I have been looking at buying this for a while now. There is a big selection across ebay I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

This is what I am currently looking at.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Rossi-200Amp-MIG-TIG-MMA-Gas-Gasless-3-in-1-Inverter-Welder-MAG-ARC-Welding-/130697577378?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item1e6e2ec3a2&_uhb=1#ht_4082wt_1205

Or if anyone knows of a < $1000 lathe I am in the market for one of those too but I was thinking TIG first.

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

My lathe was < $1000 ($800 i think) but I would strongly recommend getting a larger one

EDIT

$686, mine is a C2 copy with various extras.

http://robowars.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=66418#66418
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<Patrician|Away> what does your robot do, sam
<bovril> it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls

Last edited by Jaemus on Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:55 am; edited 1 time in total

Save and get yourself the same one as miles n jules for sure. Nicks C4 is great, but limited in size, the c6 i have isnt made as well as the c4 but quite a bit bigger, but theirs looks great in all regard for not much more coin.

For the welder, no idea really, scour some forums for reviews. Have to ask dumhed about his but im pretty sure his was only a tig and plasma, not a mig combo.
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www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

I was seriously thinking about them for a while, and did a fair bit of research into them.

I concluded the Plasma cut function would be better off kept as a seperate machine, since you otherwise have to change a heap of plumbing from air to gas everytime you want to switch from cut to weld, plus of course you need to add in the cost of an air compressor and associated fittings to get the plasma cut function.

That one says it can do alloys, but from my research, to do Aluminium properly, you need an AC Tig, not a DC one. be wary, sometimes they say DC welders can do alloys, but they mean in rough MMA (Manual Metal Arc = Arc) welding mode with a special rod.

Precise TIG welding of thin Aluminium requires a far more complex AC control system that lets you adjust percentages of forward vs Reverse current flows, which apparently affects the "cleaning" of aluminium oxide from the weld puddle, AC/DC welders have a heap of knobs/menus on them to adjust the precise waveshape/frequency, ramps and so on, and usually seem to run from $800 - $1500 for a reasonable one.

Gasless MIG uses expensive wire and almost as messy with spatter as Arc welding.. AFAIK, its only advantage is welding outdoors in windy conditions that blow shielding gas for MIG/TIG away.

Oh, watch out for the Duty Cycle as well, some of the cheaper machines can only sustain full power for 20-30% of the time.. Youve probably heard that already.

I had sort of settled on an AC/DC Tig (with MMA/Arc Capability if you wanted to quickly weld a bunch of big pipe together or something where appearance wasnt important, and wanted to save gas), and with an optional add later "Spool Gun" for MIG capability for when you had a lot of weld-distance to travel (TIG is slow compared to Mig), *plus* a seperate Plasma cutter that you could leave plumbed up to the air compressor.

But, dont be fooled by the sub $1000 prices. Add in your compressor for Plasma Cut, plumbing, gas bottles, foot pedal control (almost essential for precise TIG I am told), Auto Darken Helmet, Gloves, some Consumables and assorted accessories and you are looking more like $1500 pretty easily. I decided for the amount I would use it, Id just find someone to help out with more skill than I had anyway.

Theres a pretty good youtube channel worth looking through called "welding Tips and Tricks" that has quite a few videos on using the little multi function machines that show the effects of the various arc settings and technique from a Professional Welder guy, theres tones of interesting videos on there.

List of all his videos - http://www.youtube.com/user/weldingtipsandtricks/videos?sort=dd&live_view=500&flow=list&view=0
AC Balance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG4ZOwSw9CQ
Aluminium Welding Drill - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWNZioJ_FOc
4 in 1 machine in stick mode - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17gBGf8k93M
3 in 1 machine problem - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQoOP9DHJJQ (apparently quite common with Chinese multifunctions)

Also worth having a look through is a more amateur guy who did some good reviews of some of the cheaper multifunction machines. - FreddyTK421. a lot of his videos are irrelevant weird (what I think of E-Cigarettes ? etc), but some of the welding stuff is more ghetto cheap interesting than the pro point of view of the other guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTOiAGHFjV8

Id be interested to hear what you settle on,
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Don't bother with swiss army knife welders. It won't take long before you get tired of constantly shifting and reconnecting everything.

Beter to invest in a TIG AC/DC welder and buy a plasma later.

BTW, I'm still very happy with my Youli TIG AC/DC. And the recently bought Giant Plasmacutter had some issues, but nothing that couldn't be smoothed out with some thinking.

Yeh I am mostly interested in the TIG part of it. Gasless MIG is pointless as far as I can tell, better off with arc. MIG would be nice but not completely attached to having it. Plasma was just something nice to have attached if I ever needed it.

I have known about the AC issue but not looked into it in great detail. Has anyone actually bought just a TIG lately?

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Rossi-4in1-AC-DC-Inverter-Welder-TIG-ARC-Plasma-Cutter-Welding-Machine-Stick-/160861426342?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item25741692a6&_uhb=1#ht_4427wt_1205

This looks strangely familiar.

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

Connecting the gas up is barely an issue, My tig lives inside so that needs to be screwed to the bottle each time, takes seconds Probably even less if you go get a nitto fitting or something and slap that on there.

Have been doing tons of mig welding at work lately, its great for doing things quick, BUT i can't think of any time i'd use one over a tig in general robot building. You really only get one shot at doing the weld right, and if you dont then you gotta grind it out and start again, not really possible in fillet welds and things. Plus the spatter and sparks, gah! sets everything on fire in about a 5 meter radius.

