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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    Default DC inverter MMA/TIG Welder for under $500

    Hi all, I have been considering for some time to buy a DC inverter welder. I have only ever owned very old AC arc welders and don't plan on getting rid of my goodwell Aussie made anytime soon. But some Time ago I had the luxury of using a small DC inverter welder with low hydrogen electrodes. It was beautiful while my AC welder struggled to star t and maintain an arc.

    So why make things harder than they need to be?! I don't Want to spend a fortune but looking around I should be able to get a half decent welder for less than $500.

    I have been looking at unimig razorweld 180.

    I was also looking at tokentools miniarc 200 STL which looks very impressive with a 5 year warranty and the best duty cycle I have seen in a welder for under $500. It was on special for $379 but they are out of stock and will be replacing it with a much more expensive model. Their cheapest machine is now over $700 and so out of my price point, sadly.

    Any other suggestions?

    I'm thinking the razorweld 180 with a 3 year warranty for $329 is my best bet so far. Happy to pay a little more if it means a better machine.

    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    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.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
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    Default

    Perhaps just clarify for us Simon - how much TIG are you planning to do with it. I have a secondhand weldskil unit (130A) which was around $150. It is TIG capable but that's scratch start TIG with an independent gas system. If you want HF start, that's more, as is an integrated gas control valve.

    Michael

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    Melbourne
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    Hi Michael. I have never done TIG in my life but I'm kinda interested in giving it a go so I would prefer to purchase a machine that will be capable.


    Edit: Due to my lack of knowledge regarding TIG I think i did not answer your question adequately.

    The unimig razorweld that I'm looking at has DC lift arc as standard. I would need to buy the torch and regulator as separate options.

    Furthermore my reading has me thinking that t this machine is a re-badged basic which apparently are a decent machine.

    I hope this answers your question.
    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    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.

  4. #4
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    Aug 2008
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    near Rockhampton
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    Default

    Yes Unimig machines are Jasic. Whether they are designed in Sydney and made by Jasic I do not know.

    My only experience with unimig is with a plasma cutter which I am really happy with, but unimig have been around a long long time. I am also toying with the idea of getting into tig welding.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Tasmania
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    257

    Default

    Disclosure - I'm no welder.

    I've got the Razorweld 180.

    I'd been looking for an ac/dc HF machine with remote but didn't pull the trigger on the EOFY sales so I'm now not in a rush. Given I'm supposed to buy a house I balked at spending $1500-$2000 to get all set up. But by chance I found the Razorweld 180 in cash converters missing the electrode lead. Got it for a great price and went down to Total tools and bought a 17V tig torch for $60, a stick lead for $50 and an argon reg for $60, cheapest I could find locally. And a few other bits like rods and tungsten. Argon D size bottle from Bunnings ($200 deposit, $99 for the gas).

    (https://www.totaltools.com.au/weldin...ugs-mtortlifs2)

    All up I got going with a DC lift tig set up quite cheap to see if I like it and will use it much. The lift start is a nice feature and works well. Of course it would be great to have HF and button and remote but this has been a good learning point and will allow me to work out if I want to sink more money into an AC machine.

    Anyway, my tig skills need a lot of work but it looks very capable. Hopefully it will just get better as I practice more. What surprised me with tig is gas usage, more than I really thought but I think it will be ok for the little delicate jobs I plan to do.

    The bonus is the MMA. I have an old CIG AC machine which works ok, but the DC inverter on this thing is great. Makes me look like a good welder and has plenty of grunt and it just holds an arc so easily. I'm loving it. Wont be using the AC machine again.

    So this was never going to be the welder I was going to buy but I ended up with it and to be honest, I really it. If it keeps working ok I'll be happy. Still have thoughts about the ac and remote machine but for the moment I'll hold off and see just how much tig welding I'll do. I can get out of this machine again quite cheaply if I decided to upgrade. For your purpose you could probably do worse than one of these.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    Mackay North Qld
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by simonl View Post
    I was also looking at tokentools miniarc 200 STL which looks very impressive with a 5 year warranty and the best duty cycle I have seen in a welder for under $500. It was on special for $379 but they are out of stock and will be replacing it with a much more expensive model. Their cheapest machine is now over $700 and so out of my price point, sadly.
    That's a real shame. I have the same model T T welder and I love it. Also the other good part is that Token Tools are the best at after sales service. They go that extra mile.

    Grahame

  7. #7
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    Aug 2011
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    Melbourne
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    Default

    Ok. I was about to pull the trigger on a Unimig Razorweld 180 stick/TIG Welder for about the $330 Mark when I stumbled on magnum welders.

    They have a 200A DC stick/TIG Welder for roughly same price. But they have 4m leads instead of 3m and more importantly they have a 60% DC @ 200A as opposed to the unimig's 20% @ 180A. Huge difference.

