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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by Aaron Cake[/i] [br]I finally took the plunge and purchased a TIG welder. Realistically I've needed one for several years but could always get some time on someone else's machine (or rent one) when necessary. Now that's less of an option and with several projects coming up in which I will need to weld a lot of aluminum I figured it's now or never. From Sure Arc Welding Supply I ordered a Miller Econotig. It's an AC/DC power supply capable of up to 150A in GTAW (TIG) or SMAW (stick). I had originally been looking at the Syncrowave line from Millar but the price went up dramatically with the only advantage being pulse capability. Since the Econotig came complete with a pedal, torch, electrode holder (for stick), gas regulator and hose it's a great starting point when the buyer doesn't have a previous setup. [img]./uploaded/Aaron Cake/20081012105845_Econotig.jpg[/img] At the same time I picked up the Econotig I also purchased a small tank (bottle) of argon, a pack of spare tungsten's and a few pounds of aluminum and stainless filler rods. In addition I had to grab a 50 ft 8 gauge extension cord (this cord is a beast and weighs damn near 30 LBs) so I could run the unit in the garage. As the only convenient 50A 240V outlet I have is for the oven, I also made an oven to equipment plug adapter cord, seen at the far left. The sad thing is that right now I don't have anything to weld so I've only spent a few minutes on the machine so far. I made a few trial welds on both clean and dirty steel and aluminum with nice results. The arc is generally easy to start and very controllable. One issue is that went I went full throttle for the full 166A in AC, it took about half a 2nd to blow the fuses on both legs of the oven circuit. If I intend to do thick material (specifically aluminum) I'll need to wire in a dedicated circuit. [/quote]    Insert an Image File (GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, ZIP, PNG) Check here to include your profile signature.