Which R-Tech welder?

[Hood]

What EWM Mig do you have? I have never used the tig side of either my Phoenix as they need a Euro connector torch I think.

 

[Jaffman]

What EWM Mig do you have? I have never used the tig side of either my Phoenix as they need a Euro connector torch I think.

Picomig180. Fantastic machine, I love it for mig.

Broke the torch last year so bought another and kept the old one to covert it to a tig torch but local shop just took so long to do it I decided to just buy a tig

 

[Richard.]

No particulars, just a comparison between the two

Your worrying about stats and jargon too much mate.
Any tig welder worth their salt will tell you the key is the arc. Your worrying about a feature or setting you might miss out on that you can’t identify but what you should be looking at and asking questions about is the arc stability, smoothness, striking ability. Those are the things that are going to make your job a success. I’d suggest you go to your local supplier and try out what they have to offer

 

[Jaffman]

Your worrying about stats and jargon too much mate.
Any tig welder worth their salt will tell you the key is the arc. Your worrying about a feature or setting you might miss out on that you can’t identify but what you should be looking at and asking questions about is the arc stability, smoothness, striking ability. Those are the things that are going to make your job a success. I’d suggest you go to your local supplier and try out what they have to offer

My local guy literally won’t sell “cheap Chinese ****” so I’m a little out of luck there as my budget only just stretches to the GYS he offered me.

I agree with you, I’m probably looking into it way too much but I’m like a kid in a sweet shop but I can only afford the penny sweets (or only want to afford the penny sweets, I could drop £4K on a tetrix but that would be wasting money because I’d never see the use it expects)

 

[Hood]

Never a good idea to weld with flip flops

 

[Jaffman]

Never a good idea to weld with flip flops

I guess the forum has some sort of swear filter, kinda ruined my local shops cynical quotes lol.

 

[Hood]

 

[Richard.]

My local guy literally won’t sell “cheap Chinese Flip flop” so I’m a little out of luck there as my budget only just stretches to the GYS he offered me.

I agree with you, I’m probably looking into it way too much but I’m like a kid in a sweet shop but I can only afford the penny sweets (or only want to afford the penny sweets, I could drop £4K on a tetrix but that would be wasting money because I’d never see the use it expects)

I’m not saying drop any amount of money on anything I’m saying you are not really showing any focus on the part of Tig welding that actually matters. Your worrying about features but no mention of the blue light. If I was buying my thought process would be completely in reverse to yours.
I’d be going out and trying the ones in the short list. If your local supplier doesn’t cater then find one not so local.

 

[Jaffman]

I’m not saying drop any amount of money on anything I’m saying you are not really showing any focus on the part of Tig welding that actually matters. Your worrying about features but no mention of the blue light. If I was buying my thought process would be completely in reverse to yours.
I’d be going out and trying the ones in the short list. If your local supplier doesn’t cater then find one not so local.

I do understand where you’re coming from but I’m not that experienced with tig so would likely not be able to tell what a good vs not so good arc is. Hence I’m asking advice on here about the machines. With focus on bang for buck due to me being a home gamer

 

[Dutch Welder]

If asking for bang for buck the Parweld does take quite the beating.
I have a OneWelding (Rtech under a different name) 320EXT, and had the older 200 amp analogue version before, and they are great machines, but sadly they are getting quite up there in price nowadays (even if Rtech do seem to have very good service)so on a budget I would rather have a Parweld XTT as that is just much cheaper for a machine with almost exactly the same functions.

A 200 amp Parweld has 30 amps extra over the Rtech 170 ,with the Rtech 210 EXT being much more expensive.
If you are dead set on Rtech I would go with the 210EXT, as the 170 amp version's 30 amp lower power can be a problem later on.
If on a very steep budget maybe the analogue 201 version, with it's less cleaner looks and older technology can be an option, as it's only 50 quid more then the 170ext, but has almost the 210's output.

