econotig concerns

[shoprat]

hi everyone first time user i bought a miller econ-o tig about 6 yrs ago and have never really liked the way it welds alum.(could be the operator!!)its set up right and right gas etc. i have mostly used it for stick because i just cant seem to get very good performance from it and am now thinking of upgrading as i am going to make the jump from hobby to business i am wondering if anyone has had much luck with this machine or is it me?i own a mm250 big 40 but think the potential for business in alum. might be worth the investment thanks in advance for any help

[David Boles]

Shoprat,
First, I would invite to your shop someone who is a really good TIG welder in aluminum and let him weld with your unit.
You will then see what the machine capabilities are versus operator skill.
To me aluminum is much more challenging than ferrous metals.
I have not used the EconoTig , but started with the Miller DialArc HF and used it for 18yrs. It worked O.K. on aluminum , great on steel and S.S.
Recently upgraded to a Miller Syncrowave 250DX with the pulser. I really love this machine and the ability to adjust the various settings ( compared to the DialArc). It is also is a great stick welder . Good Luck

[P.W. at home]

I agree with David you should find some one who knows how to tig weld to see if its you or the machine.
I'll give you more good advise,If your going into business for yourself and plan on doing some portable welding you need to sell your big 40 just like I did several years ago and buy a Miller Trailblazer, you may think what I used to think that those are for fence guys and this big 40 is for the real welders, Boy was I ever wrong and it didd'nt take long.
I bought a Trail blazer and a s-22p-12 suitcase feeder and when I got on a job where I needed to put a cutting edge on a front loader I realized that mig welding was the way to go. I know you might say that you cant use it outside because your gas will blow away, This is only the case about 10% of the time, well I found that I put that cutting edge on 3 times faster with mig than I used to be able to with my big 40. Unless they changed the big 40,I bought mine back in 1989 and paid extra for the 14 pin CV tap to run mig, well a couple years later when I tried to hook it up I soon found out that I wasted my money for that option. Maybe the new ones are different. The trail blazer turned out to be 1/3 the price and three times the machine of that big 40.

[Stu Bass]

econotig concerns

PW at home: I own a Miller s-32p-12 suitcase It has a cc & vcv switch inside it. I have used it on the big40,trailblazer,bobcat . Currently using it on a Ideal Arc 250 ac dc buzz box. You might want to look into that before you make any big moves. Actually I use it on any mach. I can stick weld with DC. Just love that mach.. Stu.

[shoprat]

thanks

thanks you guys for the help . i actually was looking at the trailblazer for the back of my truck never thought about the feeder though,thanks.i bought my big 40 for 50 bucks they had run it out of oil and spun the bearings i rebuilt it and ended up with about 600 into it but its 20 yrs. old so i wouldnt want to run it too hard. i should find someone to try my tig but i dont really know any body right off hand. i have been looking at the syncro wave 250 and the dynasty 300 from what i can tell the dynasty would be the better choice because of the input power needed,as i will be working out of my garage for a while.thanks again for your help and good ideas.it really helps to get help from people in the know,and i hope to soon have my own welding and machineing business thanks again and if you have any other thoughts i would like to hear them jeff

[Hobart Expert Rock]

SHOPRAT..............HOW WE DOING...........DID YOU MAKE A DECISION ON WHICH MACHINE TO GET YET........IF YOU DID WOULD YOU TELL US PLEASE...........WE ALWAYS LIKE TO KNOW THAT KINDA STUFF.............BE SAFE NOW AND I HOPE YOU HAD SOME FUN WITH YOUR DECISION................ROCK.............
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[t-bone]

econo tig concerns

i bought an econo tig about a year ago,,,,,i built a couple of racks for an electrical contractor to put in a van,,,,,all material was 1/8 aluminium,,,,,,,,i stretched the machine a bit but it did do the job,,,the only draw back was the short duty cycle and i cranked the machine to the max but it did do it,,,,,i personally think the machine welds aluminium quite well for a bottom of the line machine,,,,,,i also welded a broken bell housing on an automatic trans for a kid and it worked well also,,,,,,,i like the machine for being simple and mind you this at home in my garage,,,,,and i would have prefered to have got the 180 sd but at the time i had time and money issues so i got the econo tig and i,m not un happy with it for what it is intended for,,,,just bear in mind ,,dont do work for a company your ex wife works for,,ha,ha,ha,,,,but in all honesty the rule of thumb is go bigger than what you need within reason of course so you dont over work a machine,,,,ie; i do a lot of small jobs at home and this machine is adequate,,,if i was doing more consistant work i would most definently go a bit bigger and as far as mild steel and stainless this welder does quite well for me ,,,,i fabricated a handful of odds and misc pieces for this harley i,m working on and it does reasobly well on thin gauge steel and stainless also

[shoprat]

went and did it now!

well after considerable thought i went right to the top and got the dynasty 300 dx , it hurt for a while but the beer helped stop the pain!! supposed to get it today.since i will be working out of my garage to start out i needed one that will draw less power hope it all works out and i will be putting my econo-tig and big 40 up for sale .thanks again for the help jeff