looking into buying a tig welder, iv tig welded a few time w/ my buddys welder but thats it, iv been mig welding for quite some time now and i feel it time for an upgrade. ill mainly be welding turbo manifolds, exhausts systems and doing bodywork, but dont have alot of money i know the good brands out there but i dont know what to look for as far as amp ranges and dutycycle for what ill be using it for
any advise would be great thanks

 

i have a thermal arc arcmaster 185. i really like the size of it, only 35lbs or so.

 

Woops, I just skimmed it. Go with a thermal arc 185 as mentioned.


Modified by NaPiEr at 7:00 PM 12/14/2007

 

r u ****** serious? he said he doesnt have a lot of $$ to spend and you suggest a very expensive inverter type welder to him lol

 

i had a syncrowave200, its 1800 new and its a hell of a machine. will do steel and aluminum. its big and heavy though. i sold it to buy my tow truck ,now that i am selling my truck i am debating on getting the syncrowave 200 or the dynasty. if you dont plan on doing alot of stuff (daliy), i wouldent suggest getting a dynasty. for the $1800 price tag, the syncrowave packs alot of punch

if you just want a cheap machin to kick arouind or pratic your tigging skills ebay have some cheap chinese tig machines in the $400 and under range

 

you can get used syncrowaves 180-200 for pretty cheap

 

I've watched ebay the last few monthes and have seen the newer 180's (180 was discontinued, taken over by 200 a few years ago) or 200's going for between $1000-1500. You can find the older 180's for possibly a bit less, but they do hold their value very well.

Craigslist has been similar, and you don't really see TIG's up there too much, mostly MIG's.

I personally bought a new Syncrowave 200...

 

just came across this. little vid of the plasma looks like it works well, i wonder if the tig works ok? one part that i dont like is it can only run DC.

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-in-1-40-...wItem

 

thanks guys looks like i need to save a little more money up and just get a nice one i do plan on starting a busnes so a nice one is deff. the right way to go

 

I was in the same boat, I really wanted a TIG welder and I was going to buy the ebay special, then I realized that if I was going to spend that kind of money, I only wanted to do it once and be done with it. So I kept saving and finally ordered my Syncrowave 200 the other day it will be here Tuesday!!!!1!!

 

i just went and ordered another syncrowave200. priceses seem to have gone up. but, i need it so i brought it

 

mine was $1800 shipped brand new. I thought that was the going rate since they've came out.

 

yeah, my first one was $18 ans some change. went to the same place the guy wanted 22. so i went to another place and went back and fourth withthe guyt ang got it for $2000. i know i could of got it cheaper on ebay, but i dident feel like dealing with the shipping

 

I have a lincoin PT185 now the PT225 is the same price. I like it some people do and don't

 

I got mine from cyberweld. Super fast and free shipping right to my garage door, where they unloaded it.

 

i learned on a 300 amp miller, then a 250, then a 185 lincoln, and now i have a 330 miller. they all do the same thing but anything under 250 is going to struggle on thick alluminum