TIG Welder for Beginners

In my opinion, the primeweld 225 is one of the best choices in affordable tig welders.

The problem with most other really affordable tig welders is usually the foot pedal and the torch are just bad and clunky.

Primeweld went to extra expense to include genuine ck torches with superflex hoses along with a smooth SSC style foot pedal.

They also have a responsive primeweld equipment users group on facebook and also have demonstrated great customer support

Watch some primeweld videos and you will see what I mean.

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2 very common questions I get are:

1. "What is a good tig welder for beginners?"2.  “What tig welder should I buy?Transformer style tig welders(my old syncrowave 250 needed a 100 amp breaker).

The answer is almost always … “It Depends”

There are so many choices available now but I will do my best to give some guidance that I hope will help you in your decision.

Some older transformer type tig welders are still awesome but have a down side.

They require a lot of power from the wall.

I bought my first new TIG welder back in the early 1990s and it was an early generation Miller Syncrowave 250.  There are still plenty of those welders running today but you will likely pay more than they cost new.

If you have plenty of power available, then shopping for a used tig welder like a 1st generation Miller Syncrowave 250 could be a good option.

Older transformer style machines are heavy and require a lot of power.

But while heavy and power hungry, they are still very good tig welders so if you can score a good deal on one that has all the accessories like torch, water cooler, and foot pedal, it can still a good way to go for some folks.

New transformer style tig welders are still an option also but power requirements aka input amperage needed is still around 100 amps for a 250-300 amp welder with 230 volt single phase.

Inverter tig welders

There are a ton of choices now.  I cant speak to all brands but I will comment on several brands and models I have used.

I personally would NOT recommend shopping for  a used TIG inverter on facebook marketplace.

Reason is because you can get a brand new primeweld tig225x for less than 900 dollars delivered to your door without dealing with some sketchy character in a parking lot 

Primeweld TIG 225x—for under 900 dollars, this is a great choice for anyone wanting to get started tig welding. 

It used to be that almost every affordable tig welder came with a really crappy torch and foot pedal.

Primeweld was smart and fixed that problem by including a genuine CK worldwide air cooled 17 style tig torch with super flex cables  along with a nice smooth SSC style foot pedal.

The low end start on the TIG225 is pretty crisp so if you will be welding razor thin parts, then the larger PrimeWeld TIG325X is a better choice with a low 5 amp start.

I have been selling both these primeweld machines for several years now the very few problems that have come up have been handled immediately.

Primeweld even has a Facebook group called primeweld equipment users that they monitor to make sure customers are being supported.

CK worldwide mt200 AC/DC -  I have been using this welder since August 2017 and have used it in over 20 youtube videos. 

At around $2000 it is quite a bit more than the PrimeWeld225 you might wonder why anyone would choose this welder over the primeweld 225.

In my opinion there are main 4 reasons why some people might prefer the CK mt200 over the PrimeWeld TIG225x

1. The MT200 is quite a bit lighter at around 32 lbs so if you plan on doing portable work like sanitary stainless on site, that might be important to you.

1. The cooling fan only turns on when the machine needs it so the MT200 is  completely quiet most of the time while you are not welding.  Thats a nice feature.

1. The CK MT200 has a low 5 amp start which comes in handy for aerospace type work or thin wall chromoly tubing with gaps like you might encounter with an aircraft fuselage.

1. The CK MT200 has very simple settings and knobs.

Like PrimeWeld, CK stands behind their products so any problems will be handled quickly and and by a friendly person on the phone.

The Lincoln TIG 200 is a pretty decent  beginner tig welding machine but had some failures early on in production.  I hear those problems have been addressed .

It comes with a nice tig torch and pedal and costs around $2500

HTP 221 - in my opinion, this tig welder is as good or better than a miller dynasty 200.  Comes with nice ck torch, and SSC style foot pedal.  The menu is not as easy to navigate and has a bit of a learning curve for the beginner but once you figure that out, its a full featured welder and made in Italy.  It costs around  $2400-2500   

I personally own several other tig welding machines and one of them …a Miller Dynasty 280 dx costs well over 8k when you add in water cooler, cart, and upgrades.  Its an awesome machine and if you can afford $8000 that’s great.  But I know not everyone can afford 8K so that is why I offer alternatives at my store at weldmonger.com

 

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