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Eastwood welders

mesha

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
Has anyone used Eastwood welders/plasma cutters? I have read some threads in other forums, but I am interested in first hand experience. I need another spool gun and for a little more than a miller spool gun I can buy an Eastwood welder with a spool gun. I thought about buying a Miller TIG welder, but the spool gun is so much faster for what I am doing I think MIG is a better option.

I know it is made in China and all that. Most of the reviews have been good, but a few talking about some bad plastic parts. They come with a 30 day money back guarantee and a 3 year warranty.

If the first hand experience is bad then I will just buy another miller spool gun. If the first hand experience is good I will give it a shot.

Thanks in advance :)
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
I have an Eastwood TIG, works great, I just wish my torch was water-cooled. You are welcome to come over any time and check it out/use it!
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
It gets the job done. It's not a square-wave or anything fancy like that. It does have high frequency start, and a knob for AC balance, pre and post-flow time for shielding gas, and gives the option of using the foot pedal or the switch on the torch. It's pretty basic though. It's great for learning, because there isn't too much that you can mess up. It will work for small projects but I have to stop every now and then and let the torch cool down.

If you are only using it for the occasional project and don't mind waiting a couple times per project to let the torch cool down then I would reccomend it. If you plan on using it a lot, and using it as a source of income, I'd say it's not the right one for you. I'm right on the balance line right now. If I start getting more TIG work coming in then I will be selling my Eastwood and getting a Miller.
 
mesha

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
I don't need a shop quality unit, but I do like buying quality stuff. I have a miller 211 and love it. I can only run one spool gun off it at a time though :)

Speaking of square wave TIG welders, I have been looking at a miller diversion 180. I know it doesn't have the duty cycle you are looking for, but I think it would suit my needs nicely.
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
I should probably pay more attention to duty cycle than I currently do. On my Miller MIG I weld until the fan kicks on (usually takes some good time of decent amps to get the fan to come on) and I wait for the fan to go off (usually 30-45 seconds) and then I carry on again.

I run my angle grinder (Milwaukee) until it gets warm in my hand (about 5 mins of continuous hard use) and then I let it cool before I continue (5 year warranty)

on my TIG, it's the temperature of the torch that regulates my use-time for sure. When I drop the coin on a "nice" Miller TIG I will pay attention to the duty cycle better.
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
Fwiw I bought my Eastwood TIG from SLCpunk (Chad) here on RME. He may be able to give a wider review of it than I.
 
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