anyone used this tig welder?

[Piper]

I'm sorta kinda considering a tig welder. I already have mig and O/A but need to be able to do some "pretty" welds for some competitive wheelchairs and sledge frames that I'm going to soon be working on. Not to mention the bike frames, stainless stuff... I've always avoided in the past as I don't have a spool gun for aluminum. I read in one of my new mags (can't remember which) about this tig welder http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/diversion_165/

I'm looking for advice. The price seems good. I already have argon for my mig so that'd save a bit of $$.

Thoughts?

Piper

[Skyline]

If it were me, I would rather have a used 200 DX than that Diversion. Nothing wrong with Miller quality, but that's pretty much a non-adjustable machine. The DX has much more flexibility, can do pulse welding, and I've seen them on eBay for under $2k.

[rsanter]

you want a foot pedal and you do not want a scratch start if you are looking for pretty welds
I know someone with an econotig by miller and has been happy with it. you can also get the similar one under the hobart name. I think they are around $1300

you know you can TIG with an arc welder...right?

bob

[voidifused]

You can get a quick set up yo use off your Arc welder, but if you want to do aluminum you need to get a high frequency box to go with and you have to scratch start it.

I have one of these at home and in my booth at work they work nice you can do anything and everything in one small package and Pulsed TIG is a must for thin material makes life a lot easier.
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/syncrowave_200/

Make sure you can get a machine with square wave they run a lot smother and produce a better weld if your just starting out.

[Merkava_4]

You gotta have A/C when welding aluminum. The machine in the link says it has a High Frequency start so that you don't have to scratch start; I'm pretty sure it has an outlet for a foot pedal though. Some features such as Pulse and Saturation Control are worth considering for thin materials; you may or may not need those features. You can't go wrong with Miller; all their machines are superb quality.

[LoneGunman]

you want a foot pedal and you do not want a scratch start if you are looking for pretty welds
I know someone with an econotig by miller and has been happy with it. you can also get the similar one under the hobart name. I think they are around $1300

you know you can TIG with an arc welder...right?

bob

Please pardon the the thread hijacking. I've looked in the past on a bunch of welding websites, I can never find out what exactly needs to be done to use an arc welder to TIG. I have a Lincoln AC/DC 225, what would I need to TIG? I would need an HF box to NOT have to scratch start,correct?

[voidifused]

Here is some useful stuff to go thru maybe you can get most of the answers your looking for.

http://www.millerwelds.com/education/articles/articles15.html
http://www.thefabricator.com/AluminumWelding/AluminumWelding_Article.cfm?ID=527
http://www.robots4welding.com/articles.php?tag=653
http://www.thefabricator.com/AluminumWelding/AluminumWelding_Article.cfm?ID=686

Hope some of it is helpful to you

[ZRX61]

another good site....
http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/

[Spookrider]

The duty rate is low.

[Vicegrip]

No foot pedal as it has an integrated slide control in the torch IIRC.

[Merkava_4]

I've got just a limited amount of time on a TIG machine, but I remember hating the foot pedal control.

[Piper]

the miller I linked to on the miller site indicates that while the torch has a switch a foot pedal is a $130 option. I like the idea of the button on the torch as it may be inconvenient to use a foot pedal when you're welding upside down on some exhaust or something. Any time I see tig welding its at a nice bench and the job is 'perfect'. I just know I'll be upside down and having to hit the pedal with my shoulder sort of thing.

I guess what hit me most about this machine was that A) it's a miller and B) the price was what I had in mind. As I plan on doing lighter tig welds I kind of thought a lighter machine like this would maybe be ok. Still, I'm looking for suggestions warnings thoughts etc.

Piper

[Jared]

Please pardon the the thread hijacking. I've looked in the past on a bunch of welding websites, I can never find out what exactly needs to be done to use an arc welder to TIG. I have a Lincoln AC/DC 225, what would I need to TIG? I would need an HF box to NOT have to scratch start,correct?

if your just wanting to tig steel all you need is a tig torch, tungsten, a flowmeter and a bottle of argon.

[Motochris]

the miller I linked to on the miller site indicates that while the torch has a switch a foot pedal is a $130 option. I like the idea of the button on the torch as it may be inconvenient to use a foot pedal when you're welding upside down on some exhaust or something. Any time I see tig welding its at a nice bench and the job is 'perfect'. I just know I'll be upside down and having to hit the pedal with my shoulder sort of thing.

I guess what hit me most about this machine was that A) it's a miller and B) the price was what I had in mind. As I plan on doing lighter tig welds I kind of thought a lighter machine like this would maybe be ok. Still, I'm looking for suggestions warnings thoughts etc.

Piper

It's actually a damn nice machine. It's target is the home builder that may not need all the bells and whistles of some of the more expensive machines. It has recieved great reviews from the accomplished welders that have tried it. Yea, you don't have some of the adjustability, but it does most things VERY well.

http://images43.fotki.com/v1369/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010508-vi.jpg
http://images47.fotki.com/v1399/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010509-vi.jpg
http://images45.fotki.com/v1394/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010521-vi.jpg
http://images46.fotki.com/v1393/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010515-vi.jpg
http://images48.fotki.com/v1407/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010511-vi.jpg
http://images42.fotki.com/v1316/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010519-vi.jpg

http://images46.fotki.com/v1415/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010518-vi.jpg
http://images45.fotki.com/v1421/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010524-vi.jpg
http://images43.fotki.com/v1369/photos/3/36012/6984454/P1010525-vi.jpg

[rsanter]

Please pardon the the thread hijacking. I've looked in the past on a bunch of welding websites, I can never find out what exactly needs to be done to use an arc welder to TIG. I have a Lincoln AC/DC 225, what would I need to TIG? I would need an HF box to NOT have to scratch start,correct?

a high freq box will help but is not needed.
you need to get a tig torch and lead that has seperate lines for the electrical and the gas. doing this you will connect the leads direct to the electrical connections on the welded and the gas line direct to the regulator on the bottle. doing this you will have constant gas flow so you will have to manually turn the gas on and off when you need.
scratch start is a bad thing (espically on aluminum) so you will need to have a spare piece of tungsten that you can lay on the metal near the weld and do your 'scratch' on the tungston and drag the arc to where you want the weld

bob