If you planned to buy a TIG welder, there are several factors that you need to consider. It can be anything from current to the price and size. Are you completely new to welding, it can be a difficult choice to make when you might not know what is usually required from the best TIG welders around.
To begin with, we will go over some advantages of TIG welding.
- High Quality – No splatter etc. The welds are kept clean and require no cleaning after the weld is made.
- Versatile – You can weld a wide variety of alloys with a high standard of finished product.
- Different thickness – you can weld everything from thin to thick materials. However, fits Tig welding better for thinner materials.
- Aesthetic – In the right hands, you cannot get a prettier weld than with a TIG welder.
The things that you should consider when buying a TIG welder, you can see below.
What types of metal will you be welding?
If you only going to weld the common metals except aluminum a DC welder is more than enough. However, if there is a chance that you will weld aluminum we recommend that you buy a machine with AC / DC output.
Around what thicknesses you will use a TIG welder?
Depending on that the amperes on a TIG welder is controlled by the thickness you will to weld, this is an important factor to consider. A 150 ampere machine will have major problems running thicker materials. However, if you only intend to weld thin sheet metal, there is no reason to buy the best TIG welder on the market. A cheaper GTAW will do the job for you.
Will you use your welding machine for stick welding?
A large number of TIG welding machines can also do stick welding. If you want this feature it usually also becomes more expensive. However, it is a nice feature that can be useful when _ outdoors welding is going to be done. Another detail that may be helpful when talking about stick welding is that no inert gas or active gas is needed. So you do not crank the gas bottles.
Where will the welding mostly done?
Where do you plan to use your new TIG welder? There may be problems with the larger machines to access? What types of power supplies are available? Think carefully about what and where your new TIG machine will be used.
Cooling Systems
There are two different cooling systems. The best TIG welders use a water cooling system. With such a system can run at much higher amps for a very long time without overheating both TIG torch and the machine itself.
The second cooling system is based on air. This fits better when welded on thinner material when the machine will not get so hot. They are also a less expensive alternative in relation to a water cooled system.
Duty Cycle.
A duty cycle is how long you can weld with a certain welding machine at a set amount of time without letting the machine idle. If a machine has a duty cycle of 50% at 300 amperes it means that you can weld at 300 amperes for 5 minutes and the other 5 minutes the TIG welder machine needs to idle and cool.
Find the best TIG welder for home use
In order to find the best TIG welder for you there are a vast amount of factors to think about, don’t let it scare you of. If this is your first TIG welder go for a cheaper variant with an air cooling system. Or maybe even a used welding machine. With a used TIG welder there can be a lot of advantages and the used market you might have the biggest chance to find the best welder for the money.
Here you can read about some manufacturers of the best TIG welders around;
- Miller Tig Welders
- Hobart Tig Welders
- Everlast Tig Welders
- Esab Tig Welders
- Lincoln Tig Welders