Thread: Hobart Easy Tig

Hey guys as u know i have had a few ac/dc tog machines and a few of you have said just stick with an advanced machine and learn the settings, i wipped out my ac tog machine the other week and remembered all but two dials arc force and another amp setting anyhow now i know the settings there is still a bit of beating around the bush setting it up for each particular job and not ruining the job

A while ago i was looking in the USA at there range of machines and i noticed this one easy peezy model i could pick up and bang out a professional weld within 2mins of turning the machine on its called a Hobart Easy Tig https://www.hobartwelders.com/equipm...ig-165i-m00246 do we sell this model in Australia? I have for years now been keeping my eye out for a used version 1 Everlast ac/dc tig as it only had 3 settings

Im the kind of guy that is itching to bang out beautiful welds but has no patients wasting gas learning on scrap mostly my down fall is complicated machines it seems to me the very basic ac tigs in Australia are a semi commercial platform which is strait over the head of most newbies and probably why a lot of people thing tig welding is very difficult

I was actually running beautiful beads on alloy on my second day of picking up a tig torch with next to no experience but i have seemingly been stuck at that bead level for many years now i suck at any position other than left to right welds

I think a machine like this Hobart Easy Tig would be like chalk and cheese in my abilities to tig weld aluminium but we as far as i can see dont have any basic machines in au other than the lotos ac tig

I must be missing something.
If you only have material and thickness settings to set - how does it work out that you're welding eg downhand and not flat and then change settings to suit?

TIG requires a higher operator skill level than MIG, so from my perspective you're kidding yourself thinking that a particular welder is going to make you instantly TIG weld perfectly in any position.
Since you've already got the settings sorted out for welding flat it doesn't sound like the welder setting is the issue anyway. Options as I see it are orientate the work so you can weld flat L-R, or invest some time into mastering the other positions.

Or, if you're after something mainly for aluminium - have you considered getting a pulse MIG?
I've been watching a couple of this guy's videos after seeing what a pulse mig is capable of at my welding supplies shop the other week. They are pretty impressive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3DG0IPZxr4

Steve

TIG looks confusing, but once you get your head around the basics, a 'simple' machine will just be a compromise on usability once you gain this knowledge.
Can help if you want to know more.

Pulse migs are becoming more accessible, but one worth using is probably going to be a $2K investment off the bat.

Steve the Hobart machine is just one dial everything is automatically calculated, my current machine has 10 dials and 4 switches so wheni grabbed it the other day i had to go back over the settings that guys on this forum have told me to pre set but from job to job weather it be clean or dirty material there is arc width i still dont know how to make it wider for instance as the bait tank i have shown before the bead was too skinny, there is i think the AC and DC balance from memory that is the cleaning of dirty material, if i had that Hobart EZ TIG i could just set one setting and go bam!! instantly there would be no looking it up on my mobile getting all kinds of information i am actually still at the point where i cannot remember polarity of my leads between the DC TIG, AC/DC TIG and the MIG for steel and aluminium

i basically love simplicity its the simple things to use in my shed that get used a lot and other things like my AC/DC tig has been used once in a few years i tend to use the mig with aluminium because of the complication in combinations of dials and settings even if one setting is off 1/8 of a setting it may throw me off totally and i have no clue and just weld like that

Keen i have the basic's down i just think the overall settings on all my machines and polarities and gas flows plus little use of my machines complicates the whole use by the time i remember something its forgotten after 2 months for instance when i bought my ac/dc tig about 3 years ago i asked on the forum for the best settings you fab blokes dialed me right in and it was spot on i took a picture of the settings so i could go back and retune to machine but lost the pic on the laptop those settings were only good for that job i was doing on clean material

if i had a very basic machine like that Hobart EZ TIG its one dial i could just turn it within 2 seconds check my lead's polarity and be welding as much as i forget stuff i am not a guy that likes to stand around relearning it all over again sadly its the case tho

Regardles of the machine, material or the position of welding it takes a bit of time and practice to get it right.

Its been about 6 months since I last ran a weld but if I had to go out and weld something now I would spend time on some scrap to dial in my very average welding abilities.
I can remember my ex-brother in-law had to spend at least 15 min every morning practicing before they would let him loose on whatever off shore gas project they were building.

A good looking weld may not be a good weld. If it has not got good penetration its just a pretty looking piece of metal.

One dial machine that auto adjusts.

To change from standard wire to hard facing then flux core followed by some aluminium wire then to make the changes itself to go from vertical up to flat weld position.

Got to have one of those.

Heres a link the machine is basically 1 switch between ac and dc, one dial does every setting https://images.app.goo.gl/tDiVJVVLafFgeBwg7

I need to pay off the air compressor than i think i will be looking for a basic ac tig i just noticed lotos welders is going out of business the next model up would be the boc ac tig as far as less settings go

Sorry, my mistake I though you were taking about a mig.

Still that Hobart is not that much different to my 20 year old Esseti.
One dial for amp adjustment. You still have to change the amps when going from down hand welding to a vertical up or whatever position.
It takes a bit of practice.

I can understand where you are coming from with these modern welders with their 10 nobs and 4 switches, they just straight out scare me. To much adjustment, I`ll just stick to me 20 to 30 year old machines.

I am actually much better at mig welding aluminium than tig welding aluminium however being a mig machine i need to be told the settings or a starting point for referance

Steve u mentioned pulse mig last time i checked about probably 9 months ago boc were the only one with a under $1000 pulse mig machine do u know of anyone else with reasonable prices? I really think my Unimig Razor Mig 200 is awesome on aluminium but its not astetically pleasing in it weld appearance but saying that i am using a 4-5m long torch and steel liner i have thought about buying a second dedicated teflon torch just for alloy welding, speel guns are pretty exy for that size machine

Bts exactly your old machine is what i want just in a new model they have made them high tech and u need a nasa degree to remember the settings and terminology

The thing with the new machines is the ..-'-.. settings on the front of the machine i have absolutely no skill in reading that format or even remembering what setting is after another unless its labelled with pictures

That symbol looks similar to my 30 year old Uni-mig.
DSC06190 e.jpg

Its for setting up intermittent cycles for tack or short weld runs or double tapping the hand piece trigger. I cannot remember the last time I used them.

