well my girl friends uncle has an old econotig for sale with everything it came with including tank. i tried to look up more info on it online but couldn't find anything on it. if you guys can give me some info on it that would be cool. this is going to be my first tig and i do not plan on doing anything crazy with it. i just want it to learn the basics on it till i can afford a better unit. (pics are just some i found on the web but its the same unit.) thanks guys.. my biggest thing i want to know is if it has HF start and if it has the post flow option.

 

Does it come with everything like in the pics? How much does he want for it?

 

yea comes with everything in the pics. he told my gf 800 but i think i can talk him into lower since he just wants to get rid of it. i know im not buying it for 800 though. few hundred more bucks and i can find something better on craigslist. thanks for any additional info guys

 

From the pic it looks like it only goes to 100amps. If you can get it for a bit less I dont see anything wrong with it and it should be a good machine to get started on. Try and get as much from him as you can like extra tungsten, cups, filler etc so you dont have to go out and drop more money on stuff like that to get started. Just keep in mind you will also need a welding helmet, gloves and a tank of argon. I bought a harbor freight helmet for school and it worked great but once I started welding at home I kept getting flashed constantly. I returned it for a new one and same thing so I spent the money and got a Miller Elite but you might have better luck with one.

 

it comes with a tank but not sure if its filled or not but i do have a helmet i use with my miller mig machine. i need to actually go over there and see what he has. he told me he has everything. i went over there and he wasnt home but his wife was. she let me look at it and only saw the machine ground clamp and stick welding clamp. he bought it new so im assuming everything is in his storage shed in the backyard.

anymore info on this machine before i tell him yes or no?

 

It's not worth ir if you want to weld AL at all. There are so few amps available on that thing you use up the entire duty cycle and then some just trying to get a puddle to form on anything thicker than tinfoil. I've tried it sucks. I would save for a 180sd. I sold mine with TONS of filler and accessories a couple yrs ago for 1200.

 

looks like ill be looking around for other units to pop up. thanks for the help guys

 

I was checking an old miller catalog, and it lists the econotig as having 160 amps of output on the "ac high" setting, so it has enough output for lighter aluminum work (ic piping). No squarewave, from what I can gather. 700 bucks if its got some extras is actually a bit of a deal...wont compare to a dynasty or even a syncro, but ....700 bucks gets you learning. Maybe the **** is printed in percentage of output????

 

good info. does it say anything else?... im just looking to make small brackets, exhaust work, maybe try making a header for my starlet. aluminum IC piping is a plus though haha. if anyone has anymore information on this machine and its featuress that would be cool. been google searching and i cant find if it has some sort of HF start and a post flow option. thanks again

 

It's more about the duty cycle than it is the 160 amps. I tried welding a cracked timing chain cover for a 22r with an econotig. I preheated the crap out of it and still only got about 3-4 dips before I tripped the internal breaker on that turd.

 

i had an econotig for about a month. Then realized it sucked and picked up my syncrowave 200 runner. I think something might have been wrong with my econotig though becuase my foot pedal didnt work. but who knows. i didnt like it

 

boo... looks ill be looking for one on craigslist most def.

 

Sheesh, poor econotig gets no love!

I love mine, it seems to be a newer model, but I've been using it for over a year with no issues whatsoever.

I don't weld anything thicker than 1/4" and haven't had any problems.

That being said, I've only welded aluminum with it twice. I'm not very good at aluminum welding, so I can't say how much of it was the machine and how much was me, but it did the job just fine.

I think for me- (amateur hobbyist) it's the perfect model. If I ever step up my game to welding for a shop, or for my own shop, I'll probably step up a notch or two, but for now this is perfect. No problems!

 

Exactly! I have the dynasty 200dx which I got for a good deal but still about 3 times more than what you'd pay for the econotig. I have not welded much aluminum but I do plan on doing so. As of right now I have not needed to use more than 135amps on my machine at all.

I also think that if you are sure you want to make it into a hobby and not a once in a while kind of thing then I would suggest taking a few classes at your community college and save your money for a nicer machine so you wont have to really upgrade. I took a class for two weeks at Chabot in Hayward and it was awesome. You have about 5 hours of straight welding time a week and that is with 2day a week class. I was able to start feeding filler by the end of the second lab day.
You can get pretty confident in a matter of days. its just a matter of practice to get good and consistant welds(thats why I am still practicing).

 

yea my homie and i were thinking of taking a class at CCOC this year. it would make sense to practice there and get a more powerful machine the first time around. my homies homie has this machine

http://cgi.ebay.com/THERMAL-ARC-AM-1...3%3A1|294%3A50

what do you guys think of the thermal arc 185 ??

 

If you can get the thermal arc 185 do it! Very nice machine from what I've heard and read. I was just about to get that before I got a deal on my dynasty. I am sure you will hear the same thing from others.

 

your an idoit. its it a heavy duty production machine? no. Its an entry level ac/dc power source designed for tig. its build well and is good quality.




I love my econotig!

I have had it for 5 or 6 years and I think its great. I picked mine up used for 1k. I still use it all the time. I have never not been able to do any job so far.

Yea its not going to weld 1/2" aluminum plate but so what!

it welds 3/16" aluminum plate like a champ


If you can get it for a good price then I say go for it

 

any pics of what you have done with your econotig?

 

This car was built with ecnotig i believe http://www.kimini.com/

 

LOL. Ok well I think the thermal arc is a piece of crap too. Had one fail on me in the field...not cool. Anyway, for what people are charging for econotigs yes they are crappy. Srsly how long does it take to save up a couple extra hundred dollars and get something that doesnt suck?

I stand by what I said. The 180 and 200 arent even heavy production machines lol. I'm not exactly recomending people go out and buy 350amp machines with a 100% duty cycle.

btw I would have sold you my 180 runner with one bottle and the stock torch for what you paid for your econotig you're an idiot for overpaying.

 

i didnt buy anything yet. im waiting for my taxes to return and should be getting around 1500 back total. im just keeping my options open. if i can find a more powerful machine on craigslist or anywhere for sure im skipping on this econotig. at the same time if i can get him to sell it to me more cheaper than wat he is asking for then why the hell not? im just going to be doing this as a hobby in my garage.

 

Oh i was talking to the other guy.

 

not in canada you wouldn't have. i got as good of a deal as you can get up here

 

i am not a great welder by any stretch, but i get by


^ this one is for ManBearPig4silly tinfoil comment. it took me about 1 minute to weld these. yes that is 0.5" (well probably 0.4" at that point)

 

its also physically the perfect size for a home shop

the sd180 i have at work is way bigger