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  1. #1
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    Default The very basic ac/dc tig's

    Has anyone came across any of the micro ac tig welders like the first version on the everlast micro ac/dc 185 tig? I am looking high and low cant find anything that basic

    Have seen the hobart and esab tigs in the usa but figure they would cost a lot to ship looking for something around $800 aud will import from another country

  2. #2
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    You can buy ESAB and Everlast welders in Australia, but I have not seen any AC/DC TIG welders for that sort of price.
    If you want to buy direct from the USA, consider the input voltage requirements, warranty and shipping costs.
    For me, I would only buy something in Australia to make it easier for any warranty issues.

    What sort of welding will you be doing?

  3. #3
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Com_VC View Post
    Interesting. The price is stated at $599 but if you click the "purchase outright" in the drop down box for pre-order it comes up as $499. Free delivery too!

    Seems like an OK machine, probably no where near as good as an Esab though.

    Simon
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  5. #5
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    Regarding weld quality I don't think there would be much difference. I've used both Kemppi and Chinese units before and the characteristics of the arc was similar between the two.

    As for longevity that is debatable as well, having seen $10000 machines fail well before the warranty period was up.

  6. #6
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    I bought a generic chinese 250 ac/dc tig stick plasma in 2012 for $1500. It broke 2 years later but I repaired it. It has broken down twice more but was an easy fix in the end. It was quite well made and is still going strong, but I don't use the plasma cutter now. Plasma requires high volts and high current which is very hard on the electronics, where the welder is low volts high current which is less strain. Anyway, back then (when i repaired it end of 2014) an infineon 300 amp IGBT transistor cost $450 on ebay. The same thing costs $165 now. The rest of the components (and there are a lot) won't have reduced in price though. As an aside, back then the 300 AMP IGBT was one of the biggest. Now they do 1600 for $900.

    Anyway, i would be very suspicious of the ratings on that welder in the link above. For a start, an air cooled tig torch that can handle 200amps at 60% duty cycle? I doubt you could hold onto that after 60 secs. Assuming there are no actual faulty components, the life expectancy of electronic components is directly proportional (inversely) to the temperature it runs at. With this welder, i'd be worried they have under rated so many components, and therefore they will be running very hot, so it might not last long at all. The trouble nowadays is, you just can't tell. You could pay double this and end up with the same components. Its an argument for using a respectable company, because they should specify the best components, even if it is still a Chinese design/build. It doesn't protect you because any electronics can fail and to replace a board on a miller will cost you $1500 and is it better to by 2~3 of these instead? There is no answer to what is the best solution.

    Except - I have an old school 170 amp copper transformer MIG welder, which has blown the fuse for the motor three times in 20 years, but other than that it just runs and runs and runs. Its saved me a couple of times when the inverter tig broke down, and is so easy to use.

  7. #7
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    I know most of the pcbs in the welders at work are covered in an epoxy resin, so repair is pretty much impossible. No choice but to fork out the $$$ for a new board.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Com_VC View Post
    I know most of the pcbs in the welders at work are covered in an epoxy resin, so repair is pretty much impossible. No choice but to fork out the $$$ for a new board.
    I'd imagine that's topicalisation, ie they spray the boards with a lacquer to stop problems with humidity. It doesn't actually stop you replacing components but makes it harder. The power components (which is most of what a welder does of course) would not be epoxied because of the heat they generate. Anyway, the chinese ones can be repaired - but there are no service manuals. I got mine from PinnacleWholesales and it was out of warranty when it broke. Pinnacle put me onto the electronics guy who repaired their welders (Pinnacle used to be one of the biggest suppliers of chinese welders in Australia apparently). I used to work in a test room repairing many types of electronics and I just wanted a service manual. The guy just laughed and said there was no manual. All he did was swap complete boards. In fact its a bit of a myth they can't be repaired. The boards do have discrete components and can be repaired but without a service manual, its very difficult. Its one reason I prefer the welder to have knobs rather than one knob doing everything, It means you don't need logic to control it. There are hardly any IC's in my welder, its all discrete components. its not rocket science, but it has high power and expensive components. I spent time researching how welders work on the internet and took the thing apart. It was not designed to be taken apart. It was quite well made, except for one thing. They obviously sourced the cheapest components on the day, for circuits to be cheap as possible. I don't mean they used the cheapest quality components, but rather than buying one component that the original design used, they obviously had got other components that could do the same job cheaper but had to be added with the use of fly-wires at another location if they were too big for example. This was quite a problem, because I had to cut maybe 30 wires in order to dismantle the thing. The original design used decent quality connectors between PCBs, but these add-ons were just added haphazardly with individual wires all over the place.

