hello, i'm seriously getting ready to purchase a tig welder and coincidentally found one in the paper today. it is a marquette 300amp ac/dc heliarc single phase welder. i called the seller and he said its approx 8-10 years old. he used it to work on ultra light air planes. i need the welder to mainly weld aluminum 1/8" thick approx. i plan on doing alot of automotive fabication projects with it. anyways, it comes with a nearly new torch and was recently gone through and cleaned / inspected by a local reputable welding shop. it does not have a foot pedal control so i would probley have to buy this. he wants $1100 or best offer for it. any opinions or suggestions? should i take it? he said he had a couple other interested buyers so i would have to move pretty quick to get it. its a little big for what i need but i tend to outgrow my tools quickly.

my other 2 choices if buying new are: #1 the miller econotig (for the price) and #2 the new lincoln precision tig 185. thanks in advance for all advice!

 

I don't know anything about that welding machine. Based just on what you posted about it, it sounds like an ok deal. Before you go buying it, call the welding supply. Ask them about the machine and parts availability. Make sure that it takes the same torches as most Miller machines. Make sure that you can get a foot pedal or finger control for the machine. Even Miller and Lincoln take different plugs for these accessories. You can't put a miller pedal on a Lincoln, and vice versa. It would be best if this machine would take a Lincoln or Miller pedal. Ask them what they know about the reliability of the machine, and if they have worked on many of them.

As for the other 2 machines you mentioned, I prefer the Miller Econotig over the PT185. I used to own a PT, and wasn't happy with it. I used the econotig on a job I worked for about a week and I liked it better than the PT.

 

well what are you looking to weld with it ??? and does the used welder have h/f ???

 

i'm not 100% sure but i think the marquette is made by lincoln. the owner said it had control on the tig torch but i don't know if it was on/off or variable or what?

it does have high frequency. funny story- he had the welder at his old shop which just happens to be attached to the same building as a nursing home. turns out the high frequency arc caused a bunch of patients pace makers to quit functioning properly every time he struck an arc. they kept trying to figure out why the things went haywire every once in a while. lol, i guess thats not very funny but could have been pretty serious!

i feel i'm a pretty good talker and could possibly get him down to $800-900 range. any other info about this would greatly be appreciated. i will be contacting the welding shop hopefully tommorow. thanks!

 

if you can get some pics and post them up that would be good