Hi,
I've got a mig welder set up primarily for steel (w CO2/Argon tank), but I've wanted a Tig welder for sometime. Ideally this Tig welder could handle up to 1/4 aluminum plate, although less could be okay. Any recommendations? Duty cycle does not need to be high(just a home shop), but needs to run on 220v single phase power.
Thanks Chris
Can't tell you which machine is best, but be aware that 1/4" AL will take some serious electric circuit. I ran 50 amp 220 to mine and this is not large enough. I'll be moving my Lincoln stick/TIG machine to a 100 amp circuit.
Karl
Thanks, I was afraid of that. I have a 50 amp service as well.
To weld 1/4" aluminum with TIG requires at least a 250 amp machine, but
300 is more like it. A Miller Syncrowave 250 maxes out at 310 amps, and I can tell you from experience on mine that it will do 1/4" aluminum, but it does need a 80 amp circuit of 220 volt single phase to do that.If you went to an inverter, like a Miller Dynasty 300DX then you could run it from a 50 amp circuit, but the machine would cost you around $4500.
It would be much simpler to run a spoolgun off of your MIG and simply wire feed your aluminum.
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If you don't mind busting yer ass (pre-heating, tig'ing on bricks, tig both sides, etc), a Miller Econotig can eke out 1/4", but you really have to bust yer ass. Fillets would be out of the question! Does stick AC/DC, tig. Not true high freq, but a decent facsimile. Groans on 3/16, OK on 1/8. Overall nice machine. $1300 ten years ago. 50 A OK. Post on SEJW.
Oh, you're sunk! I have a Lincoln Square Wave TIG 300, and it can just barely weld 1/4 Al, acording to the manual - I've never tried anything that big (yet). You will probably need Helium gas to get higher heat, too. And, a 70 A minimum feed for just the welder, and 90-100 preferable.
Jon
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