Which Tig Welder ???

[old-and-rusty]

Hi Guys,
Looking for a bit of advice please .

I`m looking at getting a Tig welder and wondered if any of you had any recommendations. I`m pretty handy with a Mig, but I`ve only ever used a Miller Tig welder before a couple of times, and they are expensive .

I`m basically looking for a Tig welder that has pre and post gas flow, lift start (as well as scratch start) and can be run from a standard 240V supply if possible. Probably between 130 and 160 amps.

Any recommendations please .
Regards,
Ian.

[Dr Silvia]

First question, do you want to weld ally with it?

I have a GYS with all the features you mention, 160A with a reasonable duty cycle, better than that sealey cobblers. although its DC only so no ally. AC machines are much more expensive than their straight DC counterparts. this model cost £400 some time ago, whereas a good AC model weighs in at £1000+!!!

Also, mine has an arc mode, which pushes mains current concumption to 32A single phase!! although tig mode is more efficient drawing 16A continuous and 20A bursts [hf start]. it IS possible to butcher a regular domestic 13a plug on, it wont't try to overheat until you set it on max power, although i take no responsibility for melting the spur

the features you mention should be available for £350-£500 new depending on item quality; the rule with all welders is to look at its duty cycle at max rated output

http://www.gys.fr/pdf/datasheet/uk/015647.pdf

good kit that comes with all but laminar flow pieces

or the ultimate:
http://products.esab.com/Templates/T085.asp?id=55552

[old-and-rusty]

Thanks very much for the reply, I really appreciate the info.
TBH I`m not looking to weld ally with it, just mild and stainless.

I`ve used a Mig before for stainless, but I wasn`t really impressed with the weld quality, so wanted to go the Tig route instead. Plus the chances of blowing through thin section mild steel, seems to be a lot less with Tig.

The Tig welder I used before was a full blown industrial model, with all the bells and whistles, and cost about 3 grand . But I definately don`t want to spend that much .

Thanks again for your help, I will have a look through the links later. I only have single phase power in my unit, so I won`t be doing any arc welding. Will have to keep an eye out for smoking plug sockets though...LOL...

Regards,
Ian.

[umpkin]

i have a parweld 140XTI its just scratch start, up to 140amp, gas is regulated by a valve on the torch, only really ment to use it to 110amp on 13amp plug and need 16 amp to use the full 140, and you can use it for arc welding had that at 120amp in 13a with no probs.

i leaned to weld on a 3phase Kemppi 2200 with hf, great unit. sadly company went under, so i got myself somin cheap in case i wanted to do some tig.

think my parweld is about £180 ish

[old-and-rusty]

Cheers for that, all info appreciated.
I`ve been trawling through a few welding forums. Everyone has different views on the best model to go for, but they all agree to stay away from Sealey systems....LOL...

I`m looking to spend around the £400 mark, so that I can get a system that has everything I will need now and in the future.

At the moment, I`ve short listed two, the GYSMI tig 160 HF that Dr Silvia recommended or this one -

http://www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=522

I would love to be able to afford something like the Kemppi, but I think the wife would kill me, if I spent that much....LOL....

Thanks again for the extra info, I will let you know which one I go for in the end .

Regards,
Ian.