Need TIG welder with pulse, what would you recomend?

[misterfixit]

Some background: In about 1982 a very nice shop teacher at the Jr High, where my father was principal, took a shine to me and let me hang out in the shop after school while I was waiting to go home with Dad. I was a year or so away from being in Jr, High but he started teaching me a lil about welding. By the time I got to High School, I was taking all the Ag classes I could, including Ag Mechanics. Welding was part of all of those classes. Fast forward to graduation and I found myself with a new wife and a need for a job. I got on at a stainless steel cafeteria supply manufacturer as a weldor. There I learned TIG on the sheetmetal table tops and drawers we made. A few years later I got on with a fire department and had my own workshop at home. I bought a Miller TIG/Stick welder and still have it.

I say all of that to say that I've been welding for a while, and currently have a TIG welder that I use semi-often. But, I have need to weld thin tubing, .045"-.125" thickness. The welder I have is big and has a heavy transformer and welds smooth, espcially at higher amps. However it struggles a bit on the low end.

So, my ask is for recomendations on a new TIG welder, one with AC/DC capabilites. I don't mind paying for it, but hate to pay more than I have to. I'm not so much into budget machines, but I also have a small inverter stick welder that really impressed me. It's no larger than a loaf of bread but I've built 2 metal buildings with it. I know that my knowlege of new welders and inverter technologies is small, so what would folks recomend for a decent quality TIG welder with pulse capabilites?

 

[American Locomotive]

Decent quality with good support at a decent price? Get an HTP Invertig, IMO. Second runner up might be something like an AHP Alpha TIG, but I think the Invertig is a better quality machine.

The Lincoln and Miller entry level AC/DC TIG machines are now outrageously overpriced. You used to be able to pick up a Lincoln Squarewave 200 for $1400, and it was an absolute screaming deal. Now the same machine that was released almost 9 years ago costs $2800. Same with the equivalent Miller Diversion.

 

[kctgb]

My question to you is why do you need Pulse on a tig? I’m a certified weldor in many areas, I don’t need a pulse tig.
If you want good support stay with Miller/Hobart or Lincoln. I have a basic tig welder, I can weld aluminum cans together. Your old transformer tig machine were never really good for thin material. Do you really need a more expensive tig? Practice and learn some skill. My uncle welded pipe in nuclear power plants with a scratch tig rig. He never could get use to a foot pedal. I’ve been down the Chinese welder road for support. Never again!

 

[slowtwitch73]

I have an HTP and like it.. use it on .035 and less

 

[loganb]

Primeweld 225 seems to get strong reviews and as long as you're on Facebook they rave about the involvement of the manufacturer in the Facebook group for support when needed. It's top of my list when I run out of other rabbit holes to jump down and need a new one....which could happen tomorrow or the next decade...time will tell

 

[misterfixit]

My question to you is why do you need Paulse on a tig? I’m a certified weldor in many areas, I don’t need a paulse tig.
If you want good support stay with Miller/Hobart or Lincoln. I have a basic tig welder, I can weld aluminum cans together. Your old transformer tig machine were never really good for thin material. Do you really need a more expensive tig? Practice and learn some skill. My uncle welded pipe in nuclear power plants with a scratch tig rig. He never could get use to a foot pedal. I’ve been down the Chinese welder road for support. Never again!

As you said, the old transformer machines don't do the thin stuff so well. I don't know that I need pulse. What I know i need is very accurate controlled lower amps for very thin metal.

 

[kctgb]

As you said, the old transformer machines don't do the thin stuff so well. I don't know that I need pulse. What I know i need is very accurate controlled lower amps for very thin metal.

What transformer welder do have?

 

[misterfixit]

What transformer welder do have?

Miller EconoTig

 

[whateg01]

As you said, the old transformer machines don't do the thin stuff so well. I don't know that I need pulse. What I know i need is very accurate controlled lower amps for very thin metal.

0.045 isn't what I would call very thin metal. Not thin enough to require pulse. That's not saying that pulse capability isn't nice to have, even at that thickness. Just that it's not a necessity. Just about any inverter machine is going to do better on thinner stuff than your old one. I'm happy with my square wave 200, but it is limited when stick welding. Fine with 7018, not so much with 60xx.

 

[kctgb]

I have the Hobart version of this miller, it’s a transformer welder. When my eye sight was better I could weld aluminum cans together. Pulse isn’t necessary on the thickness you are welding. If you’re welding that material all day than pulse would be nice.

