Yeah im lookign to upgrade, my little 110 mig although extreamly usefull, wont cut it for aluminium work i want to do, the stainless manifold i want, or the heavier stuff that my mig wont even properly weld in a few pass's

Ive got a budget of 2k im willing to spend aslong as i can find a way to finance it (im finding excuess to build more credit being the bank says, welll i don thave enough)

The miller econo tig caught my eye being they list it for 1900 on miller's site and just some quick ebay seaches showed a few ebay stores selling them for 1500'ish

Anyone got some suggestions?

 

I have a dynasty 200. I personally swear by inverter machines for home use. Way smaller and easier to get around.

 

Agreed, save a bit and get a inverter if you can, as you can move it around anywhere and plug it in anywhere. Inverters have only one inherent risk over transformer style machines. The older style welders can last forever. For instance most of my welding is done on a old 1970 400 amp lincoln. Runs like a champ. Inverters are a bit more prone to have gremlins over time. That said buy a inverter if possible. A good place to start is to look for companies that sell equipment from closures. Ie auction houses etc. or even drive around and find welding shops and see if they have any used equipment to sell. As example, I picked up two 300amp welders, two carts, two pedal assemblies, two coolers for $1k back in the day. All I needed to buy at the time was a torch and consumables. Not too bad.

 

can the dynasty do AC? I though that was only a DC machine and therefore not really suitable for AL. If you're looking at the econo tig, why not bump it up to a Sync 200? I picked mine up for $1900-2000 a few years ago. My first TIG so I can't really compare it to anything but I have never had a failure (touch wood) and I've never had anything that I couln't weld. It has alot more options than the Econo Tig as well not to mention I got the roller version which I don't think is offered for the Econo which is needed as the Sync 200 is a 440lb machine. I needed my hoist to get the damn thing out of my truck

 

Yes a dynasty does AC,DC etc. AL is fine. The Syncro's are great and will run forever, they just cant be plugged into any random outlet and aren't exactly portable.

 

i was actualy told by a friend to get a syncrowave, but i thought they were much much more. if i could get it for under 2k id do it.

ill have to start looking around

 

I run an Econotig at the house and I'm very happy with it. Haven't run into anything it couldn't handle, although I've come close on some of the thicker aluminum.

 

how thick? miller's website says 3/16's max

 

I'd say 1/4" comfortably. We've done an overlapping weld mating a 1/4 plate to an intake manifold. That was the limit. We've also used it to shorten the runners 1.5" on a 5.0 manifold. That was a hefty chunk of aluminum!

 

Your bigger issue with AL will not be thickness, in a lot of cases it will work well. You will find it hard to weld tanks onto a core though, as the core becomes a giant heatsink.

~S~

 

The solution to that is preheating the material with a torch. Takes a lot longer, but the results come out good.

 

Or DC and Helium.

 

I picked up a Miller EconoTIG a year or two ago for $1150 used, it has worked great ever since. Now that I have been welding for a while, I wish I had more power and features. My next welder will definitely have a water-cooled torch, pulsing, cleaning balance, and at least 250 amps.

 

miller synchrowave 250 for me, handles everything I need it to do. Pretty big, but its next to my welding table, so I don't have to move it.

 

i swear by my lincoln Tig 225. Id trade my dyno in in a heartbeat for this welder. I do alot of stainless work, building turbo manifolds, and also wide tire kits for bikes. It welds alluminum and stainless w/ no problem. Its got an adjustable auto phase that keeps the metal cool as you weld, and it keeps the arc pretty straight for you... helps you weld like a pro!