TIG Welder Suggestions

Sorry if this has been hashed to death, but even after Googling the subject, I seem to be more confused than resolved as to which TIG rig to consider.

I'm looking at TIG primarily for one project - to build an aluminum dock approximately 40' long and 4-5' wide. I'm going to use 1x3x.125 6061 box channel for the framing members, and 3/4" solid rod and box for the strut supports.

I will probably find all kinds of things to weld with TIG once I have it, but for now, the savings on the dock will more than pay for most AC TIG units I've seen out there.

Portability is probably a good thing, but I can hoist a heavy rig into my pickup if I need to.

1/4" is probably the max I'll need to weld, but more likely it will be 3/16 and less. Or, I can do the 1/4 in more than one pass if need be.

Most of my welding today is done with an HTP 160 unit, and that has served me quite well, even when I needed to weld 3/8" plate.

I don't want to sell myself short, but I don't want to waste the savings on machine settings I'll never use. I have about $2000 to spend, give or take a couple hundred.

As always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Reply to
Rick Chamberlain
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Rick, I recently purchased a miller syncrowave 180 sd and i love it. I dont have alot of experience (compared to others here) but it's a nice easy machine to work and has nice features. The downside would be the weight (and the power draw). It's about 220lbs so carrying it around could be troublesome, and you will need about 60 amps to run it. If you planned on using 3/16" to 1/4" stock, a 230 volt machine (that does AC) is what you want. Ernie will (probably) tell you to get the Thermal Arc Prowave 185TSW inverter. (better choice) It weighs about 32 pounds instead of 220 lbs and only needs a 30 amp circuit, instead of a 60 amp circuit. Yet it has the same amperage range. You can buy the thermal arc for $1716.87 on ebay

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the syncrowave 180 for $1462.87 on ebay
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luck, walt

Reply to
wallster

I second that. New to TIG, and have a new 185TSW, and for TIG, I love it, no bad habits, and I would recommend it.

Reply to
Mr Wizzard

Reply to
bitternut

Rick, If you haven't looked at the Miller Dynasty yet that is the one you need to look at. It is pricy but if you want the ultimate aluminum tig machine in my opinion that is it. They make two versions, the 200, and the 300. The DX models have the built in pulser and sequencer. The SD models are the plain jane models. The 200Dx is an inverter machine that weighs in around 45lbs. It employs advanced squarewave arc, and you can adjust the AC OUTPUT frequency from 20 to 250Hz. If you look on ebay a new 200DX power supply only is going for $2200+ with free shipping. Hope this helps. Dudley

Reply to
Dudley

As much as I love my ProWave 185, wouldn't a dock be something where a MIG wirefeeder would be a more suitable choice? Doing a

40' dock with my prowave tig seems tedious at best.
Reply to
Aaron Kushner

I am planning on building the dock in 8' sections, fabbing it in the shop before I take it up north.

Reply to
Rick Chamberlain

HTP Invertig 201

Reply to
Jamie Arnold (W)

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