Lotos TIG200

[Crusty]

My welder conversion experiment ended in failure because my sow's ear welder ultimately consumed tungsten tips way too fast, though it did TIG weld OK. Oh well, it kept me out of beer joints while building it.

Finally giving in to the obvious I bought a Lotos TIG200 AC/DC TIG/MMA inverter welder and I got to put it through its paces this morning at near maximum current and I have to say that I'm pleased. It just works, welds accurately and is a much better welder than its operator. For you pros I know it's not a red or blue welder but I'm a hobbyist and it will take care of all my welding needs (up to ¼" material) at a cost which I can afford. They're sold at Home Depot online but you can save about $100 by buying one on Ebay, and I'm tickled with my purchase so far.



The controls are the bare minimum needed for TIG welding but having said that I found them to be adequate for a skilled welder to make nice welds. It comes with a current control foot pedal, optional torch mounted HF manual switch, argon regulator, flow meter and hose, WP17 torch and stinger handle with 12' leads, work clamp with lead and a cheesy face shield which can't be thrown away fast enough. Just add a good hood, filler rods and an argon bottle and you're in like Flint.

TIP 1: There's a saw blade sharpener sold by Horror Freight which comes with a 4" diamond wheel and that wheel mounted outside a standard wheel on a bench grinder makes a great dedicated tungsten tip grinder at low cost. TIP 2: A TIG Finger shield really helps to maintain a constant tip distance from the work piece without burning the glove and the hand inside. TIP 3: The torch comes with a handle that makes it way too bulky, but the handle can be easily taken off and replaced with a length of 5/8" garden hose to make a nice slender torch. You do lose the manual HF start switch doing this but I found that I have no need for it using the switch that's built into the foot pedal so it's a complete solution for me. TIP 4: The foot pedal has two cables that make it somewhat of a pain to use but by twisting the two cables together it becomes one easier to deal with cable.