However you give up the job memory and the adjustable waveforms and advanced AC pulse (which can give extra penetration for the same amperage), and also the pedal is probably of lesser quality then the SSC one combined with the EXT170 and 210

Also I would not go for a name brand DC only machine, as most of your work seems to be automotive fabrication the ability to weld Aluminium is a very big plus, as for example coolant header tanks, intercooler end tanks and boost piping are almost always aluminium,and being able to offer a bespoke solution for a certain problem can be a deal breaker for certain customers.

Also, if you look on Amazon they seem to have 200 amp AC/DC versions of the Rtech TIG200DV-PD (which is DC only) for not much more then the Rtech DC only offering.
I had one of them(as I needed a portable 230v AC/DC machine when I had my SAF Prestotig 200 under repair, and as it was only a stop gap and not a keeper I wasn't going to pay Rtech like pricing) and they are very good for the amount of money,and actually surprised me. It does not have the SAF's AC arc quality, but I could make very good welds with it (both quality and appearance wise)

If you search Amazon.de for NTF Supertig 200di you'll find it, and at 560 euro's (without shipping) that takes quite a beating from a price/performance standpoint.
Mine did work flawlessly for the 5 months I had it, and the second owner who bought it from me reported he had used it for 4 months (and counting) without a hitch.
It is undoubtetly from the same factory as the RTech DC only offering, so could give you a way for Rtech like quality for a very attractive price.

 

[Bladevane]

I’ve got the Parweld XTT202P with a pedal. I bought it from WSD without a torch as I already had 3. There was a problem initially with the current control but Parweld had it back and replaced a couple of boards. I weld at a bench so get on quite well with the pedal. Maximum current needs to be set on the pedal potentiometer but it’s no big deal. As a hobbyist it serves me well and has capabilities much greater than my own.

 

[Richard.]

I do understand where you’re coming from but I’m not that experienced with tig

Get lots of practice in then before getting fired into those pipes.
That’s the sort of job that requires a lot of skill if you want them to look the nuts.
I’d be pricing up the cost of a purge line too.

 

[Munkul]

LOTS of practice

Then start with the exhaust manifold, it's nice and thick and easy to do... then the rest of the system (easy if the fit-up is perfect) then the boost pipes... last time I did boost pipes was years ago, and I was ok on stainless but made a horrible looking job of the ally pipes it just highlighted my inexperience, even though I'd made some decent exhaust stuff.

The TIG drill on some 3mm alloy as highlighted by Jody
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/aluminum-drill.html

 

[Jaffman]

Yes I am a little out of practice but I have done this stuff before and struggled on lesser machines. I have a on old star tig that give up the ghost that I used to use that was a real struggle to get to grips with(pics attached) The thermal arc I used to have access to yeilded much better results but I don’t have access to it anymore.

Still, to practice I need a machine, out of the 3 that have been mentioned in here I think I’m actually preferring the SWP stealth because it will be a nice starter tig for the little I will use it out the garage and it seems to be the cheapest out of the lot. (And there less choice unlike the R-Tech so it forces my hand)

What do we think of the stealth in comparison? Is it more or less recommended than the others?

 

[Hood]

...
What do we think of the stealth in comparison? Is it more or less recommended than the others?

I have never used the 200Amp Stealth but I do have the 320Amp one.
I would say the Parweld XTT I had, if anything, was fractionally nicer and I preferred its settings adjustment compared to the Stealth.

 

[Jaffman]

Ok and looking at the parweld, what’s the difference between the xtt202 and the xtt202p?

 

[Hood]

Pulse I would imagine although I didn't know you got anxtt without the P.

 

[Jaffman]

The p...

https://www.parweld.co.uk/shop/machines/tig-inverter-machines/xtt-202p-acdc-pulsed-tig-inverter/


The not p...

https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/brands/parweld/parweld-xtt-202-pulse-ac-dc-tig-welder.html

 

[Hood]

Ah Ok looks like they have revamped the clothes of the XTT so probably the same machine but different suit.
@Tom Orrow L will be able to clarify I am sure.

 

[Bladevane]

I am perhaps missing something but both those links look like the same machine, i.e. with pulse. The Parweld website doesn't list an XTT202 without pulse.