Review - Cheap E-bay TIG

[Ben Wilson]

I've been eyeing these things off for a while and I finally decided to grab one earlier this year.



I managed to score this one for around $1200. It's AC/DC with a foot pedal and pulse mode.



As you can see - It comes with a decent selection of knobs to confuse you

Opening the manual, the low price becomes evident.. It's a shocker, I haven't seen such bad English in years. An example:

"The reduction regulating knob: While completing a welding, modeling well for assurance, it is requested that the current decreases gradually to a stop. This knob is set to regulate current decreasing time."

It didn't come with a plug, you're supposed to fit your own 20A plug and earth lead.

I hooked it up and gave it a go.

First thing I noticed was that the foot pedal didn't seem to work nicely - Everything seemed backwards. A quick rewiring of the plug and it came good. Apparently they had got a couple of wires crossed in assembly...

Recently I've noticed the foot pedal seemed to be not working that well again - I pulled it apart and found that the nut on the main pot was loose, I haven't had a chance to test it, but I'm hoping that it will work again now.

Overall, it seems to work well. It took me a while to get into the swing of using it (it's been 18 months since I've done any TIG work), but I'm happy with it now - assuming the foot pedal works now...

Looking inside:



It's not so pretty - definately built to a price. I think if it breaks internally, it's a throwaway job.

My first project came up looking like this:



I've seen (and done) better, but I've defiantely seen worse.

Overall:

Pros
Cost - About 20% of the cost of the 'brand names'
Seems to work as well as any TIG I've used

Cons
Lousy instructions - If you don't know how to use a TIG, you will be very confused for a while..
Dodgy pedal - This might just be mine.
Short warranty, plus lack of service centres - Might never be a problem.

Aluminium TIG welding is now well within the price range of the backyard welder now, and that's got to be a good thing.

[Matt Dyne]

good review Ben...what about hooking up two compressors ?

[Ben Wilson]

Originally Posted by Matt Dyne

good review Ben...what about hooking up two compressors ?

"An engineer can do for 10c what any damn fool can do for a dollar"

[Stewy]

Top work Ben I have been looking at getting one of these off Ebay for a while now, but was unsure if it would be a big waste of money or not?

Carl.

[Ben Wilson]

There is something inherently weird going on with the pedal, but other than that it's all good.

I'll talk to the propeller heads at work tomorrow and see if I can get the pedal working and if I can, it will be all sorts of good.

[Barney]

I also picked up an import ACDC tig on Ebay for about $1400. No foot pedal unfortunately, but it's a 200A HF and works really well.

I also have a Mitec Cut40 plasma cutter, and let me tell you once you get one of these set up you will never cut with an oxy again. Best tool in my shed.

Both items combined cost me less than $2000

Only thing I hate about the Tig is yet another gas bottle to pay rent on.

Mig + Tig + Oxy + Acetylene = $$$$$$

[Kaptainballistik]

How thick was the Aluminium you were weilding?

[Ben Wilson]

I've only welded 2-3mm stuff with it, but Mark B uses one to weld heads and apparently it does it happily.

[Buerckner]

long term review/update?

Just like to know if it's still working for you and how the foot control worked out?

I'm thinking about this on
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/200-Amp-Ac-Dc...QQcmdZViewItem

[Ben Wilson]

Still going strong, the foot pedal is just weird, but I've sort of gotten used to it.

[GT4RALLY]

I've had one of these 3-in-1 Tig/plasma/stick welders for a bit over 12 months. its cheap and you get what you pay for but having said that appart from the foot pedal being a bit funny (I don't use it anymore) it has performed very well.

I use it to TIG aluminium and higher grade steels like 4140, en26 etc and for small jobs it works well. After continuous running at higher amps the torch gets a bit hot.

The plasma cutter is probably the best part of it - it cuts 12mm mild steel plate like butter & far neater than chewing it off with the oxy.

I still use my MIG all the time & for general welding it is the go but for aluminum & high grade steel the 3-in-1 does the job.

oh, and I have never used the stick welder part of the 3-in-1, I'm not sure why, so I cannot comment on how good it is.

RT

[Buerckner]

Thanks guys,

I think I'll try for one of the straight AC/DC TIG units. I have a great arc welder, and I can borrow a plasma cutter when needed.

This add seems better
BOSWELL 200AMP AC/DC INVERTER TIG MMA ALUMINUM WELDER - eBay Other Welding Equipment, Welding Equipment, Metalworking, Woodworking, Business, Industrial. (end time 03-Mar-09 21:33:00 AEDST)

[Ben Wilson]

Originally Posted by GT4RALLY

oh, and I have never used the stick welder part of the 3-in-1, I'm not sure why, so I cannot comment on how good it is.

Never tried mine either, might give it a go if I ever try to build a towbar or something similar..

[Warps]

I bought one of the DC TIG machines, and use the stick welder a lot. It works brilliantly compared to my old one. I've built shelving, work benches and a tyre rack with it. It strikes an arc very easliy, and the arc remains very stable - very quiet and no spatter.

Have used the TIG function a few times, and seems to work OK, although I'm still learning to use it. I tried the plasma once, and had the air turned up too high (the instructions that came with the unit are useless). Need to have more of a play with it before commenting.

Still, for $600, it's been a good little unit. (note - NOT AC/DC)

[Ben Wilson]

Originally Posted by Buerckner

Thanks guys,

I think I'll try for one of the straight AC/DC TIG units. I have a great arc welder, and I can borrow a plasma cutter when needed.

This add seems better
BOSWELL 200AMP AC/DC INVERTER TIG MMA ALUMINUM WELDER - eBay Other Welding Equipment, Welding Equipment, Metalworking, Woodworking, Business, Industrial. (end time 03-Mar-09 21:33:00 AEDST)

If you want to give mine a try, feel free to come around some time..

edit - The case on that one looks identical to mine (except the colour), but the torch and pedal look nicer..