Affordable Tig Welders Review part 2...click here to see part 1

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My first tig welder was a Miller Syncrowave 250 and I bought it back around 1993.

Later on I sold the syncrowave 250 and bought a Miller Dynasty 200dx right after they came available.

On thru the years I have had the opportunity to weld with quite a lot of tig welders.  Miller, Lincoln, Ltec, Hobart, Thermal Arc, Everlast, HTP, AHP, and a few I probably forgot.

But one question I get asked more often than any other is " What is a good and affordable Tig welder?"  or "What are some affordable tig welders that have good reviews?"

Its a hard question to answer but I hope this series on tig welders will help to answer some of those questions.

Lincoln Tig 175 transformer is what I consider an affordable tig welder

pros and cons of the Lincoln TIG 175

pros:  simple, durable,  affordable at around $2000, good stick welder, auto ac balance, good starts on both ac and dc

cons:  discontinued,  weight is around 185 lbs, draws more power than inverters, max amps is only 175...
(but adding helium helps a lot)  post flow is fixed at 15 seconds which can waste quite a bit of gas.

Miller Diversion 180 is a simple inverter tig welder

Miller Diversion 180 pros and cons

pros:  simple to use, foot pedal is small and smooth but cable and connections are kinda weak, price is pretty good for a miller brand machine at around $2000

cons:  fan is loud, ac balance is fixed at 70% negative and frequency is fixed at around 120hz , torch is hardwired ( I know folks who swapped out the miller torch for a CK flex 17 but it takes some work) torch and torch thumb wheel is sorta clunky.

Everlast 210ext is a full featured tig welder

Everlast 210ext

pros:  price is around $1700 on amazon.com, comes complete with torch, foot pedal, etc. 5 year warranty, excellent arc on ac and dc, low amp arc starts are good, full featured machine with advanced pulse.

cons: lesser known brand, foot pedal is just ok...not great. learning curve on controls and features.

Lincoln SquareWave 200 is a simplified and affordable tig welder

Lincoln Square Wave 200 TIG

pros:  price is around $1500 complete with torch, pedal, etc.  inverter draws less than 30 amps at
200 amps, under 40lbs, ssc foot pedal is pretty good, 17 air cooled torch. ac balance, ac freq.

cons: low amp DC arc starts are a bit too aggressive for some applications. Pulse settings are fixed except for pps, post flow not adjustable