A. If you crank it up to 200A, ignore the duty cycle, and hit some 1/2" steel without reading the box, yea, it will melt the MIG gun lol. The display failures I think were related to a bad power switch arcing, and I think they fixed that issue. My switch doesn't arc when powering on so who knows...
Even name brands can fail. My brother had a $1200 27A Hobart plasma cutter, used maybe 4 times, and when he disconnected the air hose to put the machine away, the circuit board exploded. It hadn't ran for hours so it wasn't hot... On the flip side, those $600 40A Chicago plasma cutters seem to be quite good for the price for the little I've used one. Some welding nuts will tell you that you NEED to go "red or blue", but if you are not doing production level stuff, the cheap ones will do just fine if you mind the duty cycles!
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I’ve got a Miller unit. Way overpriced for what I need as I rarely use it anymore. But when I need it! At this point I probably could get by with an inexpensive Harbor Freight welder and not really notice the difference.
About 12 years ago I was doing a lot of welding, especially on farm equipment and farm related projects. I had a Lincoln stick and a 110 volt MIG welder. I also had a Hobart plasma cutter. They all worked well but I haven't used any of them in years. They're out in the shop covered with a tarp. If I was to do it again I would take Bob's route and get something cheap. I might even just get somebody to do the welding for me but where is the fun in that.
I used to have a friend that built motor cycle frames for drag racers. I would watch him work and be totally amazed at the quality of bead that he could get with his TIG set up.
I used to have a friend that built motor cycle frames for drag racers. I would watch him work and be totally amazed at the quality of bead that he could get with his TIG set up.
You need to read my post again
My Miller welder is an expensive unit. It was about $1200 approx 15 years ago
Fortunately it was a tax deductible business expense when it was purchased. We used it at work. When I sold my business it was considered disposable, along with many other expensive tools, so it came home with me.But you are right in that if I was going to do it AGAIN today, I'd buy something really basic from Harbor Freight.
Sorry Bob, I don't need to read your post again, I know what you said and I just expressed myself really badly in the reply. My Lincolns and plasma cutter aren't cheap by any means but, right now they are a bunch of money sitting in the shop and not not being used. What I meant to say was exactly what you said, "If I was going to do it AGAIN today, I'd buy something really basic from Harbor Freight."