For welding lots of box section together and making tables, mig is just awesome. For robot building, i can't think of any time id use one over the tig except for tacking bits together.

Plus you need different gas for aluminium too = annoying and expensive. WRT Gasless mig LOL. the less said the better. How many people in nsw have been subjected to the horror of dumhed/myselfs one It's just so bad.

That rossi welder looks great. High frequency start and AC settings so you can do aluminium, plus the duty cycle is really impressive. Even my $1000 lincoln is only 60% at 150 amps IIRC.

Just make sure to adjust the down slope tiem XD


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www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

There are about 3 or 4 common Chinese Made Welders on Ebay, that each distributor slaps their own paint/sticker on and makes out that theirs is better than the other "copies" that everyone else sells (of course).

You can usually find the same welders (minus sticker) quite a bit cheaper direct from China, until you notice the $250+ postage cost.

That particular 200P model is one I looked at from several distributors. It seems like a reasonably nice machine (for a China Cheapy), but it and another similair machine commonly have problems with the HF start according to a few sites I found. Its simple to fix, you just need to fiddle with the spark gap on the HF Start board, but of course a lot of people arent comfortable with doing that.

Spend a week or so checking out the various sellers and you wil see, they are all selling pretty much the same low-end gear.
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Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people

Yeh Rossi plasma cutter was something which I think Don had bought a while back which is why I was drawn to that brand.

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

That Rossi (Sorry?) blended the Youli and Giant in 1 frame. Just takes 1 connection and 1 2/2 solenoid valve , 1 inlet, 1 outlet , a different torch and some programming extra

And yes, I know my 2 machines are low end junk. And that if I buy "up market" brands I'll get loads of better usability. On the other hand, both machines do exactly what I need. Unless I find a way to capitalise on those and improve, I'll do my thing.

These days for our usage cheap shit is good.

We aren't pros n really aren't high enough usage for high quality stuff as long as it works. IMO
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

yeh the rossi plasma cutter I got works fine,myself I try and stay away from all in one designs,

*the main reason for that is most of the time if it fails your down 3 machines.

*also I agree with maddox its a real pain having to stop and change everything while your on the go with something.(I know this because having only 2 power outlets at home and changing from welder to plasma to grinder just is frustrating)

*to save money on gas you can run straight argon for everything its works fine.


I obtained a tig welder last xmas but still haven't used it at home yet

*and when looking at a lathe you will never buy a big enough trust me,I would go more for functions and ease of use like quick change gearbox for thread cutting and speeds saves a tone of time and effort.

*also mates around town always ask what type of welder they should get between stick,tig,mig.and it really depends on kind of work,as in one mates into fixing up/racing 4x4s so I suggested mig,manly hes working with steel panels repairs to building a roll cages,and when he does change to s/s and ally he is doing a large amount of welding like with a fuel tanks.and you can get the nose of a mig welder into places a tig wont go.
another older guy that I use to work with was into making sculptures,so he was doing little amounts of welding but always with different materials so he loved the tig and just ran argon with everything so the only thing he pretty much had to changed was the filler rod.

sorry if I wasted anybodies time reading this ive been stuck with my daughter for most of the week and now all weekend and was bored and needed to vent

Well i bit the bullet and bought a Rossi 200P welder today from AGRmachinery on ebay. Was good, just rocked up to the warehouse that was local to me the next day and picked it up

As you can see its rather massive compared to my baby lincoln invertec v145 in weight and size



Construction, well its pretty much standard chinese fare. The outer casing is bent pretty poorly. The carry handles bend the top of the case up as its not attached to the chassis there. The knobs are all wonky and the regulator it comes with is so crap even with 20 wraps of tape on it, it leaks like a sieve. For me, i'll just adjust the pressure with the compressors regulator so wont be using it anyway.

On the other hand it works pretty much flawlessly. Ive only plasma cut and DC tigged with it so far as i dont have any aluminium electrodes / rods just yet. The high frequency start works great and the plasma is really quite awesome, even though we didn't have it setup pretty much at all, cutting through 6mm steel was easy. With the right air pressure and such this will be a super handy tool indeed i can see myself using all the time. The amount of sparks it gives off also isnt as bad as i was expecting.

Here's the pros and cons thus far

Pro:

- HF start and the DC tig side of things is fantastic, the footpedal is made like shyte but it works nicely. Much better than my lincoln lift tig
- comes with heaps of accessories, lots of spare plasma consumables and tig torch collets + ceramics.
- Plasma cutter works just great
- Heaps of settings, up slope, down slope, pulsed mode, AC cleaning etc. Pretty good for a $900 machine.
- The price is right. The lincoln is a 145A lift tig and cost $300 more back in the day.

Con:

- Certainly not on the same level of construction as the lincoln, but not that bad.
- The current readout only seems to work when welding, which is completely useless. But my lincoln and many other machines dont have the digital readout either so im not too fussed on that one.
- The plasma regulator and air lines are just beyond useless, factor in having to replace all that.
- The welding clamp sucks and the cord is pretty short. Will be replacing those.

Verdict so far, Great welder for the price! Will report back with some vids and pics once i have time to really get stuck into it
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www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

Excellent! I've been tossing up buying that exact welder for the last ~12 months!
With my tax money about to land in my bank, this might be my next investment

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