Lotos welders/plasma cutters

[kunkernator]

I know a lot of people grabbed the Lotos plasma cutters around the holiday season, and have had success with them. But has anyone had any experience with their welders?

Specifically I am looking at this little machine.

http://www.uwelding.com/50-Amp-Plasma-Cutter-200-Amp-TIG-Welder-Combo-p/ltpdc2000d.htm

It has dual voltage support, plasma cut, tig, and stick. I have always wanted to learn to tig weld, and also would LOVE a plasma cutter. The stick welding feature would be a plus.

There are MANY mixed reviews, but it seems like all the more recent ones are positive.

Anyone have any first hand experience?

 

[Provincial]

The TIG function is DC only, so you would not be welding aluminum. If that is OK, then this seems to be fine for lighter work.

I have a Lotos LTP5000D Plasma Cutter that I bought just before the new year. It has performed very well. I have cut up to 1/4" steel with it, and haven't had to use more than 1/3 of the power. I'm still figuring out power and air pressure settings. Lotos doesn't give much information on that, so you have to figure it out for yourself.

The factory air hose and fittings are leaky. I'll be upgrading to rubber hose soon.

Be sure to feed it clean, dry air. The filter/regulator that comes with it is not intended to purify your air, only to act as final protection for the unit.

 

[Moose364]

I have there LTP5000D cutter almost a year and have been very happy with it. Shop around and you can find it cheaper, I picked up mine from Newegg for 329.00 with free shipping. As far as the Tig welder part I would look for a used miller on CL that is AC-DC plus I have stayed away from the do everything machine just on the fact if it breaks you lose everything at the same time.

 

[Provincial]

I agree with Moose, plus I will add that switching between functions requires changing cables and things. This gets old and slows you down when you have to cut a little, then weld a little, repeat.

The Lotos LTP5000D and a similar TIG are so small that you can't really argue that they would take up too much space.

 

[Cryptic1911]

I have one of the LTP5000D plasma cutters, and it works pretty good, however I don't know if I would buy one of their tig welders

I bought an AHP alphatig 200x (2016 model) for $800, and it's an awesome machine. I would say buy one of those, and a cheap plasma cutter. I think you would be better off, rather than having one machine that tries to do everything

looks like the 200x is out of stock right now, but there is a refurb for like $720 on amazon

 

[kunkernator]

I do tend to agree with you guys. The thing is, I currently do not know how to tig weld, and being a home user, I very seldom will be using it. Amazon has it for $580 right now.