Best TIG welder for aluminum?

Snal~

Snal~

I Run A Tight Shipwreck (Tragic Boating Accident)
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I've been welding aluminum since I was 16, but entirely via an old Airco rig with AC/High Freq...and that welder is huge!
I'm looking for something for my personal shop, and I'm a bit partial to Miller.
We have a suitcase Miller 150 amp DC TIG here at work, but I need something that will weld 3/8" Aluminum.
Any recommendations?
 
I have a Syncrowave 250DX with the pulse feature. It does a nice job on aluminum.

For 3/8" thick material, I would not want anything less than 250A. Your duty cycle will be better with a larger machine though.

At a minimum, you want a machine capable of AC TIG, high frequency, with a cooler. Lots of options for dialing in the wave form if you opt for a more expensive machine.

I have not used one, but have heard a lot of good things about the Dynasty series of Inverter machines.

I've also used the Lincoln TIG machines on aircraft aluminum and they work really well too. I would certainly not rule out Lincoln products.

I may know where there is a good, used Syncrowave 350 for sale if you're interested. A buddy of mine has one, and may be interested in selling it. It's probably a 90's vintage machine but I've used it and it lays down a nice bead.
 
250 Syncrowave is a min. for 3/8" and I'd run helium shielding gas with that. I run a Dynasty 300 and its the cats meow on AL. Miller Aircrafter 330 is a beast also.
 
LeeMajors said:
When I had that setup, I did.
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Years ago we used to weld up brackets for a customer that did pool enclosures. Brackets were 1/2" aluminum. We had to tack on the price of a water cooled torch for each order, and that was using a fan/radiator cooling rig tied to a recirculating tank on our old Airco. The water jacket would swell at the torch and bust. We could trim the jacket back a few times and stretch it.
 
LeeMajors said:
How much 3/8 will you really weld. I've welded 3/8 with the 220. With some preheat it works just fine
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Can't you also use helium for a little extra oomph?
 
Snal~ said:
I've been welding aluminum since I was 16, but entirely via an old Airco rig with AC/High Freq...and that welder is huge!
I'm looking for something for my personal shop, and I'm a bit partial to Miller.
We have a suitcase Miller 150 amp DC TIG here at work, but I need something that will weld 3/8" Aluminum.
Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
What is your budget?
 
Dynasty 280DX Tigrunner should be a great machine for you then. It’s 100% duty cycle up to 200a, and then drops to 25% at 280a. If you’re welding longer runs of 3/8”, you may want a more powerful machine for the increased duty cycle. Since it’s an inverter machine, it’s more energy efficient than the older transformer technology. The DX version lets you dial in the waveform better too.

By the way, what hood are you using? I bought an Optrel Crystal 2.0 last year and the color and clarity is outstanding.
 
Scsmith42 said:
By the way, what hood are you using? I bought an Optrel Crystal 2.0 last year and the color and clarity is outstanding.
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Plain old Jackson hood with cheaters. The guys in my shop use the autos, I just never got around to getting one.
 
Snal~ said:
Plain old Jackson hood with cheaters. The guys in my shop use the autos, I just never got around to getting one.
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I used a Jackson for years (still have it as a spare). I sure do like my Optrel though. The visibility and clarity of the weld pool is incredible.
 
Well the welding supply shop was open today, and they had "one" Multimatic 220 kit in stock. The kit has everything except the cart, which I can build.
Manager gave me the Black Friday discount so I put a deposit on it.
He didn't know why they had one in stock as they have eight on order, and six of those are sold.
 
Wealth of knowledge here on CFF I always walk away a little smarter.
 
Scsmith42 said:
Nice score! The duty cycle is lower than the Dynasty and Syncrowave, but so is the price!
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Yep, and although I didn't state in in the OP, I was really hoping to find a "do-all" unit.

Been watching some videos on youtube "weldingtipsandtricks" and he covers this machine very well. He was laying
a MIG weld that looked like TIG.

I came in under budget VS a TIG rig and a separate MIG rig. $3697.00, which he said was $200 under his normal price, which is MSRP. He also said that the eight that he has on order have a $700 price increase over the last batch that he got, but I don't see that on the Miller website MSRP. Sales hype I suppose.
 
That's a great score on the machine, and should serve you sell.

Re Welding tips and tricks, Jody does nice work, and is a good teacher.

If you want to check out some stunning TIG work, check out www.6061.com. Aaron does some of the best work that I've ever seen.
 
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Scsmith42 said:
That's a great score on the machine, and should serve you sell.

Re Welding tips and tricks, Jody does nice work, and is a good teacher.

If you want to check out some stunning TIG work, check out www.6061.com. Aaron does some of the best work that I've ever seen.
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At nearly 61yo my hands aren't as steady as they once were. Never used one of those easy slide pads like the guy on
tips and tricks uses....gotta get one!
 
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