I am cnsidering a tig welder. My main interests are welding aluminum, steel and stainless, in thicknesses up to 3/4 in, mostely repair and small shop fabrication projects. I have a big-a**ed stick welder for the heavy work on steel.
Questions:
- The choices seem to be between the transformer welders and inverter welders. I know that generally inverter types have lower duty cycle. Other than that, are the as reliable? Has there been a problem with blown power semiconductors?? Is the ability to weld (within the capacity of thre machine) similar for transformer and inverter supplies?
2 I presume that if one tries to exceed the duty cycle for long, the machine will trip out on overload/thermal protector... How does this effect the weld in process?? Will an abrupt termination of the weld mid way result in damage/ruination of the parts, or does one merely commence welding again when the machine cools down? Can one extend the duty cycle by adding a fan to cool the inverter supply?
3 Some TIG welders claim that HF is not needed because they output square wave power or other means to start the arc, Are the non-HF types as easy to use/start as the traditional HF equipped ones?
- Almost all of my welding jobs would be of short duration - a couple of minutes. Would a water cooled torch be needed or is air cooled sufficient
- I have noticed some off brand TIG machines on Ebay, mostly inverter types, i.e. an outfit called Smiley Tools which makes a combo tig/Plasma/ARC unit typically providing 120 or 150 Amps to the Tig torch. The unit looks like an inverter. There is a similar unit by MITECH. These units sell for under 00. Is this a strictly you get what you pay for situation?? Has anyone out there seen or used these units? I presume that they all are made in China or thereabouts.
Thank you in advance for your comments.