Which Welder Should I Buy

[canuckamuck]

I am looking to buy an inexpensive welder. I do not weld very often but I am looking at welders from 6000 to 9000.

I was thinking a tig/arc inverterwelder would be best, but I would have to learn how to tig weld at some point.

Any suggestions or observations.

I saw a Tuff brand tig/arc MMA 160 amp inverter, at Global house for 6900. Has any one tried one of these

Edited November 7, 2012 by canuckamuck

[stoneyboy]

I have no first hand experience with any of the brands here in Thailand,but your suggestion to buy an inverter which allows tig/arc welding is a sensible choice,although you need to bear in mind that you will need to be able to source the shielding gas (argon) if you wish to hone your tig skills.

[canuckamuck]

All right that's a good point. How hard is it to get the gas bottle, and where do you get refills, and how much.

I am between Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai

[canuckamuck]

Bump!!

I thought that there would be a few people who had some info on welders. Maybe not.

[aussieruss]

Hi it depends what you won't to weld then I can tell you what is best rgds Russell

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

[oldmajor]

If you are just welding up the garden gate, MMA would be sufficient.

If you have some larger projects, I find MIG to be faster and cleaner than MMA. User friendly too.

Tig is a little more specialist and harder to set up but very clean results.

As mentioned earlier, gas bottles will be required for MIG and TIG.

The advantage with MMA is all you need are the rods. Just plug in and go.

I am guessing that you would be working on mainly mild steel projects?

I'm afraid I am not familiar with the brands that you mentioned

[kamalabob2]

Tuff is a "house brand" at Global House. Global House in Korat was professional and did full store credit for the one Tuff brand electric appliance I returned 31 days after we bought that faulty vegetable cleaner. You might consider PUMA brand (made in Taiwan) welders or Kwai Kgern Welders which are made in Thailand by Kwai Thong company. Many chain stores and many independent stores carry these two brands of moderate priced welders. A key deciding factor, depending on your needs and use for the welder, would be LENGTH of the WARRANTY and how the warranty repairs are actually done. Does the shop where you purchase the welder have the spare parts and authorization to fix your welder in a timely fashion, or do they "put it on transport, wait a few weeks, while it roams around Bangkok and then comes back on transport to the shop where you bought it" or even worse where YOU ship it to some distant service location at your expense. I know from actual observation that Ruangsangthai in Buriram www.Buriram-Bosch-Power-Tools.INFO repairs both Puma and Kwai Ngern welders at their store across from the Buriram PEA Electric Office. Perhaps other independent authorized retailers of these two brands in other parts of Thailand also complete repairs at the same location you can buy the welder and supplies without undo delay.

[canuckamuck]

Thanks for the posts. I got an Iweld 185 amp mma/tig welder and it seems to be just what I needed.

2 year warranty and the shop has parts on hand.

[HalC]

Thanks for the posts. I got an Iweld 185 amp mma/tig welder and it seems to be just what I needed.

2 year warranty and the shop has parts on hand.

Hi canuck, just wondering where you sourced your welder from and the cost ? Are you using it for alloy/steel? I am a novice at all things involving welding so I would appreciate any imput you could give me. I am in the Korat area and I will go into Global House to check out their range shortly.

Thanks in advance.