[DavidR8]

Hey @nethergate
Cost me about $100 CDN to have my welder shipped from New Jersey to the West Coast of Canada.
You’d be hard pressed to find a more accommodating company than Primeweld.
UPS basically lost my welder so Primeweld shipped another via FedEx, no questions asked.
The first finally arrived and Primeweld paid return shipping on the second one.
7 day a week customer service.
Above and beyond in my books.
When I buy a plasma cutter it will definitely be from them.


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[Nethergate]

Thanks for then replies, postage to Australia is $250 which makes it $1500aud, so about the same
As the 200amp boc one.

I’ll have to do a bit more research, I’m hesitant to spend big bucks because I’ve never tig welder before so it might be beyond my skills, I’ve always wanted to try though


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[DavidR8]

For what it’s worth, I’ve never done it before these beads. But I’m hooked!



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[TraditionalToolworks]

Thanks for then replies, postage to Australia is $250 which makes it $1500aud, so about the same
As the 200amp boc one.

Would that include duties to AU? I don't know if that would be a concern or not. If it includes the duties I would say that's not a bad deal considering it comes with a genuine CK 17 flex head torch, comes with a decent SSC style pedal, has a regulator, stinger, ground and has a 3 year warranty, and can weld to 225 amps (those 25 extra amps are useful for aluminum).

I’ll have to do a bit more research, I’m hesitant to spend big bucks because I’ve never tig welder before so it might be beyond my skills, I’ve always wanted to try though

I understand the hesitation, it really does depend on how much you use it as tig welding is definitely an investment. That goes for needing an argon tank, a way to sharpen tungsten, having grinders, cut-off wheels, saws, etc...there's more to fabricating than just a welder. However, whatever you decide to get, get the best welder you can and then worry about those other needed accessories. You can probably find some local, used.

If you do decide to go tig, AC is pretty useful, but not a deal breaker, IMO, so you might be able to find a DC Tig welder for substantially less. On the WTAT podcast Jody was mentioning recently that him, Roy and Jonathan had been talking recently and said the one thing they all felt was the most beneficial to improving tig welding skills was practicing running beads on aluminum. But as I said, aluminum shouldn't be a deal breaker, you can run beads on steel also, it's just that aluminum is more difficult and their implication is that it will improve your overall tig ability the most for all metal. AC comes at a substantial cost though, and why I say to consider a DC Tig machine. I bought one first myself. A small stick welder is pretty useful to get yourself familiar with running beads, that's something to consider also. A heck of a lot cheaper accessories wise. The small Amico stick welder might not be a bad way to go, I think it has lift tig capability, but not AC.

Something like this, you could pick up a lift tig torch later.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Unimig-Razo ... SwSlNetdoQ

[Nethergate]

Thanks for the info, I’ve had an old transformer welder for years m, have a grinder and tube bender, I’ve done a fair bit of fabbing and I love it. I’m no boiler maker but for your average garage warrior I think I’m pretty good. I’ve built roof racks and a trailer, i love arc welding and will have to see if I can get a few more cash in hand jobs (or cash for handjobs) to possibly get the prime weld unit.

Forgot to mention, aluminium is the only reason I’m wanting tig

Thanks guys


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[Nethergate]

For what it’s worth, I’ve never done it before these beads. But I’m hooked!



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Looks like your on the right track mate!


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[sbaker56]

If you're patient you can learn to Tig, It's more frustrating if you can already weld with another process because you're more aware of how lacking your skills are but if you practice it'll just start to click all the sudden. You wouldn't expect to walk into a job as a boilermaker or pass an X ray pipeline test without hundreds or thousands of hours of practice. You shouldn't worry about stacking dimes right away either.


One reason Jody recommends practicing on aluminum isn't just because its harder, it's because it doesn't build up a new layer of millscale that will utterly destroy subsequent welds after the first pass. A wire wheel won't always take it off, a hard rock or flap disc can't get into the corner of a fillet or around the edges of a bead without grinding a groove.

That being said, I decided aluminum wasn't worth it for me currently either. If you're not a professional, you're probably not going to need to Tig weld aluminum very often and if you have a Mig machine running a spool gun may be a better choice in those instances anyway.

Generally I've found if you use something a lot you'll appreciate having more than you needed and find a way to use the extra capability. I wouldn't worry about getting AC in any machine smaller than 200 amps personally. You'll run into issues with the duty cycle and not always have enough heat to weld aluminum anyway.

[smithdoor]

The welding machine is more work you plan to do.

When had shop I used large transformer type with 100% duty cycle.
Today I small at home shop so a small mig welder.
If I want to do tig welding I would buy a tig welder for work and would not buy a all on machine. Just more to go wrong.
Less electronic better just think how many cell phones you purchase in last few years.

Less electronic less headache try to weld

Dave

Hi everyone, I’m just chasing a bit of info on what welder to buy. It’s only for general home use, I have an old cigweld easyweld and I haven’t been happy with how it’s been working, I borrowed a cigweld weldskill 180 and I love it, I was going to jump right in and buy one at $350 it’s a nice machine, the only thing that’s holding me back is I would love to try welding aluminium, I’ve never tig welded and from what I’ve read it’s best to get a machine than can ac tig, but at $1700 for a transarc I’m not sure i can get that past the minister of war and finance.

