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I had been looking at a low cost TIG welder. This one with electronic configuration, pulse welding, ability to store 20 configs (there are 8 or 10 parameters for each) seemed like an interesting unit. I don't know its compatibility with different torches.
But the reason for this post is they have $120 off and yesterday had an extra $25 off for Father's Day and free shipping. Just...if you were thinking of getting it...
My questions is about torches. It comes with a 17F (Miller now calls that an A150 for 150W). They have a 9F, https://www.eastwood.com/mini-9-tig-...etal-plug.html (Miller calls it an A120 now). They sell the 2T/4T hand switch separately: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-ti...connector.html; They Both with 14ft hoses. Can another brand stubby, pencil etc. torch be mounted on the hose? What about a 20 (A80, 80W), or 26 (A180, 180W) torch?
Torches often come with a hose, often 12 or 25ft. But they all have different hose connections than the Eastwood. Haven't found an adapter. It doesn't come with the
From online comments, Eastwood provides better support than most/all of the Chinese imports in this price range and is probably the best of them to begin with. A pro making their living off it would have a Lincoln, Miller, etc where local service is available.
If you look at other units in this price range (say under $1200-1500), the TIG pulse welders typically have individual knobs and not all of the configuration options. And the issue of support. Eastwood is a major (the major?) player in restorations (we have a '38 Buick).
If anyone is following this thread and has insights or experience, how important is water cooling of the TIG torch? Water coolers are not that expensive ($400-$600, simple in construction) but require a water-cooled torch and hoses. The connectors for that are most widely available supporting Dinse solid or gas-thru connectors. The power line runs in the water return instead of gas flow. I have no hands-on here (just a MIG welder), but in reading up on it I find lots of comments like: "Most fixed location tig machines end up getting water cooled torches sooner or later, as hands fry."
Water cooling is a nice add-on, but you can definitely get by without. If your machine duty cycle is higher than the torch can dissipate with air cooling, it can be useful, but I've always just taken a short break and come back when the torch has cooled.
Water cooling is a nice add-on, but you can definitely get by without. If your machine duty cycle is higher than the torch can dissipate with air cooling, it can be useful, but I've always just taken a short break and come back when the torch has cooled.
Thanks for your response. It sounds like you are in agreement with the comment I posted: sooner or later water cooling is nice and useful. It also allows for smaller torches. A -20 water cooled is the same size as a -9 gas cooled but can take 230A, more than most small machines on a 240V circuit. A -24W has the current capacity of a -17 gas cooled.
But the key here is some current machines won't be easily upgraded to water cooled because of their connectors if they can handle water cooled torches at all.
A similar situation may exist for the control input. Microswitches for 2T and 4T operation and torch wheels/sliders for current control are widely available, but connectors are usually for Lincoln or Miller. If the small machine uses a unique connector the choices could be more expensive if available at all. It looks like the new generation of machines is aware of this. AHP offers one TIG; it had the same M16 connector as Eastwood but for 2019 has a solid Dinse connector and comes with a CK 17F torch with their Superflex cable. The Primeweld 225 is similar.
However, neither has the depth of support or sophisticated electronics of the Eastwood; both features I think could be very important to a hobbyist who isn't using the torch every day, or every week or even every month. Some of the Eastwood features, such as the spot weld, don't appear in other machines until over the $2000 price level (e.g. Everlast 255EXT).
06-15-2019, 11:33 PM
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