A question for the experianced

[B.Banner]

Hi there. I was hoping you could answer a quick question I have. I am a mechanic and a lover of motorsports but I am the kind of person that likes to pop the hood and say " I made that ". So anyways. I have the chance to buy a welder from my Snap-on dealer and just add it to my snap-on credit or... My Matco dealer will finance me a Miller welder. The question is what welder do you think would suit my needs best? heres a link for the welder I planned on getting from Snap-on

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

Now my dealer told me I can MIG any type of metal and I can TIG steels but not aluminum. I plan on doing a good amount of work with aluminum intercooler piping, intercooler, radiator, intake manifold ect.... Can I just MIG all of that stuff? or should I just buy a REAL TIG welder and cheap out on a 110 MIG welder that only does some metals?
I REALLY apreciate you even taking the time to read this, I know I said it was a quick question I just want to know exactly what I need before I make such a large purchase. Thank you for you time.
B.Banner

[FusionKing]

You could prolly get 2 Millers for the price of the snap-on and the snap-on is not even in the ball park as far as quality or performance is concerned.
Snap-on is WAY overpriced. Their handtools are great but their re-badged products are just ridiculess on price. I've been bit by them myself a time or two
So yes...get a REAL welder.
And check prices before you go with matco as well...

[Broccoli1]

LINK not working for me?

[B.Banner]

You could prolly get 2 Millers for the price of the snap-on and the snap-on is not even in the ball park as far as quality or performance is concerned.
Snap-on is WAY overpriced. Their handtools are great but their re-badged products are just ridiculess on price. I've been bit by them myself a time or two
So yes...get a REAL welder.
And check prices before you go with matco as well...

That was what I was thinking. What would you recomend of a TIG welder? I plan on doing alot of fabrication, i'm just on a budget of around 3k or so. The reason I was gonna go with the snap-on was just because I was only gonna be paying $9 a week on my already existing account. My Matco dealr is a really good friend of mine. I just don't know which miller TIG welder to get. Im thinking this one

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/syncrowave_200/

But with the 40% duty cycle I will have to let it rest quit a bit wont I?
Is 150 amps gonna be good enough for the fabrication I want to do? Exhuast, turbo header, and the following aluminum stuff I said in the fist post.

[StillBoostin]

Do you have 220V available? That will change what welder we would recomend to you. I'm in the Motorsports business, so I know what your looking for. Get the MM180 or MM212. If you don't have 220v then for the shop get the DVI2 it does the same as the MM140 in the 120v and the same as the MM180 in the 220v. ****But if you build race cars I would get the Passport it is the same as the DVI2 but portable (perfect at the track). Ge the SG100 (spool gun) to do Aluminum. Buy a longer MIG gun because the M10 is less then 10ft.

As far as the TIG get the Syncrowave 250DX with the tig runner package. If you will weld for hours at a time get the water cooler. Yes this is a lot of money but you must spend money to make it. I own a lot of Snap ON myself but would never buy a Span On welder. Miller is #1 for a reason. Highest quality parts and machines, The best customer service is the business, and will impress all you customer's when they see BLUE. If you need the machine to be portable then get the Dynasty 200DX. It is also a Multi voltage machine. It does 120v, 220v, and 460V.

James

[B.Banner]

Yes I do have a 220v in my garage. Is thge Dynasty 200DX not enough for motorsports fabrication?

[Broccoli1]

Now my dealer told me I can MIG any type of metal and I can TIG steels but not aluminum.

????

You can Tig aloominum

[B.Banner]

Oh and to you StillBoostin, Do you think I could get by with MIG welding everything such as IC piping, intake manifolds and such?

[B.Banner]

????

You can Tig aloominum

I ment with that specific welder he was gonna sell me.

[blazehaze69]

Hey BB, get a Miller 200DX. I think that would suit you well! All I do is stainless and aluminum- works real well for that!

[Broccoli1]

I ment with that specific welder he was gonna sell me.

ahhh Dc Tig then

[blazehaze69]

Sounds like a Harbor Freight item, Broc!

[Broccoli1]

Sounds like a Harbor Freight item, Broc!

dunno- Couldn't open the link. Have no idea who manufactures weldin' machines for snap-on.

B. Banner,

Stick around as other members will chime in when they get a chance- but my gut feeling is that you are going to want/need a Tig machine for your projects.

[DSW]

I have the syncrowave 200 and am still learning alum tig. I can definatly begin to see that the dynasty 200Dx might have been a better choice for alum as it gives you more options on how you can set the arc. Looking back now, thats most likely what I would get instead of my syncrowave.

Never had much luck with my spool gun on alum as far as small round stock. I just cant get the gun swung around fast enough to keep it in position. It's not bad on flat stock but 3/8"-1/2" round is a PITA.

[Craig in Denver]

"I plan on doing a good amount of work with aluminum intercooler piping, intercooler, radiator,"

TIG

Just to get ya started, more detailed answers will get posted by others. IMHO: For your application, I think a wire feed of any kind is a poor choice for alum under 1/8". You need to have AC with HF for 'practical' alum under 1/8".

Many of your questions were answered here awhile back, before you found the site. Since someone reopened it, I thought you'd like to see.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/showthread.php?t=2550

Syncrowave 250 $2500 ish
power hungry, 60 amp ckt, no HZ adj for arc forming capability, but they've been doing alum magic for years

Dynasty 200DX $4000 ish
low power draw, 30 amp ckt, 115v / 220v, pretty cool arc control capabilities

Full disclosure: I'm a hobby guy and have never touched a Dynasty.