 

[no704]

This will be bashesed. But I have a HF Vulcan 205 I believe. Has many functions and <1k$. Been happy with it so far. Going on 2years.

 

[kctgb]

This will be bashesed. But I have a HF Vulcan 205 I believe. Has many functions and <1k$. Been happy with it so far. Going on 2years.

I’m not going to bash you or criticize you for buying a Chinese welder. I weld professionally, I need welder support now when my welder goes down. I can’t be on the phone trying to repair a Chinese welder. When an air plane builder calls me to weld parts for him I have to be ready.

 

[jetlag]

I could have bought a used Miller Dynasty for about what I paid for a new import tig welder. That's where I'd start. For thin material, its hard to imagine one with better arc control at low settings.
I bought my Miller 252 used,and its brilliant. As long as you can fire it up and lay down a couple of beads, I'd not be afraid to buy a used Miller or Lincoln from their better models.

Next on my list would be the HTP invertig

 

[Wamsutta]

I'd get some kind of machine that comes with a cooler for a water cooled torch.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Decent quality with good support at a decent price? Get an HTP Invertig, IMO. Second runner up might be something like an AHP Alpha TIG, but I think the Invertig is a better quality machine.

The Lincoln and Miller entry level AC/DC TIG machines are now outrageously overpriced. You used to be able to pick up a Lincoln Squarewave 200 for $1400, and it was an absolute screaming deal. Now the same machine that was released almost 9 years ago costs $2800. Same with the equivalent Miller Diversion.

Lincoln has come out with a Square wave 205, should be an upgraded 200. It retails for $1499.

The 200 is still listed way above that.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have the Hobart version of this miller, it’s a transformer welder. When my eye sight was better I could weld aluminum cans together. Pulse isn’t necessary on the thickness you are welding. If you’re welding that material all day than pulse would be nice.

Hobart Tig 165 is basically non-existent in New stock.

The Miller Diversion 180 is still available at a few places as remaining stock runs out. Until the end of June, Miller is offering $600 rebate on it.


The Miller replacement would be the 210 which is a full size box and the newer 212 which is the smaller "carry" size welder. Off the top of my head, the 210 is $3300-3400 with a $300 rebate until end of June. The 212 is around $2800 I think.... No rebate available.


I believe I am close on that pricing as I have been looking....dealer,web, FBMP

 

[American Locomotive]

Lincoln gas come out with a Square wave 205, should be an upgraded 200. It retails for $1499.

The 200 is still listed way above that.

Wow! I had no idea they just released that. It has a much better duty cycle than the Square Wave 200, and the $1500 price point is aggressive.

It seems to have everything OP wants, at a good pricepoint. It's got TIG pulse, AC balance control, frequency control and post flow control.

If OP can find one, that would probably be the machine I reccommend. Good job Lincoln for recognizing the changing market. No idea why the older machine costs so much though.....

 

[NUTTSGT]

In my thoughts, Lincoln is paying attention, ITW isn't as Hobart has no offering in AC TIG. I firmly believe, the import welder market is taking a large share of the market from Brown, Blue and Red.

Lincoln SQUARE WAVE 205 TIG Welder K5613-1

Lincoln® Square Wave® 205 TIG Welder K5613-1The Lincoln® Square Wave® 205 is a 205 amp AC/DC TIG welder that operates on 120V or 230V input power, and features advanced TIG pulse, AC frequency and AC balance controls. It comes with a full-color 4.3 inch LCD display with easy-to-understand user...

store.cyberweld.com

 

[NUTTSGT]

Hopefully these show up.

 

[dr_clyde]

I'd be very tempted to go with the Lincoln 205, that's a pretty outstanding deal at $1500.

I had the predecessor, the SW200, and I sold it not because it was a bad machine but because I replaced it with a Maxstar for what I was doing with it.

The older SW200 had a few gripes, primarily the low end. It wouldn't start an arc below I think 30 or 35 amps, which is too hot for the thin stainless I was doing lots of.

Obviously the duty cycle and the component quality is where they cut corners on these machines, they're not designed to run in a production environment. But for a hobby shop, this isn't a problem.

