Everybody, Today I was buying some welding supplies and noticed the Lincoln TIG 200 welder. The machine is $1400.00 and it seems to be a nice machine for the price. It comes with an air cooled torch and doesn't have a connection for a water cooled torch. I don't think that will be a problem because of the welder I now use.The machine I have been using for years is an old Miller Gold Star with a torch cooler I built myself. It still works and I'm going to keep it because of the 1 to 10 amp current range on the machine which I use from time to time. I can't think of any reason why I couldn't share the cooler I built for the Miller with the new Lincoln. I could be wrong though and would like to know if I am. The Miller has a water solenoid but I have never used it because my coolant supply is recirculated. AllI would need to do is put a couple quick disconnects on each welder and the cooler unit. I could even share my water cooled torch, at least for a while, by using a quick disconnect with it. That would be easiest at first because I would only have to swap the torch to welder connection. These new lightweight welders with the pulsed DC and AC, variable AC frequency, and variable duty square wave AC make my old Gold Star look like a stone age tool. And I have seen the results of welds from these machines and like 'em. I read most of the manual for the machine and it says not to use pure tungsten electrodes. Anybody know why that is? I do have and use other electrodes that can be used for aluminum, the lanthanated type, but the manual doesn't give a reason why pure tungsten is to be avoided. Anybody know? So, any opinions anybody? Advice is welcome. I am willing to look at other machines too. Thanks a bunch, Eric
- posted
7 years ago