Im in the market for a good 110v tig welder for a good price. My house and garage arent wired for 220v which leaves me for something less. Looking for something with a foot pedal. It will be mostly just for doing basic aluminum and stainless. Any opinions?

 

Hi,

I would definitely look at a good brand like Lincoln or Miller , I think its worth the extra money. You would have to make sure you have the correct amp wiring in your garage or you would burn it out quickly once you turn the tig up. Most guys start slow but once you get used to welding everything you might over stress the machine and your wiring.

Mark

 

I was looking at these awhile ago, Miller makes a nice little portable unit but it does NOT weld aluminum. I'm not sure if the 110v Lincoln is the same way or not but watch out for that.

 

Get a 220v welder and do the wiring in your garage for it. You'll probably be fine welding steel on 110v but aluminum is a different story.

 

The problem is theres not even 220 in my house. My whole piece of property is without 220. My clothes dryer is gas/110. In my area it would cost about $3500 to get the 220 on to my property. So at this point thats not really an option. I was looking at the Everlast powertig 185. And also the Miller Diversion 180.

 

millermatic 140, great quality little unit

 

He said TIG, not mig.
110v is plenty of power. Lots of people think you need 220v and it's not true. It all depends on what you plan to work on. Working on bumpers, intercoolers, end tanks and such like that 220v is idea.
For exhaust work, turbo manifolds, intercooler pipes and other thinner stuff a 110v tig is just fine.
My miller diversion went up to 125amps on 110v. My htp 221 will do 155amps on 110v. My longevity did well on 110v too. I had my diversion for over a year or two before I got a 220 line. Even now I still leave my htp plugged into 110v. I just did 2 catch cans with it, and a turbo manifold (still not done). But figure 1/8" or so is max for a 110v machine without helium or preheat.

That's bullshit. Someone is trying to scam you. If you have 110 you have 220. 220 is 2 hots from the 110 and a ground.
So if you have 2 open circuits in your box you take 1 hot (110v) lead from each and put a dual/double/220v circuit breaker and you now have a 220 line.

 

What he said.

220 is just a double wide breaker with 3 wire (hot, hot, common)

 

It's hot, hot and ground. No common or neutral on a 220v.

 

Get a multi voltage machine. I suggest a dynasty 200 if you have the money. Otherwise, the Chinese machines have come a long way. Eastwood, longevity, and Everlast have some multi voltage machines.

 

I have been using an Everlast 200dx with dual voltage. you need a giant 110v circuit to do anything serious with aluminum... like welding a BOV flange.

I ran it on a 15a circuit and I could get to about 90A on aluminum and it maxes out at 120A on the welder on DC. with 15A circuit there isnt much duty cycle. so you will likely need to upgrade your electrical anyways.

 

I want a miller TIG welder.

 

I have a deversion 180 duel voltz, so it works on 110 or 220.. You have like 430voltz or something to the house then you break it down into 110 usally in the breaker box. Post up a picture of your breaker box and we can help. You need to find out if its square D or the other brand. get a sub panal and we will start there. Just be ready to shut off power to the whole house like 2 or 3 times (just means killing the main breaker at the very top). Reason your dryer is only 110 is you dont have electric heating elements so you just need to turn the barrel and propane does the rest.

 

I think the dynasty will do 150amps on 110v. My diversion did 125amps on 15amp breaker and as long as you didn't do long puddles it wouldn't trip. Of course I had a lot of other things on the same breaker on at the same time. 3 other rooms in the house to be exact because whoever wired the house was stupid. So I think on a dedicated 15amp circuit on a diversion 180 (110v) you can weld all day.
My htp 221 does 155amps on 110v. And I LOVE this thing. Best welder I have ever used. Comparable to the dynasty only cheaper.

 

I dont know much about AC home wiring. Ill have to look into that. I understand what your saying though. Makes sense. My roommate (home owner) said they had to buy all 110v appliances cause there was no 220 in the house. He said an electrician came and looked and said it was going to be over $3500 to get 220 in the house. So im gonna look at just getting a 220 power cord made to run into the shop just for a welder. Id rather have a 220 Tig machine anyways.

 

Anyone have experience with the Longevity 200EX?

 

Yes I have one. It's a 220v.

 

Ive got a guy coming to wire me in a 220. How do you like the 200EX?

 

I hope he isn't charging you $3500!
I like it. Good machine.