    I kept track of how long it took me to repair the thing, including researching expensive welders, eg miller and the like, which you can often find diagrams for. That gave me an idea of what each section was and what it was doing. I kept track of the time and including the research and the hassle in stripping/reassembling the thing, it took me 40 hours to repair. That's the real reason they are not repairable, think what that would cost if you were charged by the hour. Also, no company would risk that time in case they couldn't find the fault. This is the same for almost anything electronic now and there are fewer and fewer people that would even know how to repair something now, other than to swap boards.

    There used to be a company in the UK that had done what I did for mine, only they had gone through all the main brands and had even gone so far as to disassemble the ERPOMs so they could repair control circuits (I know they do not use EPROMs now but I forget what they are). They would repair your welder properly then, but I don't know if it was any cheaper to the customer than buying a new board. I remember that you sent them the welder, and they would give you a quote (right up to the price of the new welder) and if it was too much, they would offer to keep your welder (presumably as spares) instead of you paying their inspection fee and for freight back. It made me wonder if they really just swapped boards same as everyone else.

    In the end, I think it cost me about $70 in parts but I had to find equivalents for some parts, which were not available. I was lucky it wasn't the control board that was faulty because without a diagram that really would require a bit of luck to find faults and would be very tedious.

  9. #9
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    Hey guys i didnt see the reply's untill now, i just got home from picking up a Weld Something Aussie ac/dc tig for $350 it needs a new switch crazy the seller was using it with exposed button wires on the torch and the wires were only swisted on no solder will try upload pics i was told it was purchased 12 months ago the seller was getting a new kemppi machine

  10. #10
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    Here is the welder the seller replaced the switch after it had failed than it failed again and i bought it i inspected the unit and the seller said "come to think of it it did break down after i replaced the switch"
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  11. #11
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    So have you seen or got it working?

  12. #12
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    Hey Com this will be my second AC/DC Tig i have another one out in the shed but both machines are a little advanced for me so if i can get this one working i will sell both and buy a Everlast or one of those ones u linked to earlier or i may import one from China

    the seller said this machine was working great he showed me a nice piece he welded with it on alloy probably a good 40cm bead around a job he said than the switch went bad so he replaced it than the new switch broke and was repaired as pictured, in the pics u can see the bare wires

    the machine turns on selects all settings but when i was testing it it would arc for 3 seconds than go out and if i let off the button than push the button again it would light up again instantly i think it is the bad wiring on the switch

    i will pull the switch off cut and restrip the wiring and solder it than solder it onto the tabs and see how it goes
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  13. #13
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    This is the machine i want for its simplicity it has ac balance and ac frequency, guys on this forum have told me before focus on the welders i have but i only weld once every few months so i forget all the settings and there are to many variables within those settings so this basic machine should allow me to focus on my welds
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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2009au View Post
    Hey guys i didnt see the reply's untill now, i just got home from picking up a Weld Something Aussie ac/dc tig for $350 it needs a new switch crazy the seller was using it with exposed button wires on the torch and the wires were only swisted on no solder will try upload pics i was told it was purchased 12 months ago the seller was getting a new kemppi machine
    If the seller bought that 12 months ago, they certainly didn't buy it new. That is a Weldmaster TIG 200P. Weldmaster have been out of business for well over 5 years I reckon. Don't despair though, it is yet another Chinese knock off, so parts will be available with a little digging. Items like torch switches are generic,so no dramas there. I can't say you got the bargain of the century though.

  15. #15
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    Your right Karl its not a bargain i thought by seeing the switch that was the problem i tested the switch and cable with a multi meter and it looked ok the switch was a bit iffy and it would turn on and off as i wiggled it so i cut the wires and touched those together and the machine would still only run HF for 3 seconds than stop

    whats my best way of going about this sell it or put it in for repairs?

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