The Home Machinist!

Hmm, on one hand you say Lincoln, and then off brand. I should have mentioned the TIG is to compliment my HarborFreight DualMIG, which seems to have a narrow band of things that it will weld without being a bratty child. Perhaps I expect too much (in the thin and smooth department).

I did like Dave, but mine is the correct color... Blue...

And for the same reasons. Mine is a Sync 351 that arrived with 2 gallon Bernard water cooler, several torches, 50' of fine stranded leads for stick, two full tanks of Argon (1 large, 1 med, don't recall the actual sizes), Miller pedal, about 20 lbs of rods (that need baked), and several tubes (maybe another 20 lbs?) of filler all on a very nice heavy duty cart that rolls easily. Also came with a small tool box full of tungstens, caps, cups, hand pieces, gas lenses, collets.

I was looking for a large machine (Sync 200 or bigger) because I had delusions of needing to weld heavy aluminum, but that's not come to pass. Still, it's a rare thing that I feel confident stating I'll never exceed that machines capability, and I can add things like pulsers and such easily enough since it is a commercial grade machine. Trade-off is it doesn't have all the gee-whiz configurations of an inverter, which imagine would be nice, but never having used don't miss. It also weighs a tremendous amount and requires a welder rated (whatever they call it) 100A breaker to run, but I'm not complaining.

The AHP has worked out nicely. I like knowing I can carry it upstairs in one hand and TIG or stick weld in my bonus room on 110 if I feel like it.

I just hope it doesn't blow up any time soon.

Russ, what did you shell out for that thing?

$1800 for all of it, and it looks practically pristine.

So with the cost of a new circuit, even with a good deal, conceivably a different budget that Ctwo is talking about.

Certainly different price points, but the point is still valid. And I in no way intended it to say that he or anyone else should do something similar, it's more what I wanted and why as it may or may not apply to him. So while he may not want a fully loaded Sync 351, a used smaller transformer can be a bargain with less stuff (almost nothing) to fail. And the import inverters start adding up fast when you add pedals, tanks, flow regulators, etc.

Unfortunately the market for such machines here is quite high. The Sync 200 and larger routinely go for over $2k here, maybe with a cooler and bottle if you are lucky. I was casually looking for a couple of years. My S-351 was bought new and used in a home (hot rod) shop and listed at $2200, which was good enough (I thought) to get me on the phone. When I found what it came with, and the near mint condition, I was soon on the road. Then he took an $1800 cash offer and in the back of my truck it went. In other areas, I see people buying these type machines for less than $1k. And Sync-200s with some cosmetic rash and "ready to run" for well under. Just depends...

Oh, and that new (actually just upgraded from 60A) circuit was basically the new breaker and about 20' of wire pulled through the conduit. The welder plug is surface mount conduit on the wall right behind the service mount. I did a similar upgrade in my old shop to run my big RPC. Again, easy enough. It's not always necessary to run through a house and put large amp circuits into a car garage and the like.

The thing about a Miller, or Lincoln, or Hobart....is you know what you are getting.
Reliable, smooth, and 10 years from now, if something does go wrong with it, you can get parts.
You pay for that, but the machine is a 'known'.

Not that a Everlast, or AHP machine doesn't work fine, and weld fine.....they are not a 'known'. And....10 years from now....will you be able to buy a part for one?
Otherwise, CTWO wouldn't be asking would he?
He probably doesn't need the duty cycle of a 351 or even a 200. I have a Lincoln 225, and I don't need a machine that big. I seldom use my water cooled torch.
But it's there....and bigger, almost always means smoother.

$1800 bucks on a 351 with all those goodies is a steal Russ!

Bill

I would be thrilled to have a big Lincoln (the acknowledged leader in all types of welding) but I didn't feel like spending that much. Also, when you've never used a TIG machine, buying a used one is very risky, because you can't test it until you learn how to weld. I couldn't just create an expert welder buddy out of thin air and make him go with me to look at machines.

I feel like I could approach a used machine with some confidence...now that I've spent time learning on a new one.

I did look for a used machine, but I saw a lot of scary crap.

I don't have faith in AHP when it comes to parts and service, but the machine is full of ordinary circuit boards, and I have some confidence in my ability to fix it. If I didn't know anything about electronics, I would be less inclined to risk buying a Chinese welder.

If Ctwo has an expert buddy to take with him, I'd say go used, but it sounds like he doesn't.

That's the deal, and was for me.....cash!
I started out with a Linde hi-freq unit that mounted to a regular welder. On sale for $99.99.
No foot pedal. No anything, other than the box. No torch, no wires to hook it up.....nada.
And....turn on the welder, turn on the hi-freq box power and gas, and you have arc. Want to shut it off....flip your hood, and flip the switch, or pull back a foot, (which really can terrorize aluminum) and close the valve on the flow regulator. We did build a foot pedal for it. One click for gas, second click for arc, but no rheostat. A great improvement though.

We all have to live within our means....

$1800 dollars.. EEek! I paid $700 for my machine and it got trucked from San Frisco by the ready-arc company. It is a solid machine and they threw in a set of cables for a water cooled tig. You cant do aluminum without freq, but thats OK too. I have 2 suitcase machines, one is 220 and reserved for aluminum wire and gas, the other is a 110 unit that runs out to the drive way. Between them I can handle most anything that comes along. So by the time you add bottles n regulators and rod boxes, the total goes up real quick. So I think you are in the ball park of good enough.

I bought a Bernard cooler off of ebay but that is another horror story.

The 350LX here is listed for six grandages. Miller XMT 300 $900, but I'm not sure it can do what I want. It's got a busted knob and looks to have been dragged behind a truck. It's probably beauty under the covers.

There is not much else. Oh yeah, I, like Steve, would appreciate the portability of a smaller machine.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sss ... r&sort=rel

warmstrong1955 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:42 pm The thing about a Miller, or Lincoln, or Hobart....is you know what you are getting.
Reliable, smooth, and 10 years from now, if something does go wrong with it, you can get parts.
You pay for that, but the machine is a 'known'.

Not that a Everlast, or AHP machine doesn't work fine, and weld fine.....they are not a 'known'. And....10 years from now....will you be able to buy a part for one?
Otherwise, CTWO wouldn't be asking would he?
He probably doesn't need the duty cycle of a 351 or even a 200. I have a Lincoln 225, and I don't need a machine that big. I seldom use my water cooled torch.
But it's there....and bigger, almost always means smoother.

$1800 bucks on a 351 with all those goodies is a steal Russ!

Bill

Why worry about buying parts for a 10 year old machine. Buy a new one for and you still have less money into the off brand than the brand name. Will there be parts available for the 10 year old brand name? Maybe, maybe not. Companies are in business to make money, not be nice to customers.