FWIW, you don't NEED pulse to run thinner materials. It can help with managing your heat input, but thin metals were welded for decades with simple transformer machines. Lots of intricate and incredible TIG work was done on a A/BP 330. No pulse, balance, frequency or even square wave on those bad boys. Just guys who knew what they were doing.

 

[kctgb]

Hobart Tig 165 is basically non-existent in New stock.

The Miller Diversion 180 is still available at a few places as remaining stock runs out. Until the end of June, Miller is offering $600 rebate on it.


The Miller replacement would be the 210 which is a full size box and the newer 212 which is the smaller "carry" size welder. Off the top of my head, the 210 is $3300-3400 with a $300 rebate until end of June. The 212 is around $2800 I think.... No rebate available.


I believe I am close on that pricing as I have been looking....dealer,web, FBMP

Be careful buying 200 amp tig welders. A 17 size air cooled tig torch is rated at 150 amps. It has a duty cycle. 200 amps on an air cooled 17 tig torch will burn it up in no time. If you plan on running over 150 amps you better think about a water cooled torch. Now your budget is way out.

 

[oldmachinenut]

I'd be very tempted to go with the Lincoln 205, that's a pretty outstanding deal at $1500.

I had the predecessor, the SW200, and I sold it not because it was a bad machine but because I replaced it with a Maxstar for what I was doing with it.

The older SW200 had a few gripes, primarily the low end. It wouldn't start an arc below I think 30 or 35 amps, which is too hot for the thin stainless I was doing lots of.

Obviously the duty cycle and the component quality is where they cut corners on these machines, they're not designed to run in a production environment. But for a hobby shop, this isn't a problem.

FWIW, you don't NEED pulse to run thinner materials. It can help with managing your heat input, but thin metals were welded for decades with simple transformer machines. Lots of intricate and incredible TIG work was done on a A/BP 330. No pulse, balance, frequency or even square wave on those bad boys. Just guys who knew what they were doing.

Before I got my Syncrowave 350LX my son was welding soda cans, razor blades and other thin material with my Dialarc HF/P when he was in high school. He taught himself how to TIG weld on that machine, hours and hours of practice.

 

[Firebrick43]

Miller EconoTig

That because it’s “econo”. It only goes down to 20 amps, nothing to do with a transformer and everything to do with being a budget stripped down machine.

My baby syncrowave, 180, is one step up and made in the same timeframe as your economic.

It goes down to 10 amps and can do excellent in thin sheet

 

[pancholasvegas]

I know that people don't like the "Chinese Welders," but I have a Vulcan PROTIG 205 from Harbor Freight - 120/240, Pulse, Inverter, all that ****. Couldn't be happier. If it died today, I'd drive over to Harbor Freight and pay the $1000 for another one and get back to work. Have no issues with thick or thin metal.

People here are telling you that you don't need pulse. That's true, sure, but you've already stated that you want pulse. Get something with a pulse setting - You don't need it all the time, but it's there and you can experiment with it and work it into your processes. I don't use it for everything, but I've certainly gotten use out of the pulse setting on machine, and I've absolutely benefitted from switching up the pulse frequency and various settings. It is another tool that can be used, especially if you want to mess with thin stuff.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Be careful buying 200 amp tig welders. A 17 size air cooled tig torch is rated at 150 amps. It has a duty cycle. 200 amps on an air cooled 17 tig torch will burn it up in no time. If you plan on running over 150 amps you better think about a water cooled torch. Now your budget is way out.

Thanks for that piece of advice.

I've never tig welded and have been looking for something to get into the game with. I was offering pricing insight as to what I have found. I like Hobart and since they have no current offerings in AC Tig, it rules them out of the new machine choice. That pretty much leaves me with red or blue. Blue is about out of my price range for a beginner, kind of hard to justify $3K for a tool to learn on and where the new Lincoln 205 comes into play.

I've seen a few guys on YT do reviews on Arccaptain and that thought crosses my mind but I worry about serviceability. I know where I can take Hobart or Miller stuff for authorized repairs.

 

[txvwnut]

I've been running AHP machines for 10 years and have no complaints, started with a 201 and replaced it with a 203xi.

 

[dr_clyde]

So, large air cooled torches do exist. They're cumbersome and not super handy, but they do exist. Just need to make sure the leads/connectors are rated for the amps too.

