Welding advice needed!

[Jack Black]

I've been mig welding for about 4 yrs now and want to jump up to a tig welder, but don't know enough about them to make an educated decision. It will be light fab work on 3/16 aluminum and 1/4 steel plate at the thickest. My budget is only $2000. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Unchained]

$ 2 k will get you a real nice one.
I sold a couple older (70's) Miller TIGs for $ 500 each and they worked fine.
You should be able to find a real nice used one for $ 1500.00
I have a Miller Syncrowave 351 that is a great machine.
As far as TIG welding goes, Stainless is the easiest to weld because its such clean material.
Aluminum is more difficult because it's like welding on a heat sink. You will want around a 250 to 300 amp torch to weld aluminum with about a 1/8" tungsten.
Get a water cooled torch with a radiator cooling unit.
For welding steels you run straight argon gas.
For aluminum you can get a premix 75% argon / 25% helium that helps heat up the material a lot better than straight argon.
It takes 2% thorated tungsten for steels (red) and pure tungsten for aluminum (green).
Have fun.

[Blown 472]

Do those set ups have a high freq start and AC??

[Unchained]

It takes continuous hi-freq and AC to weld aluminum.
Most any TIG welder is going to have it.
On some machines there is a set of contact tips inside that are arcing to give you the hi-freq.
For steels you just use hi-freq start so it will jump the gap from the tungsten to the work. Otherwise you would have to strike it like a stick welder.

[Blown 472]

It takes continuous hi-freq and AC to weld aluminum.
Most any TIG welder is going to have it.
On some machines there is a set of contact tips inside that are arcing to give you the hi-freq.
For steels you just use hi-freq start so it will jump the gap from the tungsten to the work. Otherwise you would have to strike it like a stick welder.
I would like to have that, I have a miller xmt but cant weld alum with it. :cry:

[wsm9808]

I have the Miller Syncrowave 250. It is a very good machine and should do anything you would ever run into for a home or most shops. I didnt get the water tank and pump with mine, it is just hooked up to the water line and the waste cooling water goes down the drain, (if I had it at home I would drain the heated water into the pool).
We weld aluminum heads daily at my shop with mine and it has been in service for around 6 years now. It is plenty of machine to weld aluminum heads and all but the thickest aluminum materials, BUT, it is the smallest machine I would buy for welding heads.
It also has stick welding leads and you can stick weld with either AC+ or - ground rods, it switches with the flick of the levers from one mode to the other.
The 351 Unchained has is a very nice machine and is a step up over mine. And like he said, be sure and get a water cooled torch.
Scott

[Jack Black]

Thanks Unchained!!

[Lavey Huffer]

I bought a Lincoln Precision tig 275 after I had a cheaper Miller Econo-Tig and it is a world of difference.
It is very controlable the arc is super stable torch is water cooled and I also purchased built in pulse control that makes it much easier to weld very thin gauge material.
In my opinion it was worth every penny,but it also depends how much you weld and what you want to weld.
Tig has to be clean just like any other surface you are going to weld but it is also very sensitive to contamination grease ,solvents ,and as far as I know it is not possible to tig weld galvanized.So keep your MIG handy for the dirty work.
I looked at the miller tig machines and felt the lincoln had more features for my money,it also ran at lower amperage compared to the miller.It welds @ 5 amps ac
2 amps dc and it will run up to 375amps dc....I think I'm covered..I hav'nt welded above 150 amps so far (1/8 in aluminum)
If you want any more info let me know

[Kindsvater Flat]

I have a little 300 amp Miller. Old school welder. I have had it buried welding 1/2" alum in a single pass.
http://www.v-drivevideo.com/mike/weld3.JPG

[Lavey Huffer]

time to bury the welder.....jk