The other option I thought was get a 3 in one welder and try and mig weld it, I don’t have a specific project in mind, I just like fabbing my own things.

Any input would be good
Thanks James

[Oscar]

Just more to go wrong.
Less electronic better just think how many cell phones you purchase in last few years.

Less electronic less headache try to weld

I only buy new cellphones if I break the screen. My current one is going on 3 years. There are bad multipurpose machines, there are decent multipurpose machines, and then there are excellent multipurpose machines. I would put any of mine up against any machine that has the same duty cycle rating for a given process.

[smithdoor]

I think I had mind cell for 4 years
The welders I had past my crew used ever day for 30 years and worked till sold everything off.
It hard to find anything that will hold up that well today they were made USA.

I only pass along what has work the best for me.

It sounds like you great machine how made this great welder???

Dave

I only buy new cellphones if I break the screen. My current one is going on 3 years. There are bad multipurpose machines, there are decent multipurpose machines, and then there are excellent multipurpose machines. I would put any of mine up against any machine that has the same duty cycle rating for a given process.

[Oscar]

I think I had mind cell for 4 years
The welders I had past my crew used ever day for 30 years and worked till sold everything off.
It hard to find anything that will hold up that well today they were made USA.

I only pass along what has work the best for me.

It sounds like you great machine how made this great welder???

Dave

I only buy new cellphones if I break the screen. My current one is going on 3 years. There are bad multipurpose machines, there are decent multipurpose machines, and then there are excellent multipurpose machines. I would put any of mine up against any machine that has the same duty cycle rating for a given process.

I don't understand your question the way it is written.

[Aaron W]

I have a multiprocess machine, the Miller 220AC, I love it, a perfect machine for me and my tiny shop. That said I don't think a MP machine is the budget way to go about things, a MP machine is more about space budgeting, not saving money.

The Miller 220 is $3000 US, if I just wanted to TIG I could have gotten a similar name brand TIG / stick machine and saved $800-1200.

If you still are interested in a MP machine, I ran into a couple of issues as I had no intention of spending as much as I did on a welder. A lot of the MP machines will require a "TIG package" adding hundreds of dollars to the price. Many also only do DC TIG, so can't weld aluminum. I was originally looking at the Miller 215 and Lincoln 210MP, but after adding the TIG equipment I was over $2200 and neither of them is AC so I wouldn't be able to weld aluminum. At taht point I was either going to buy a mid-range MIG welder ($1000 +/-) or go off the deep end and spend a lot more than planned (I went with option 2).

Since you want to weld aluminum make sure the machine you buy does AC TIG, a lot of the more budget friendly machines are DC only, and it can be easy to miss that they don't do AC since they don't exactly advertise what a machine can't do.

Sorry that I can't offer suggestions on specific machines, but I only looked at Miller, Lincoln and ESAB, and I have no idea what brands you have available locally "down there".

A really great "minister" should have said "as long as we can afford it and its what you really want/need, thats fine".

That is the reply I get and why she still holds the job after 21 years.

[sbaker56]

People bring up a good point, nothing wrong with a multi process machine if you don't own a dedicated welder, but they almost all end up "lacking" for the price point on the TIG side.

[smithdoor]

who made your welder

Need proof read my post The autocorrect and small keyboard not good combo

Dave

I think I had mind cell for 4 years
The welders I had past my crew used ever day for 30 years and worked till sold everything off.
It hard to find anything that will hold up that well today they were made USA.

I only pass along what has work the best for me.

It sounds like you great machine how made this great welder???

Dave

I only buy new cellphones if I break the screen. My current one is going on 3 years. There are bad multipurpose machines, there are decent multipurpose machines, and then there are excellent multipurpose machines. I would put any of mine up against any machine that has the same duty cycle rating for a given process.

I don't understand your question the way it is written.

[DavidR8]

That is the reply I get and why she still holds the job after 21 years.

Pretty much the same quote here... "If it's what you need then you should get it."
Safety gear is an automatic "Yes"

[Oscar]

who made your welder

Mine are made by Stel, who in the past has made machines for Esab, and other "companies" all over the world as well.

[smithdoor]

Looks like a good welder

Dave

who made your welder

Mine are made by Stel, who in the past has made machines for Esab, and other "companies" all over the world as well.

[Alex Jordan]

Hello all,

I just joined the group today to gather info. This thread seems very relevant to my research.

Without hijacking the thread, how does the Miller Multimatic 220 hold up to the test of time? I know it has been out for 2 years now, I saw a positive response in this thread already.

It seems to be a pretty good multi function machine as far as reviews are concerned. The drawback being the high price.

Thanks all,

Alex

[Nethergate]

Hey everyone, I just bought that Michigan ac dc tig, hasn’t come yet though, I’m just wanting to know are tig torches generally interchangeable between units and do all cups fit all torches or do I need unit a specific torch with torch specific cups? I could only find plasma cutter cups not sure if they are the same. Also having trouble with finding pure argon, or is all argon the same?