Water cooling can be done on a budget as well. All you really need is a source of cool water with a moderate amount of pressure and a place to put it. The most common way is a recirculating pump and a radiator with a fan, but that's not the only way. If you have a large enough reservoir, you can skip the radiator/fan assembly and just let the water heat up. You can weld for quite a while before you heat up 5 gallons of water to the point of being un-suitable. Then you can either wait for it to cool off or switch to a second bucket. That said, a pump off fleabay and a cheap radiator from the auto parts store plus a box fan and you're styling. A little redneck perhaps but you can get a watercooled rig that works quite well for a few hundred bucks all in if you're willing to scrounge a bit.

The old Syncrowave series and welders before that actually had a solenoid valve connected to the remote trigger (foot pedal) that was connected to an external water supply like a well or city water. It only was open when welding current was applied, and you just drained the water into a bucket or down the floor drain. I used a Syncrowave 351 for years that was set up this way. In the summer time, the hose drained out the door into the parking lot. In the winter, we filled a 5 gallon bucket that we then used to top off the coolant in the CNCs. You don't even need the solenoid valve, you could just turn the water on when you're welding and off when you're done. Obviously this is a total loss system and using tap water/well water will eventually damage your torch internals, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper to just run some water for a few minutes here and there vs buying a water cooler system.

As long as your welder has DINSE or some other industry standard connections for the torch, you can water cool your torch.

Or you can just buy a cooler for like, $3-400 bucks already built and ready to go, it just won't say Miller on the side.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Everlast has some pretty good offerings. Been happy with the two I've gotten from them and have had no issues. They have pretty good parts support as well. Priced pretty decent as well. YMMV.

 

[whateg01]

Lincoln gas come out with a Square wave 205, should be an upgraded 200. It retails for $1499.

The 200 is still listed way above that.

datasheet is pretty bare. very few specs listed. freqs? balance? pulse? amps range?

I do like the 36#, though. I don't remember what the 200 weighs, but I hate lugging it around anywhere.

 

[whateg01]

So, large air cooled torches do exist. They're cumbersome and not super handy, but they do exist. Just need to make sure the leads/connectors are rated for the amps too.

Water cooling can be done on a budget as well.

I wish I would have gone to a water cooled torch sooner. I am using a 12V pump from an RV and a 2-gallon bucket with the special water. I plan to add a radiator (heater core) at some point, along with a fan, but it's worked this way for about 5 years now. One thing I would recommend is using a different pump. I tried a different one, but it didn't have enough pressure to flow much through the fairly small hose. This one doesn't flow much, either, but it's a steady stream. The problem with it is that it pulses, which can make it hard to maintain an arc length. If I drape the lead over my lap, it seems to give it some place to move other than the torch. But the better pumps are expensive, or at least I haven't come across one at a decent price in my searches. I see procon pumps for about $100 now, so maybe one day, I'll replace that, too. For now, what I have works.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'm definitely not the OP but I have been looking and I appreciate the information you guys are throwing out there.

 

[cosmokenney]

Get an inverter machine. I don't know how Everlast stacks up anymore. But I have an Everlast 210 AMP Tig which is about 7 years old that does variable frequency, multiple wave forms, pulse, adjustable "cleaning" ratio and so on. It does okay on low power, I have welded some pretty thin stainless and mild steel with it. Of course, if I were to do it again, I would get a 250 or higher and a cooler. But that will cost a lot more than my garage budget can handle.

 

[American Locomotive]

datasheet is pretty bare. very few specs listed. freqs? balance? pulse? amps range?

I do like the 36#, though. I don't remember what the 200 weighs, but I hate lugging it around anywhere.

50-160 Hz
60-90% balance
0.1-20 pulses per second
Post-flow controls

TIG: 10-205A
Stick DC : 15-170A
Stick AC: 15-140A
100% Duty Cycle @ 130A
60% @ 160A
25@ 205A

Quite a big improvement over the 200 IMO.

 

[rbgearz]

I've had my AHP Alpha for many years now and it's never failed. Seldom use the pulse but it's fun to play around with.

 

[oldmachinenut]

So, large air cooled torches do exist. They're cumbersome and not super handy, but they do exist. Just need to make sure the leads/connectors are rated for the amps too.

