[brendan]

I've got A miller tig welder and am in love with it. I know miller male good gear so I am sure you will be more then happy with that mask. I got a.cigweld auto darken ajustable sensativaty,shade ext. Cost me $300.

[TZAR]

They are like motorbike helmets.

What price do you put on your vision???

Cheap ones do not work with TIG. Get a good one for around the 400 mark and you should be safe. Don't buy the cheap ebay ones unless you don't want to see when you are old

Failing that just get acheap one and put in the right shade glass for what you are doing

[Zook_Fan]

well the miller one above goes for around $550 but is on sale for $399 which is why we were seriously considering it. The only other one we were thinking about was at BOC. It is a BOC brand that you can choose between din 8 through to din 11. it goes for about $405, on sale now for $335 but we can get mates rates and down to $300. It is not a bad looking helmet either but it has this stupid 'on' feature where after 20 minutes of welding it turns itself off... You still get full protection but it doesnt light up it just remains very dark until you turn it on again.

[royce]

they are all dark till you turn it on, its how they work

I wouldnt buy anything you couldnt try 1st or is recommended by somebody you know that uses them all day, I would say even a $400 one could be a bit shitty

[Zook_Fan]

it has a satisfaction garantee (sp) on it so we could take it back, they have a booth out the back to use it with, just havent tried it yet coz we were sort of only looking at the time

[Taff]

the miller elite digital is freakin sweet, if i was going to get an auto helmet that's what i would be buying. was using one to tig alloy the other day. a rep was letting me have a test run.

best price i have seen around here is $580 though

It senses the electrical pulse of the arc and in theory goes dark before there's even any light, afaik its the only helmet that does that.

I weld just as good with my $20 10+yo manual helmet though, its just a pain in the ass.

[Zook_Fan]

yeah there is a local hardware shop here that is having an introductory offer at $399 and i think it is well worth it but dont know if i can get the cash too quick

[Taff]

thats very cheap.

they RRP for something like 650 i think

[ball]

Zook_Fan wrote:

well the miller one above goes for around $550 but is on sale for $399 which is why we were seriously considering it. The only other one we were thinking about was at BOC. It is a BOC brand that you can choose between din 8 through to din 11. it goes for about $405, on sale now for $335 but we can get mates rates and down to $300. It is not a bad looking helmet either but it has this stupid 'on' feature where after 20 minutes of welding it turns itself off... You still get full protection but it doesnt light up it just remains very dark until you turn it on again.

What is the model number of the BOC one?

[Zook_Fan]

i have no idea on the model number of the boc one..... it is red and top of there line

[ball]

Is there any chance you can find out if it is the Auto Tracker Red or the Switch Red.

If is the Auto tracker for $300 I would grab it as that is cheaper than what the dealer price is.

[Zook_Fan]

yeah it is the auto tracker but the Miller is a better bargain

[Pubic]

have a look at the speedglas range.

very good helmets. a little pricey but well worth it.

[Zook_Fan]

yeah they are actually fairly cheap at BOC as well. He was trying to talk us into one of those.

[zookster666]

has anyone bought one? are they worth it

[Fatzook]

All I can say is you get what you pay for. Ebay welders are no exception.

[lump_a_charcoal]

I bought one last week -
How much are you looking to spend, and what are you welding?
I bought a CIG 250SE with remote head for $820, used. It is the largest single phase welder you can get.
Stick with name brands like CIG, BOC, Unimig have excellent after sale service, Kempi are a bit crap if you ask my boilermaker mate.

[steak_knife]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

I bought one last week -
How much are you looking to spend, and what are you welding?
I bought a CIG 250SE with remote head for $820, used. It is the largest single phase welder you can get.
Stick with name brands like CIG, BOC, Unimig have excellent after sale service, Kempi are a bit crap if you ask my boilermaker mate.

CIG250, thay nice!! tssszzzzzzzz. GLUED!!!!!!

[zookster666]

i done have a hell of alot to spend on one about 500 600 at the most i was looking at this one
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... K:MEWAX:IT
ill be welding a range of things but have no idea if there worth it

[31zook]

go into your local welding shop and ask for a replacement digital readout screen... kempi are semi decent but backwards...

[Rockhopper]

$5990 rrp for an ebay brand mig welder. I find that a little hard to swallow

[zookster666]

yeah me too this is why i asked

[ball]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

I bought one last week -
How much are you looking to spend, and what are you welding?
I bought a CIG 250SE with remote head for $820, used. It is the largest single phase welder you can get.
Stick with name brands like CIG, BOC, Unimig have excellent after sale service, Kempi are a bit crap if you ask my boilermaker mate.

The BOC range of migs are made by Kemppi. They are actually quite a good machine.

The problem with Kemppi is the parts are quite expensive not that the machines are crap.

[brendan]

Of you you don't mind saving I'll would buy a miller. I've got one of there dynasty 200dx tig welders will do anything! More functions then a 747

[lump_a_charcoal]

Ball, yeah i don't know much about them, but his boss bought 5 tigs for about 4.5k each, and none lasted more than 6 months...

Anyway, stick with name brands. You will need spares one day...

[ball]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

Ball, yeah i don't know much about them, but his boss bought 5 tigs for about 4.5k each, and none lasted more than 6 months...

Anyway, stick with name brands. You will need spares one day...

I would be thinking that it is a user problem more than a machine problem.

The kemmpi tig's are way overpriced. There are much cheaper options out there that are nearly boilermaker proof.

When I did my apprenticeship many years ago we had 2 brand name inverter stick/tig machines. They worked really well until they were knocked over when turned on. They then fried the mainboards. They just weren't boilermaker proof.

[zookster666]

Ok I will have a shop around for a second Hand name brand one thanks for the help

[lump_a_charcoal]

zookster666 wrote:

Ok I will have a shop around for a second Hand name brand one thanks for the help

You are on the right track. If you can afford to spend $900, you will get a good, second hand one. Maybe even for less.

Ball, is "Boilermaker proof" a lower rating than "Shep proof"?

[BlueSuzy]

1200 will get you a decent unimig..new..

[Fatzook]

I have personally seen 2 unimigs catch fire, one whilst I was using it. I have heard of 3 others doing the same. I have also had a Uniplas catch fire whilst using it.

Personally I give them a wide birth these days.

@ lump_a_charcoal: you can get bigger single phase machines than yours. Mine is a 255 lincoln remote, and I have seen a 305 esab before.