Thread: Inverter arc welder and TIG

WRT non-ferrous, I think that it may be Aluminium specifically that it cant do. The AC current for Al is the disrupt the Aluminium oxide.

Also, the form of the metal that you TIG is irrelevent so you can weld more than just sheet.

I can't comment on those welders, ours is ESAB which we are very happy with.

BTW, I would be trying to buy from a welding shop rather than BOC or Blackwoods, as the welding shop will be able to give you technical support etc etc etc.

i have the 140amp smooth arc at work and its a brilliant stick welder! BOC do do a smooth arc with TIG, again it will do everything except alluminium.
pretty sure the BOC branded stuff is kempi, i havent had a good run with kempi stuff, but the new BOC welders i have seam to be up to the task so far.

ive got a cig mig in the shed that would be easily over 10yrs old and still going strong. parts arnt available fro it anymore though.
BOC will back up the products with out any drama. we had to return the smootharc due to the controll knob breaking off, and it was soldered directly to the inverter board, so we were given a new welder

cheers phil

My bro who is a welder by trade recons a lot of the Chinese stuff is actually not bad. They use them out in the field and they have been reliable.

I have the weldskill 170, and it's worked well for the medium jobs I've had to do. The small size is a wonder when you compare it to the transformer versions I've had to lug around.
Working with it seems to be a bit easier - in performing runs vertical and upside down. It's unlikely I'll use the tig function, but for me that's not a problem.
Just a note - if you a sporadic welder: ie every now and then, and not building stuff out of really thick steel, the 130 might be the better buy. I choose the 170 because I have access to 20amp power outlets ( Caravan leads with the bigger earth blade). which it requires - it can pull up to 15amp. The 130 weldskill has the normal 10amp plug and runs happily on domestic power.

Read the manual on the duty cycles of each - that should give you a better idea of which is more suited to your style of welding.

The other brand to consider is unimig. (They have a 130 and 170 too)

I found the Token tools inverter brand a little overpriced.

I have a BOC 250a single phase mig and a BOC 140 inverter stick/tig. Both of these are made by Kemppi. It is only BOC's top range that are made by Kemppi they have lower quality stuf made else where. The 140 inverter is around the $1k mark. It is a very nice machine and is used by alot of onsite fabricators and bolier makers.

I havent had any problems with my BOC stuff. I know Slunnie has had some problems with their migs but he was using them pretty full on.

Regarding the statement about going to the welding shop over BOC, the opposite is true for me. I went to Atkins welding supplies here to buy a mig, and got terrible service getting info from the guy was like pulling teeth. They lost that sale. When i bought my inverter i was givin a good price on the kemppi from them, but got lied to and supplied with a chinese made tig gun not a genuine kemppi. I returned it the next morning and went to BOC who have been very helpful with service and tech advise.

Its a shame because Atkins is the local supplier of WIA which are really good Aussie made welders.

I have spoken to some boiler makers and boat builders that have had bad dealings with Atkins as well.

i have used my inverter to weld rhs posts to I beams on site running off a 50m lead. I have also tiged S/S with it for a coffee machine stand, ang with mild steel. It does everything i wnat it to do and is more capable than i am as a welder.

Slunnie mentioned ESAB which i have only heard good things about also.

cheers,
Serg

So it would be fair to say that you can TIG things that are conductive with it. So not aluminium but as has been said you can do stainless. I've never had anything to do with TIG at all.

One thing that concerns me with the CIG is that I have only seen it at Blackwoods and they seem to be the most expensive place to buy anything.

I think I'll end up getting one that does TIG for the same reason I will get the 170 over the 130 amp model. I might not see the need now but I don't want to have to buy another welder when I do.

I'll have another look at the BOC range for TIG but I think it is only their much more expensive Inverweld models that have TIG.

im sure they had an inverter TIG for sale not long ago, 3months, for under 700bux. i remember looking at it thinking why wasnt that there when i got work to spend 400 on the 140 stick

cheers phil

Utemad

I have a Unimig 170 inverter that has been sensational so far. Haven't used the Tig functionality as yet though.

Cheers

Goldey