Don’t know about the e-bay TIG’s, never tried them, but I was looking at a MIG at BOC a few years back.
It was an inverter MIG.
Inverter welders produce a much nicer arc, I have been using an Inverter AC/DC TIG now for about 14 years (mine was probably the first in the country) and the arc stability is far superior than a transformer type welder although an inverter welder can shit itself more easily too.
Bit like a Maico, perform really good but break down easily.
Anyway I asked for a demo on this MIG, can’t remember the brand name but it was green, made in China and retailed for around $1100.00 bucks.
It could weld alright but it coughed and spluttered a lot at start up. There was nothing I or the sales Rep could do to make it run better.
I then looked over to see a Kempi inverter MIG so I asked to give that a run
It was as sweet as.
At around $2200.00 you get what you pay for and one of these is on my wish list.
I know its easier for me to justify as I use welders a lot but if a cheap welder doesn’t perform right you will just find it frustrating.
I have looked at some of the machines on e-bay and I think some offer a demo option if you go to there warehouse, it would be worth checking them out if you can.
Kempi & BOC had a falling out and they no longer sell them.
I have been running LPG instead of acetylene for a few years now. No bottler rental and much cheaper gas.
You can even run it from you BBQ bottle.
It seems much harder to get the flame right to fusion weld properly though, (only tried it once and gave up) but it is fine for heating, brazing and silver soldering.
Air Liquide have some dumb surcharge if you don’t exchange the bottles at least every 3 months.
