I am currently looking for a relatively inexpensive solution for simple aluminum fixes in my shop. I am looking for a welder under 1000$ that can do aluminum piping and end tanks, catch cans, tapping valve covers, things of that nature. I ran across the Eastwood 200, ac/dc and its only $799.00 brand new. Reviews are 4.5-5 stars, anyone have one and use it?

 

heard a lot of good things about that welder..im also interested in hearing some actual experiences with it. Bump!

 

I've had one for right at two years and love it. Only had one issue which I caused and Eastwood took care of it asap. Have welded a ton of exhaust manifolds, intakes, IC pipes, etc. with it.

 

I've had mine for 2-3 years now and love it. even had a seasoned welder down the street give it a shot and he was very impressed by its capabilities, considering his daily unit is over $6K. my only complaints would be that the torch hose is poor quality, and so is the pedal, so take care of them

 

I can get a Miller Syncrowave for 2,000$ used with two tanks, or start my minor fabrication station with this Eastwood for 700$ and still have 1300$ to start purchasing other parts.

 

Get the Miller. I don't have experience with the Eastwood but have the same machine from a different company. Was a dud right out of the box and the custoemr service has been sub par so far. At least with the Miller youc an have it serviced locally. I've had Miller and the chinese machines. If you can front the money, definately get the Miller machine. The chinese machines have come a long way but if I were using it as a means of making income, I would not get the chinese machines.

 

Paulzy-
This is not by any means a form of living for me. I run a basic performance shop after hours (marketing during 9-5) and only need something for making inter-cooler piping kits, and end tanks for cans. I do have the 2,000$ to spend however, I feel like the 700$ and leaving me 1300$ could buy a lot more for the "fabrication" portion of my shop. I definitely understand the , you get what you pay for theory, however I was always wondering if the Eastwood would do the same for the light welding I do. I suppose Ill do a bit more research, anyone on here used both?

 

I've made intercooler pipes, intake manifolds, downpipes, catch cans, a large array of parts on my own cars and quite a few others and have yet to have a problem out of the machine its self. Eastwoods customer service is awesome to say the least

I had my torch hose leak due to a split, so I called them and they put through the order to send me a replacement under warranty. the package came in, and it was replacement electrodes for their Plasma, which I also have and love, like $80 worth. I called them and told them the mix up, they sent me the replacement hose and told me to keep the electrodes

 

TIG Welder | TIG Welders | TIG Welding ? Eastwood TIG 200 AC/DC Welder

Lets say I order this, does anyone mind giving me insight on besides a tank, what I need to order to be up an running, I know its a pretty vague, but essentials on being setup I am no familiar with. I have always welded with someone else station already set up.

 

obviously, your going to need rod, but don't get it from them as their price is inflated. go to Ebay, there are a lot of sellers on there for really good prices. when I bought my welder, they were using Red and Green tungsten. both in my opinion, suck on this machine. I now use light blue (2% Lanthanated) and they are awesome, I use them for stainless, aluminum, and mild steel. I also upgraded from their standard Wp-17 torch to a WP-17F (flexible head) so I have that adjustability, as well as a large gas lens set. again, I got all of that off ebay cause their prices are awesome. the torch and gas lens came from china, so it took a little while to get here, but otherwise the quality is great

 

so for the basics, the welder, a tank and gauge set, upgraded the torch and I have a set of ss and al filler rod left from the previous fabricator in my shop.

 

the welder will already come with a gas regulator...you don't have to get the flexible torch, I just find it nice when welding in awkward places. but the big thing is getting the right tungsten, or your welds will look like ****

 

i recently purchased the eastwood welder you are asking about and i think it is great for the price. i would agree the torch hose is not the best but that is an easy upgrade of you dont like it.

also make sure you have a dedicated wheel on your bench grinder or some kind of sander to sharpen the tungsten.

if you do end up going that route check out eastwoods ebay site. the welder was a bit cheaper there after adding in shipping and tax on their website. ebay lets you dodge the tax.

Levi

 

Bought this welder last year and have no complaints with it. really like the fact it came with a 220 to 110 adapter cord.

 

i have a thermal arc 186 ac/dc machine for sale if your interested comes with argon,flexible torch ect. thermal arc 186 ac/dc tig welder lmk

 

subscribed... always wondered about this machine...

 

not to threadjack or anything but has anyone here tried any of the everlast machines? they are about the same price as the eastwood units?

Everlast 200amp TIG

damn I might just get this one anyways lol :
I already have a snap-on welder with tig but it is scratch start and dc only, so maybe not. the first one has ac though

 

If you were to get that, I'd change out that electrode holder, Multi-position is so much better to use...

 

If I wanted to get a Tig welder I would get the Hobart EZ-TIG 165 same as the miller diverison 180 but for way cheaper

Hobart EZ-TIG 165i TIG Welder 500551

I think its well worth the extra money over the eastwood tig welder

 

if you are beginner and you cant do whatever you need to do with an everlast 185 tig you won't be able to do it with a machine $1000-4000 more. The machine is excellent wih dinse connectors, post flow adjustment ,120/240 dual voltage , and it has adjustable balance and frequency....the diversion doesn't. Diversion comes with a cheap pedal that is not the quality heavy duty pedal that comes on the dynastys, the torch is HARDWIRED. You can take a torch right off a dynasty , change the gas fitting and plug it into the everlast because of the universal Dinse connectors. I can't say anything about the quality of service or failure rate yet but so far my machine has been good for hobby work. Not my video but you can see a miller dinse go into the everlast machine

 

I recently picked up the Everlast. Im learnign how to Tig with this machine and I've been able to lay some pretty decent weld with it so far. I was havign issues with Aluminum but it was my fault for using the wrong Tungsten. Ordered some Lanthanated and Pure to try out with aluminum stuff but the Red Thoriated works well on the Stainless and mild steel stuff I've been welding with the machine. I like the foot pedal for learning but the finger switch is nice if you need it. I am also switching to a number 9 flexable torch per a recommendation from several people will make like easier and smaller torch for tighter places too.

I purchased the Tig to learn and be able to weld my own cage into the car and be able to do most of my own welding work to save time and money overall. Below a couple pics, not at all stellar welds, like I said I'm learning

this is my first dump tube weld on stainless steel with 3/32 308l filler rod



This is my first flat edge to tube weld, no filler rod just metling the tow pieces together here

 

Made a weight bar for my car last night, Starting to get the hang of this Tig welder.

 

Been almost 6 months and haven't even got to lay a bead down with my machine yet, which is the same as the Eastwood (longevity 200SX). They tried to make me pay shipping to fix their mistakes. After shipping it back on my dime, they took a long time to diagnose it and just decided to send me a new machine. Low and behold, the new machine uses different connectors than the original machine I received from them. They then wanted me to pay for shipping to send their torch, ground, and pedal back to so they can get me the right ones. Asked for a refund if I shipped everything back since it's been so long and haven't even got to use the damn thing yet but was shot down as well. Lesson Learned. Longevity will not be getting my money anymore. Been such a long *** headache. I will be buying a Miller and will not hesitate.

On the other hand, I have a brand new flex head size 9 torch for the Eastwood/Longevity 200 machines if anybody is interested. It's made by HTP and comes with 12' super flex cable. $90 shipped. Can't use it on Longevity's new connector.

 

Pick one up from Eastwood. Their customer service is excellent and you wont get the run around like you got from the Longevity company.

 

Update: Eastwood 200 on the way! Ordered last night. Thanks for helping me everyone and especially Turbo-Ls for the pics. I was pretty much sold after wards.