Is this a good deal on a TIG welder?

[jeryst]

I don't know how to weld, but always wanted to learn, and I have always though about picking up a small unit to play around with. Anyway, I was talking to a guy today that has a TIG welder for sale. He got it from a business that he used to work for, and he used to use it on a regular basis.

The thing is HUGE! It is an industrial model, and is about the size of a washing machine, and weighs somewhere between 300-500 pounds. It does TIG welding and regular stick welding, and I think he said it is a 300amp, or something like that. IT has features like "soft start" with fingertip controls.  It is a Lincoln, and from the looks of it, it is probably from the 70's or 80's because it doen't have any digital readouts or stuff like that.

He wants to get rid of it because he wants a more portable model since he is getting involved with a company that does repairs on truck when they break down on the road. He wants $600 for it, and i was just looking for opinions.

BTW, he even said that he will teach me how to weld if I buy it.

[422STROKER]

Make sure that it is of a usable Voltage.  I.E. 240 or 208V Single Phase.  Unless you have 3 Phase power available at a shop.  There are very few houses that have 3 Phase power in the house.

600 bucks for a beast like that sounds good.  Will let you weld most anything, I think the 600 is well spent if He can teach you how to use that thing properly.

Tom

[ntstlgl1970]

If it has the current capability that you are stating, and you can use it, it's a good deal. The only thing is, do you have the AC service to run it? With that much current output in a transformer based TIG machine you will need a 80-100 amp 220V dedicated service line to run it. (If the welder is wired single phase). Definitely you need to spend some time researching what this welder is (model/serial number) first. There should be some specs in the area of where the power cord connects to the machine. If it came from a business location, it could be wired for 3 phase power, which most people won't have access to at home. You could run a rotary phase converter, from 1 to 3 phase, but then that's more money and you still would need some pretty serious power to run it. If it is a 3 phase machine, the value goes down accordingly.

just my  - unless you plan on working with a lot of thin aluminum or exotic ferrous metals, it might be better to invest this money in a good MIG machine.

[jeryst]

He said that it is single phase, and that it will work with 220v or 480V (Not sure about the 4something, but I think he said 480). He was throwing a lot at me, and I only understood about every other word.

[jeryst]

BTW, I found one exactly like it on eBay. It's at $200 with no bids and 2 days to go.

[Topcat]

Tigs are great but I have heard that Tig welding is more sensitive to dirty or rusty metal to weld with. I.e...old sheetmetal on old cars.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but thats what I read recently.

[ntstlgl1970]

I agree with TC. On TIG stuff, I spend about 2x more time in prep and cleaning than doing the actual welding if you want it to come out nice. For aluminum it is about 3x. Another thing with tig is that part fit up is critical for good welds. It is pretty tough to fill gaps using the TIG process (unlike MIG).

As far as the pricing you see on ebay, I think the prices reflect the fact that no one wants to ship anything this big. Search craigslist, it might give you a better idea of what they are going for in your area...

Here are some specs I found for a similar model welder since I didn't know the year, I picked one newer than 71 that looks similar to the one in the picture you posted - check the input ampre specs, 95 and 122 with the power filter and more if it doesn't have the power filter.

[buzzard]

If it can be used on 480 it is most likely a 3 phase machine. And one mans opinion it is easier to do body work with a mig.That is a lot of machine. You can get a small wire feed for $600. A 300 amp tig will have a water cooled torch head so you may require a watter source also. Good Luck

[matt63]

One of the big advantages of tig is better control for intricate work.  Our welder showed me the basics and I spent a bunch of hours welding up some fenders.  It is a lot more enjoyable than mig or stick welding IMHO but do you need one?

[ksierens]

   I learned to weld with a torch, which I loved because you had better control, but it produces way too much heat, so a TIG is much nicer because you can control the heat and the wire feed yourself, but I have only used a MIG when I did all of the welding on my car.  It is much faster, and more forgiving than a TIG welder, oh and there is less cursing because you don't have to re-grind the electrode when you stick it to the metal. 

If you need nice welds, the TIG is the way to go, if you are just welding in patch panels, I think a MIG is a better fit, just my 

[matt63]

If you can only have one machine then the MIG is the way to go.  There are multi-process machines but they are not cheap!

[jeryst]

The unit is water-cooled, but he said that if you are just using it here and there, you don't need to hook it up.

Do I need it? Well, like I said, I always wanted to learn to weld, because a couple of my friends do it, and it just seems so convenient to be able to fix things that break, create new wierd tools, etc. I have all kinds ofideas for things floating aroudn in my head, and it would be nice to be able to actually create them. Every time I need something, I have to go to someone else, and either ask for a favor, or pay for it. Kind of like my pickup. I got tired of always bugging my friends to use their trucks, so I went out and bought a cheap, $900 4x4. I only use it maybe 1 or 2 times a month, but it's there when I need it, and I don't have to depend on anyone else. I'm not a bodyman, and never will be, but I though it would be nice to get good enough to replace panels, do patches, etc on my own vehicles in order to save money.

I don't really know what all of the different types of welders are good for. Along the way, I guess I kind of got the impression that there is some type of pecking order going from worst to best: 1. Torch welding, 2. Arc welding, 3. MIG welding, 4. TIG welding. Since this is a TIG welder, I just figured it would be the most versatile (Again, my own, demented impression). Seems to me, though, that most of you guys are leaning toward the MIG as the all-around unit of choice.

[ntstlgl1970]

 
I think the biggest consideration is if you have the power to run the thing and the floor space for it and whatever accessories it will come with. Do you have enough service amperage in your shop/garage to run this thing? It would suck to buy it and then find out you need to do a huge service panel upgrade in your house/garage to handle this monster. Most newer homes don't have over 150A service for the whole house. Older houses even less.

If your shop or garage only has a 30A dryer plug or 50A welder plug, there is no point in even looking at a transformer based TIG machine.

If you want to play around with a welder, there are places you can rent them for a week or a month so you could see what you like. http://www.red-d-arc.com/

[buzzard]

 Check out a Lincoln Power Mig 140C $605  I have used these machines. For what you are doing they are great. A used one would cost about $300 in good shape.

[jeryst]

I think the biggest consideration is if you have the power to run the thing and the floor space for it and whatever accessories it will come with. Do you have enough service amperage in your shop/garage to run this thing? It would suck to buy it and then find out you need to do a huge service panel upgrade in your house/garage to handle this monster. Most newer homes don't have over 150A service for the whole house. Older houses even less.

If your shop or garage only has a 30A dryer plug or 50A welder plug, there is no point in even looking at a transformer based TIG machine.

I don't think the service would handle it, but a couple of years ago, I picked up an old mobile military generator, the kind they used to power MASH units with. Water-cooled Hercules four-cylinder. Has settings for single, dual, and triple phase. I think the voltage goes up over 500v. Quite an impressive piece of machinery considering it was built in 1945, and it still runs like a top. I figured it would have enough juice to run the TIG.