Water cooling can be done on a budget as well. All you really need is a source of cool water with a moderate amount of pressure and a place to put it. The most common way is a recirculating pump and a radiator with a fan, but that's not the only way. If you have a large enough reservoir, you can skip the radiator/fan assembly and just let the water heat up. You can weld for quite a while before you heat up 5 gallons of water to the point of being un-suitable. Then you can either wait for it to cool off or switch to a second bucket. That said, a pump off fleabay and a cheap radiator from the auto parts store plus a box fan and you're styling. A little redneck perhaps but you can get a watercooled rig that works quite well for a few hundred bucks all in if you're willing to scrounge a bit.

The old Syncrowave series and welders before that actually had a solenoid valve connected to the remote trigger (foot pedal) that was connected to an external water supply like a well or city water. It only was open when welding current was applied, and you just drained the water into a bucket or down the floor drain. I used a Syncrowave 351 for years that was set up this way. In the summer time, the hose drained out the door into the parking lot. In the winter, we filled a 5 gallon bucket that we then used to top off the coolant in the CNCs. You don't even need the solenoid valve, you could just turn the water on when you're welding and off when you're done. Obviously this is a total loss system and using tap water/well water will eventually damage your torch internals, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper to just run some water for a few minutes here and there vs buying a water cooler system.

As long as your welder has DINSE or some other industry standard connections for the torch, you can water cool your torch.

Or you can just buy a cooler for like, $3-400 bucks already built and ready to go, it just won't say Miller on the side.

My Dialarc has the solenoid/city water cooler system although we never used the cooler function. We used a Weldcraft Crafter 310 series
air cooled torch and you are right about the torch size and the heavy cable. My shop is only heated (central Pa.) when we are working so this was my best option

 

[misterfixit]

There's lots of good information here. First, I don't need a water cooled torch, I'll probably never get this above 100 amps, and usually around half that. Water cooled is great when pushing big amps and with long duty cycles.
Second, the problem I have with my current machine is it's lower limit is about 20 amps. Pulse would help with this unit maybe.

Inverter's are the way to go in alot of instances. They are lighter and can be smoother. Back in the day, the way to get a smooth arc was to have a huge transformer which meant good machines weighed a ton. In fact my dad has my grandfathers old stick welder that I swore for years was a DC machine. It was super heavy and welded sooooo smooth. Turns out one day we opened it up to clean it and there was almost nothing in the case but a huge transformer. No rectifier nothing, just a straight AC machine. When welding in the upper amp ranges a transformer machine can be better than an inverter but you're talking about 150amps and up. Under about 100 amps for sure an inverter can do as well, maybe better and be smaller and more portable.

What I'm wanting is a welder capable of welding down to 5-10 amps with pulse cabability. With a high pulse amp of say 30 and a low background amp of 5-10 (i'm thinking this, no experience with pulse yet). I need a machine that can go that low. It also needs HF start. And it needs to have both AC and DC capability.

 

[dr_clyde]

There's lots of good information here. First, I don't need a water cooled torch, I'll probably never get this above 100 amps, and usually around half that. Water cooled is great when pushing big amps and with long duty cycles.
Second, the problem I have with my current machine is it's lower limit is about 20 amps. Pulse would help with this unit maybe.

Inverter's are the way to go in alot of instances. They are lighter and can be smoother. Back in the day, the way to get a smooth arc was to have a huge transformer which meant good machines weighed a ton. In fact my dad has my grandfathers old stick welder that I swore for years was a DC machine. It was super heavy and welded sooooo smooth. Turns out one day we opened it up to clean it and there was almost nothing in the case but a huge transformer. No rectifier nothing, just a straight AC machine. When welding in the upper amp ranges a transformer machine can be better than an inverter but you're talking about 150amps and up. Under about 100 amps for sure an inverter can do as well, maybe better and be smaller and more portable.

What I'm wanting is a welder capable of welding down to 5-10 amps with pulse cabability. With a high pulse amp of say 30 and a low background amp of 5-10 (i'm thinking this, no experience with pulse yet). I need a machine that can go that low. It also needs HF start. And it needs to have both AC and DC capability.

Entry level inverters are really going to struggle with that low end on the amps.

Even if they're rated for the output of 5-10, they'll usually establish the arc at a much higher amps, like, 35-40, then drop down.

In my experience, the Dynasty has exceptionally good low amp output but they're $$.

 

[whateg01]

Op stated thickness down to what, 0.045"? Don't need 20A for that

 

[dnschmidt]

Choice #! Invertig
Choice #2 Primeweld

 

[jar944]

The Htp invertig 225 would be my first choice if was buying today.