I bought a miller cst 280 stick/tig welder on ebay brand new.

It was suposed to be the miller maxstar 200lx.

but i was in iraq when my wife ordered it and she thought it was the right one...plus the guy was kicked off of ebay. I hunted him down with my csi like interneting skills but I cant realy do anything about it but threaten him...and that want get me anywhere.

Ive tried to sell it or trade it for a used ac/dc setup with no luck...its looking like Im stuck with this setup. I was woundering if anyone on here uses it for tig? If so what torch kit are you using and how well does it work (pics would be nice)

 

im guessing nobody uses this for tig much...

 

wait

so you paid for the 200lx and he sent you a cst280?

sounds like you got the better end of the deal.

like, you get an extra 80 amps of oomph... what's there to complain about?

 

well, thats what Im trying to find out Im jumping in and getting my feet wet with the tig setup. Ive only owned a mig welder. I want to start using tig. You mind explaining to me what I need to get started? all I have are the connectors and the power cord.

 

torch
ground
bottle of argon/regulator
foot pedalor thumb control for torch to control amps on the go
tungsten
filler

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HT Chaplain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">torch
ground
bottle of argon/regulator
foot pedalor thumb control for torch to control amps on the go
tungsten
filler
</TD></TR></TABLE>

so which do you prefer...thumb control or foot? also what about the cups whats a good size for welding pipes and flanges?

 

Here's the thing about using that machine. It doesn't have a gas solenoid built in. So, that means you'll have to get a torch with a valve. Miller did do a nice thing and incorporate the lift-arc feature into the machine so you won't have to scratch start it.

Minimum to tig with that machine.

Torch assembly w/built in valve
Bottle
Ground cable assembly
Tungsten
Filler


I would recommend getting a gas lens with a #8 cup.


Depending on how much you paid for it. I would sell it and get a Thermal Arc 185. True TIG machine that has HF start, AC, gas solenoid, etc, etc, for about $1900.

 

thats what Ive been trying to do but apparently noone wants this machine.

 

use different welder