Need honest advice on a Tig

[Tikkamark]

Have you had a Tig before. I've heard lots of positive things about the TA but they are not compared to anything. The thing I'd like to see would be a comparison with a high end machine but unless someone is down grading that's gonna be rare to see and if someone is upgrading fro the TA they will not give an honest review if the TA was just as good or better.

I have worked in a fab workshop for 8 years using all sorts of Tig plants so know what a decent machine should do,I won't know what this machine is really like until i have a lot of beads laid down with it.

A lad I know that has his own business uses a ta 3 phase Ac/dc as his only Tig and he said it never gave him a minutes bother in 6 years and he's a really fussy welder his work is top class.that's not lies it's the truth so they must not be bad at all.

 

[antonio costa]

I went to read my thread I really didn't go far about comparing to others. I need to do a side by side with the kemppi mastertiig 2300 ac dc recently bought by the company

 

[Tikkamark]

I went to read my thread I really didn't go far about comparing to others. I need to do a side by side with the kemppi mastertiig 2300 ac dc recently bought by the company

You should do that Antonio that kemppi would be what 4 times the price of the thermal arc but is it four times the welder??!

 

[antonio costa]

It's a good question and I will have a few answers for it shortly (based only on my personal opinions) but one of the biggest ones is the long term reliability and that one only time will tell. Of course that the kemppi will win on everything apart from the price but I'm pretty sure no one can say that is 4 times the welder the TA is.
When they designed the TA they thought of guys like me that go to lunch and forget machines turned on, with the noise that fan makes and being only me on the home workshop (no grinding noise from others and such) you can bet I will never forget to turn it off. The kemppi at work like all the other ones there with fan on demand.
But on the other hand with the TA at home I already forgot twice to turn on the water cooler (I need to rig up something to solve that) , and with the kemppi it will never happen,the procool cooler is wired to the machine and when the machine is turned on so is the cooler

 

[Tikkamark]

Got the Tig mounted in its new home,a bit of modifying with the plasma and it dropped in nicely.

 

[Kent]

This thread has given me workshop envy, aint Tikkas shop big and clean with lots of spare room. Were do you put work in progress, or is it a bigger shop still?

 

[langy]

This thread has given me workshop envy, aint Tikkas shop big and clean with lots of spare room. Were do you put work in progress, or is it a bigger shop still?

It's not the size but how you use it

 

[Kent]

It's not the size but how you use it

a good point

 

[eSCHEn]

It's not the size but how you use it

That's what people with small workshops say.


I agree wholeheartedly

 

[Tikkamark]

This thread has given me workshop envy, aint Tikkas shop big and clean with lots of spare room. Were do you put work in progress, or is it a bigger shop still?

My shop ain't that big it's 10m x 10m but fairly tall but I have a place made to hold everything so floor space is optimised I hate clutter on the floor in the way!Everytime I buy a new tool I figure out a rack or shelf to store it when not in use and after each job it goes back into its place so nothing gets lost and when I need a particular tool I know exactly where it is,it's my own shop with just me working in it so that helps keep things tidy!
I must take a few pics of the shop and stick up a post about some of the things I've made to keep things tidy!

 

[Kent]

My shop ain't that big it's 10m x 10m but fairly tall but I have a place made to hold everything so floor space is optimised I hate clutter on the floor in the way!Everytime I buy a new tool I figure out a rack or shelf to store it when not in use and after each job it goes back into its place so nothing gets lost and when I need a particular tool I know exactly where it is,it's my own shop with just me working in it so that helps keep things tidy!
I must take a few pics of the shop and stick up a post about some of the things I've made to keep things tidy!

OMG an obsessive compulsive cleaner who also welds that's a first for me I try but I don't always succeed.

 

[Richard.]

View attachment 58841 View attachment 58843 View attachment 58841 View attachment 58843Got the Tig mounted in its new home,a bit of modifying with the plasma and it dropped in nicely.

Looking good mate I look forward to the feedback. I'm not sure how it will perform side by side to the kemmpi. I'd say the kemmpi will be more accurate on it's readout. Possibly more stable with the arc. The hf shooting may be more accurate too. The real money starts under the covers. Things like fan on demand, wind tunnel, vertical boards well shielded from dust that brought through in the cooling air. Good hf protection. This is where the kemmpi will stride forth and it may last longer as a result of these features. The TA has had some extremely positive reviews and is a popular unit so at 1/3 of the kemmpi price you've bagged a nice unit. May it serve you well

 

[Tikkamark]

I know it’s four years later but I said I’d update the long term reliability of the 202ac/dc!
It’s been brilliant so far with just one issue and that was the display stopped working but the welder still functioned perfect just you couldn’t see the amps on the display,i brought the unit back and the display was swapped out free of charge on warranty.That was back in January 2016 the machine hasn’t failed since and has done a lot of hours since it’s paid for itself around 4 times over at this stage

 

[baldy]

I was hoping for some pics of some nice beads !

 

[hotponyshoes]

I can't remember the model number but I had 2 of the dc only versions of these.
One was in a trolley in the workshop, the other got dragged around sites, mostly farms. Tig on 2-3mm stainless and flat out for stick on really rusty metal. Would think nothing of banging 1/2kg of rods on one after the other. Often running from a tractor pto generator or loads of small extension cables looped together so probably not getting the best supply either!
Never had a problem with either of them over 5-6 yrs. I sold the tidy one to upgrade to AC and the tatty one was so tatty I gave it to the guy who bought the better one for spares. That was a couple of years ago and they are still both going strong.
Build was tough, welded fine, noisy fan on all the time. Up/down power on the standard torch was usefull but as above, it was quite a clunky torch to use.