I have been tasked with buying a High Frequency TIG welder for a new member of staff in a new role for our company. I know very very little about welding plant so havn’t got a clue on what is good and what is crap. It is going to be used exclusively with 304 stainless steel and will live in a van when it isn’t being used in wetish environments.

Can anybody recommend something that would do the job please. I don’t want bargain basement or the most expensive thing out there. Something good value and robust would be spot on.

Thanks

If possible, I would ask the opinion of the person who is going to be using it
to see if he has any preference .

That was the first thing I did but he said it doesn’t matter as long as it was HF.

Mmm strange he did not have a specific model he would go for.
Our welders (mig) would say I want this or that if asked.
Oh well, I guess it would give him something to bitch about when you
inevitably purchase the “wrong” one.

Speak to Graham or Norman at Inverter Fusion.
Their website is not very good, but their welders are excellent
http://www.inverterfusion.co.uk/200phf/

I can recommend these;
http://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-05266-weldmate-p178hf-tig-arc-inverter-welder.html
I used to use the Weldmate in its older form for a few years, most of them have the same basic internals with a different casing. Cheap and cheerful, but reliable with HF start.
DC only (so not for Al.), great for site work.
Specialized Welding are a good contact and they can give you good advice on this or something similar.
If you want better quality, you’ll be looking into Miller, ESAB etc.

More specs needed, typical material thicknesses, power supply etc.

what neil said.

your first post might as well say – buy me a mountain bike – no futher detail as to use.

Another vote for Inverter Fusion here. I use their 200 Amp model most days at work. Very reliable and a nice smooth welder to boot.

You cant go wrong with Kemppi, Lorch, Fronius etc

I have a 200A Digital DC R-tech TIG at home but I`m not sure how good it would be in an industrial environment.
I have a Kemppi inverter MIG which I`d happily carry anywhere on site and use.

But as they said up there, need more details to be more specific.

Also does it need to be portable to the job from the van ? or is it going to be run in the van with long leads ?

Whats the power supply ? mains (single or 3 phase) or Generator?

Some of the inverter sets don’t like generator power supplies.

More info required OP

Point taken, as I said I know very little. Material thickness will be from 3mm flat/angle to 20mm bar. Power will be 110v from mains 220v 2 phase. It needs to be mobile and cant be left in a van when in use.

It depends how much 20mm bar is involved, a 200a set running on high settings will need a lot of down time, or it will shutdown on overload, if it’s mostly 3mm then it will be fine. Much over 200a and you will need a 3 phase supply.

I have a Cebora DC 200a inverter set, which I picked up at an auction, great machine but I’m not sure I would want to pay full RRP for one, £2K ish.

Inverter-Fusion are local, why not speak to them first and then clear it with the operator before purchase?

With an inverter set, you will have the option of MMA (Stick) for thicker material too.

I have heard very good things about IFL but have not used them personally.

Miller Syncrowave 250 is the bees knees but maybe not as portable as you need. As above an inverter welder is the thing for portability.

miller. end of thread.

ok, a sensible answer is go to BOC and hire something they recommend for the job and try it out. then buy it if it works. they do not charge silly amounts for hire and will do it for a couple of weeks, not months and months too.

Not much 20mm bar to be honest. The role is repairing/maintaining machinery he will not spend a lot of time welding. He currently uses a portable 110v for the same job at a different company but I don’t know the make and model.

Once you have attached a 75kg cylinder to it even a portable machine becomes a bit cumbersome.
http://www.boconline.co.uk/en/sheq/gas-safety/cylinder-weights-sizes/cylinder-weights-size/cylinder-weights-size.html

Which is why we won’t be using 75kg cylinders

we dont even use 75kg cylinders on our static machines…..

Conventional wisdom is that stainless steel is welded with back purge.
This normally requires a fairly large amount of argon.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/stainless-steel-pipe.html

Is that not just for pipe?

its for any weld that needs to be clean and free of oxidisation…..

There would be no point in using stainless and letting it oxidise as the main reason to use stainless is for its cleanlyness properties and propensity not to rust – your oxidised weld will rust for fun.

It’s ideal but not necessary, there are so many variables that it’s hard to know what to say without all the details.

Maybe the operator is confident with any machine, maybe he just turns it up to 11.

Is there anyone else in the company with experience and an opinion?

I meant the back purging that was linked to. I realise Argon is needed for a weld as it creates a sheild(?) around the tip.

if your only shielding with argon thats not shielding the root of the weld and only the localised surface area on the front side.

the clues in the name “back purging”

making sure the whole welds uncontaminated -front and back – especially prevalent in the food prep industry.

If its only 304 stainless then from a start point they are not worried about oxidisation 😆

Kemppi make good machines like this one
Kemppi Miniarc TIG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2y_eVJZHH4

But there are so many companies that make good machines Kemppi, Lincoln, Inverter Fusion, Migatronic, Cebora, etc etc it really comes down to where you get it from and the spares and warranty backup that you get. In general they are all fairly reliable, but its a good idea to get a welder that you can get a choice of torches for and a replacement torch if needed. Torches and cables/amphenol plugs tend to be only compatible with own company machines Esab fit Esab (Murex) etc.

The point about the cylinder sizes was really that it can get over looked. In the Kemppi video it only appears near the end, in the trolley.

If the welds are to be inspected, then they do need to be to a reasonable standard. With back purging etc. But if they are not being inspected then maybe anything will do.