    Same 2 year warranty.

    Any good/bad first hand experience with Magnum welders?

    Simon



    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    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.

  8. #8
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    Aug 2011
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    Melbourne
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    Crickets.....


    Well today I pulled the trigger on the magnum welder. It looks like a nice welder.

    Can't wait to give it a go when it arrives.

    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    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.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Kyabram. Vic
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    632

    Default

    Hi Simon

    A bit late with a reply; but you should not go wrong with the magnum.

    I have a quite expensive Unimig plasma, which soon after the warranty expired decided that the only arc it would have is on the electrical board. I bought a Magnum cut50 as a replacement. It has not missed a beat; even after long periods of not being used. Rather plain but functional and does the job. And about 1/4 the price of the Unimig.

    I have found that Unimig aftersales help is absolute crap. I contacted them looking for a replacement wirefeed for an industrial unimig 250amp mig. No answer and I located the wirefeed at HPI welders in the USA. They rebadge the same welder as HPI and still sell the same steel cabinet today. 7 days later had the replacement and 3 weeks later unimig decided to email me suggesting I drive 200+km and speak to one of their sales outlets.

    Ken

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
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    Only just saw this - I've only seen Magnum at field days - a few years back I noticed that one of their MIG machines looked *exactly* the same as my UniMIG (case, knobs and front panel) but for a different paint job, but then again, I've seen the same machine with other branding. That said, the guts of the machines may be made to varying standards (i.e. you can save $15 per unit in BOM costs by using lower grade capacitors etc).

  11. #11
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by RustyArc View Post
    Only just saw this - I've only seen Magnum at field days - a few years back I noticed that one of their MIG machines looked *exactly* the same as my UniMIG (case, knobs and front panel) but for a different paint job, but then again, I've seen the same machine with other branding. That said, the guts of the machines may be made to varying standards (i.e. you can save $15 per unit in BOM costs by using lower grade capacitors etc).
    Yep, components like caps and IBGTs are pretty important, as are the sizes of heat sinks and the way the cooling is handled.
    IBGTs that can handle high currents, hence higher temps and longer duty cycles can cost a lot more.
    Any component or circuitry that involves "smarts" needs to be hardened as welding environments can be electrically noisy.
    An example of beefed up cooling is the fan on my Total Tools MMA/TIG machine which pumps out a lot of air.
    Unfortunately it makes more noise than I would like it too but I'm reassured that it's helping to keep things cool.

    Same applies to VFDs.

  12. #12
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    Aug 2008
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    near Rockhampton
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    Default

    The magnum stuff seems to be good, but I would take all duty cycles with a grain of sale.

    They should click out before anything gets too hot.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Sydney, NSW, Australia
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    I bought the Unimig 180A ARC/Tig welder i already had a 17 size tig torch from my older Mechpro DC tig welder that i no longer use, The Unimig 180 is a absolutely weapon for a very cheap welder the power is so smooth and very predictable the higher the amperage the better it welds i have used it from 40amps thru to maxed out 180amps using the machine at 40amps its hard to strike an arc for instance i had a seized bolt on a outboard the bolt was a six mm with the head snapped off so i can see it was quiet a tiny bolt i was trying to arc on however using the welder to weld steel 8mm to 10mm its flawless i even used 3.2mm filler rod i absolutely love this machine below is one weld i done with it on the 8mm and 10mm steel i think i dipped the tungsten from memory my bad, i have never hit the duty cycle and i was stopping briefly maybe 2mins than lighting up again and going

    i have used this machine a few times now and love it very portable its tiny and doesn't weigh much cannot say that for my Unimig 200A Mig that thing in the bag weighs a ton and i really dislike getting it out and carrying it around, For steel the little 180A is the welder to grab

    site says pic to big i uploaded it online here


    upload

    This weld i was shaking badly i just could not control my hand and arm


    upload

  14. #14
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    Aug 2011
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    Melbourne
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    Glad to hear your happy with Unimig. I think if I chose the unimig welder I would be too but anyway I liked the idea of a family owned welding supplies shop so I decided on them.

    I have heard just as much good stuff about them as unimig so I rolled the dice.

    Can't wait to try out a DC welder after using an AC transformer welder for 20 years that I can barely move!

    I may even look at converting my goodwell welding into an RPC which I have heard people do.

    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    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.

  15. #15
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    Jun 2007
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    I have the unimig AC/DC 200 and I am quite happy so far. The bottom piece is 1/2" thick, the vertical is 1" and machine is set at 140amp just on DC with no pulse. I really like the HF start on it, it has the argon valve incorporated into the machine and you could set pre-gas and post-gas, also finish amp where it reduces the amp when you get to the end to stop undercut/blowing hole

    20190812_203032.jpg

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