Thanks in advance

James


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[BugHunter]

Hey everyone, I just bought that Michigan ac dc tig, hasn’t come yet though, I’m just wanting to know are tig torches generally interchangeable between units and do all cups fit all torches or do I need unit a specific torch with torch specific cups? I could only find plasma cutter cups not sure if they are the same. Also having trouble with finding pure argon, or is all argon the same?

Thanks in advance

James

Congrats on the new machine. No the Torches are not all the same, each different Series has different parts and they are not interchangeable. Be careful about which ones you buy. For what will appear no apparent reason you will find things like Tig cups that are $8 a 10 pack or $60 a 10 pack. For instance the gas lens cups that I use are super cheap.

[Nethergate]

Ah thanks for that, I’ll have to try and find cups to fit when it comes. Thanks for the info


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[Oscar]

Ah thanks for that, I’ll have to try and find cups to fit when it comes. Thanks for the info


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Go to welding city.com and download their pics for your own personal use. They have excellent diagrams for you to learn about TIG torch series/parts. That being said, CK and WeldTec/TecTorch arguably make the best consumables.

[Oscar]

Hello all,

I just joined the group today to gather info. This thread seems very relevant to my research.

Without hijacking the thread, how does the Miller Multimatic 220 hold up to the test of time? I know it has been out for 2 years now, I saw a positive response in this thread already.

It seems to be a pretty good multi function machine as far as reviews are concerned. The drawback being the high price.

Thanks all,

Alex

I havent read any horror stories on it. The price is very reasonable for the machine, in fact that's cheap for all it can do. If your wallet doesn't agree, might be time to settle for individual welders at a lower price bracket from other manufacturers.

Also, be weary of the new MDX MIG consumables, as I've read they are not readily available aftermarket since they are new, so you have to pay Miller a lot of money for them.

[Aaron W]

quote="Alex Jordan"]Hello all,

I just joined the group today to gather info. This thread seems very relevant to my research.

Without hijacking the thread, how does the Miller Multimatic 220 hold up to the test of time? I know it has been out for 2 years now, I saw a positive response in this thread already.

It seems to be a pretty good multi function machine as far as reviews are concerned. The drawback being the high price.

Thanks all,

Alex[/quote]

I've had mine about a year, I'm a hobby user so it hasn't had a ton of use, couple of small projects, but I have had no issues at all. It welds better than I can.

The welding class I've been taking has one as well. The instructor uses it as his demo machine since it can do all three processes without having to change machines / stations. My first class was in January 2019 so he must have gotten one of the first ones. I talked to him about it before buying mine and he thought it was a really nice general purpose welder. I was taking TIG welding this past spring so he now must have 18 months on it teaching high school welding during the day and the college welding classes at night, plus summer classes and he still thinks it is a really good machine for the size. Most of the machines in class are bigger Miller 252 MIG, and Maxstar 280 TIG, with a variety of tombstones and thunderbolts for stick.

I have a friend who also bought a 220 last year, and he is also happy with it, I know he has dome more as well as bigger projects than I have.


Not to shill too hard for Miller, but it is literally two welders in one, you can switch from MIG to either TIG or stick instantly just, put down one and pick up the other and it will go right to the last setting for that process. I can't think of a situation where I would really need to jump back and forth between MIG and TIG or stick, but you could. The more important part of that is I guess some of the multi-process machines just try to make a TIG welder MIG (or maybe a MIG welder TIG) and I guess that electronically the demands on the welder are quite different for the two processes.
The 220 is basically a Miller 211 and a 200A TIG welder (specs are not quite up to the Maxstar 210, but are a little better than the Diversion 180) crammed into the same case.

Price wise the ESAB multi-process is the same price, so to some degree I'm sure you are paying for the brand, but it is a nice machine. In fairness I also have a friend who bought one of the Harbor Freight multi-process machines and he hasn't had any issues or complaints and he paid a lot less than I did.

Hey everyone, I just bought that Michigan ac dc tig, hasn’t come yet though, I’m just wanting to know are tig torches generally interchangeable between units and do all cups fit all torches or do I need unit a specific torch with torch specific cups? I could only find plasma cutter cups not sure if they are the same. Also having trouble with finding pure argon, or is all argon the same?

Thanks in advance

James


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Hope you like the new machine. Not sure on the gas, I just go to the welding supply and ask for a tank of argon, and they give me one. I've been running CO2 for the MIG side.

[BugHunter]

Not to shill too hard for Miller, but it is literally two welders in one, you can switch from MIG to either TIG or stick instantly just, put down one and pick up the other and it will go right to the last setting for that process. I can't think of a situation where I would really need to jump back and forth between MIG and TIG or stick, but you could.

Perhaps not so much in the hobbyist world, but often you'll tack with a MIG and then TIG the weld, or the reverse, or tack with the TIG then Stick weld, or who knows. Whatever process gets the job done I guess.

On my Miller I can switch from AC to DC with the press of one button, and all the settings for that weld type are just as they were left. I find it very nice when for instance, I use AC for a relatively specific use, but then DC is used for all sorts of maintenance stuff where the settings are all over the place. I don't need to mess with the AC settings when I put it back.

It's a really nice feature.