I have never used a welder with pules cycles but I have heard its not a bad option.

If my migs were being used for full time ally welding I would go to a 3 m teflon lined led but as its just occasional use I just stick with standard steel setup. It works for me.


The " not astetically pleasing" comes down to more practice. Or in my case getting out the angle grinder and cleaning them up.

I am reconsidering the ac tig if my mig can do the aluminium welding i may focus on that instead and properly set up my unimig razor according to the chart inside the machine it can weld from 2mm material next is 4mm than so on..

i was in Weld Quip the other week picking up parts for my old pilot air compressor as soon as i walked in i seen some alloy welds i inquired about the welds at the counter i was told the pulse welds were done with Furonois pulse mig a $4000 machine but he said he had another model worth only $2000 but i think its capabilities may far exceed my use and i wouldn't know how to set one up

for now i love my unimig razor i will keep it untill pulse migs become a little cheaper than sell and upgrade, my tig machine may be listed shortly tho

Gaz - the pulse migs I've had a look at are around the $2000-$2500 range (200-250A single phase). Under $1000 is pushing the price point for a decent standard mig IMO so I'd be VERY hesistant buying a pulse unit at that sort of price.

That Easy TIG seems to be around USD$1500 so likely a $2K machine if you could get one here.

I get what you're saying about the complexity and forgetting stuff when you next go to use it.
Have to say I like the simplicity of my Unimig inverter MIG - they've got the wirespeed and voltage pots set up so when they both match its a workable setting. ie if the voltage knob set to 19v is at 10 o'clock, just set the wirespeed to 10 o'clock and you're right in the ballpark.

A suggestion that might help with remembering settings on your current TIG is to make a cheat sheet along these lines :
- take a photo or make a sketch of all the knobs on the front.
- Work out from the manual what each one means if the symbols are meaningless to you
- on that photo/sketch, label each each knob with your description, and a number ie 1=pre-gas, 2=upslope 3=base current 4=downslope etc.
- attach the photo/sketch to the welder - ideally laminated or in a plastic bag/pouch so you can read but it doesn't get grubby.
- play around and/or get some advice as to settings for a particular thickness/material (eg 3mm aluminium), test and make sure they work
- make a chart with the Thickness/material knob numbers, and the setting for each knob. Leave some blank spaces to write in new settings if needed.

When you go to use it - look at the chart you made, find something the same or very similar to what you want to weld and just turn all the knobs to the right numbers.
No remembering, no interpreting symbols etc.

Personally I just take a photo of a good setup using my phone, with some sort of note to say what its for or which job I was doing - but my phone is pretty much with me all the time. No point using the same approach if you need to find where your phone is first

Steve

Yeah thats where a mig welding chart comes handy inside the machine u can turn it on look at the chart and set the knobs appropriately and away u go, but with tig machines its another level of complexity, This is the machine i was looking at https://unimig.com.au/product/viper-...dc-tig-welder/ its a new AC/DC model just released but look at the settings above the big knob i find it hard to interpret those settings u need to be a welding astronaut to remember all those settings the note u said to write down would be handy i could even write those settings on the side of the machine with white texta

what unimig are u using Steve? i have the Razor 200a Mig but mine is manual select on both knobs but having the chart its a ripper i love the welder for that reason

Gaz - my MIG is a Unimig 250K inverter. Its a multi-process machine but I've only ever used it for steel MIG and MMA (stick) welding.
I've got an old Chinese 200P style AC/DC TIG (no pulse) and use that for any TIG work rather than the Unimig. Like this but without pulse https://rstarweld.en.made-in-china.c...160P-200P.html

Your Viper looks like a great machine. If you check out page 12 of the Operator's manual you'll see a good description of the functions.
Manual here: https://unimig.com.au/wp-content/upl...CDC-Manual.pdf

If you ignore pulse mode for a start and just set it to eg straight AC TIG, there is really only one main setting you need to mess with for a start - #4 - Peak amps.

I know you've said you don't like practicing for the sake of it, but my suggestion would be to start simple:
Force yourself to pretend its a dumb welder with only that one setting and concentrate on the weldING rather than the weldER. I'm sure it will reduce the complexity overload you are feeling now.

If you have a foot pedal disconnect it and put it in the cupboard.
Put away your filler rod.
Prepare a couple of pieces for an edge weld.
If you've got an idea of what the current needs to be set to, then set it. Otherwise look online or ask here for a rough setting first

Make sure your prep is good ie nice clean material and good fit up then just have at it - welding the edges together without a filler.
If you can't get a nice weld pool going within a second or so then increase the amps. If the weld pool is getting away on you then decrease amps.

If you really can't get a handle on it with the aluminium, grab a couple of bits of steel sheetmetal, switch to DC TIG and get a feel with that before going back to the ally.

I'm not a welder, and the only formal welding training I've ever had was basic oxy-acetylene and stick welding (at high school and first year trade school). I did do a lot of oxy welding fixing up my old car as a teenager so I'm pretty comfortable with that - so to me TIG is just oxy welding with an electric torch.
Maybe I was fortunate to start using TIG when the welders were simpler than they are now....

HTH

Steve

Steve Thanks, That Viper is the welder i was looking at buying down the track seeing there is no simpler models in Australia, The tig machine i have now is exactly the same as your AC/DC tig which has to many options