What to look for when buying a TIG Welder

[coolwelder62]

You can always start w/something smaller for now until you really master the task of tig welding.Keep the machine waxed & super clean.And when you are ready upgrade,some in the same pos. you are in now will be willing to step up buy your machine to save a little dough and maybe the sale's tax.Call the local welding supply store has any demo's you might score a few bucks off retail.the Lincoln sq,wave 225 is a great machineat a resable price.I have a sq.wave 275 awesome,Also have a miller 200DX I use it for roll cages and super thin sheet metal.

[LowchevyII]

Originally Posted by Ketzer

I have the 250dx. I did exactly what you are, shopped, waited, and stashed my lunch money for a good deal. Bought mine off ebay from an out of business ice machine company. Watched it for a month before they finally dropped the price. It's very low hours, tons of extras, and I paid half the price of a new one. It is big, heavy and old school but definately not underpowered.
I can flip the switch and make sparks but no dime stacking yet...


Jeff-

Well good to see the deals are out there. I'm just so anxious hahaha. But no rush here, i'm not stacking dimes yet either lol.

Originally Posted by coolwelder62

You can always start w/something smaller for now until you really master the task of tig welding.Keep the machine waxed & super clean.And when you are ready upgrade,some in the same pos. you are in now will be willing to step up buy your machine to save a little dough and maybe the sale's tax.Call the local welding supply store has any demo's you might score a few bucks off retail.the Lincoln sq,wave 225 is a great machineat a resable price.I have a sq.wave 275 awesome,Also have a miller 200DX I use it for roll cages and super thin sheet metal.

Some definite good ideas here. I cant wait till i can snag myself a 200dx and am good enough to build a roll cages and stuff. I'll cruise over to Grainger and check some stuff out. See what sort of deals my brother can get being that his company is a supplier for them so they get stuff at cost just so I can see what im in for money-wise.

[ccm399]

I think Greg is right in the long run.... however as a Diversion 165 owner I can tell you that there is something to be said about buying small and stepping up later. If you go this route though be sure to buy good equipment as the resale value will likely be better when you are ready to step up.

So having typed that... I must admit there are times that I wish I would have waited and saved for the Dynasty. I have not yet really needed more machine but I KNOW I will need more machine some day. I did get a really good deal on the Diversion though so I couldn't pass it up.

Don't count the smaller machines though. I have done some pretty large repairs with my little Diversion. Well, larger for a 165 amp machine the Miller Sync 250 I used to run would have not even broken a sweat on any of the jobs I have done at home.

I do like the arc the inverter machine puts out though and I can only imagine how well the Dynasty works!

Chris

[cheby2]

Some excellent advice and points made here !