What Tig Welder should I purchase?

[BCBoy]

I would like to learn to weld thin stainless steel, the journey will be long and hard. One day hopefully I will be able to weld a stainless steel ferrule onto my beer brew kettle. Like these pictures. The brew kettle is made from 20 gauge SS200. Thanks for your help.
Kimball

[Rambozo]

20 gauge takes a little practice, but as long as you have a machine with a good low end, it's not that hard. The tricky part is difference in thickness between the two parts. Torch angle becomes most important to control the heat input to each piece. Get some scraps of different thickness. Start with 1/8 and work your way down to 20 gauge or less. Then start mixing two different thickness pieces. 1/16 and .040" tungsten will help.

[christian]

Yeah,

I'm sure a lot of units could do it.

But one of the very best examples of delicate DC TIG welding that I've seen captured on video, was of Mr. TIG using an Everlast unit (iTIG 200T, I believe it was), coincidentally, to actually do DC TIG welding to join two pieces of aluminum foil. No kidding!

That iTIG 200T model has the lowest possible DC arc of any Everlast unit, I believe, at 3 amps.

Anyway, that machine is probably as good or better than most any others for that kind of stuff, I'm guessing. I mean, I homebrew, have a kegerator, and initially tried, as a beginning TIG welder, to weld a fitting on a Korney keg, but finally resorted to bulkhead compression fittings with the orange O-ring, as that thin, formed stainless steel will show up like a potato chip unless you're spot-on with the heat input on those vessels.

[BCBoy]

I have been looking at the Tig machines here. The Everlast unit go from 3 amps, 5 amps and 10 amps low starts. How much difference is their between 3 and 5 amps when welding this thin stainless steel? Or could I use a 10 amps machine? I would like a AC/DC machine so I could welding aluminum later on too.

[christian]

Yeah,

That thought occurred to me to, since the iTIG is DC-only, and its price approaches that of an AC/DC TIG unit, which have nearly the same low-amp ability.

I'm guessing that a unit with 10 amp starts would probably do it fine, even though 3 amps might be hard to beat. But I'd still think a specialized fixturing would be in order, with aluminum or copper backing around those areas that any thin sheet mates to the thicker stainless fittings. And I'd always tend to look for ways to have the bead on the inside of a vessel or at the lid or rim of the bulkhead fitting where it fits flush to a sidewall drilled hole, so you can avoid a fillet weld, which takes much more heat and may appear imperfect.

So, yeah, if I were to want to do that stuff, I'd get a TIG unit, some cheap stainless tubing or pipe, along with some cast-off ss kettle or kegs, then practice on the best fit-ups, joints, and welding tactics.

I mean, I use a basic kettle with no fittings for liquid and dry malt extract brews. But in all of he catalogs that I've seen for the more advanced kettles and other vessels, I don't think I've noticed any TIG welded bulkhead fittings. And that fitting that's shown, seems to have no secondary flange seat at the outer wall of the kettle, so that an outer weld with a modified fillet/lap weld might be quite feasible, especially with managing the heat and potentially having an aesthetically pleasant looking weld showing.

So, maybe the silver solder route or whatever is the the more trodden path for that stuff is the smart and easy course. But please do let us all know if you manage to get it done well with the TIG process.

Here's my threaded fitting to the Korney keg. Of course, it's only for a cold storage vessel under a bit of CO2 pressure. But, I believe I did attempt to TIG weld a much smaller, threaded fitting that took a simple cap, years ago, and it didn't go so well.

[BCBoy]

I'm going to pull the Trigger. How much difference is their between these to machines?

POWERTIG 200DV will Weld to a minimum of .007" Steel, Weld to a minimum of .020" Aluminum. <---Seems .015 thicker? That is still 25 gauge or 7/320". That seem real thin for aluminum?
TIG Output Range DC:
120V: 5A-125A/10.2V-15V
240V: 5A-200A/10.2V-18V


POWERTIG 210 EXT will Weld to a minimum of .004" Steel, Weld to a minimum of .005" Aluminum.
Start Amp Range:
120V:
DC: 5-120A
AC: 5-120A
240V:
DC: 5-210A
AC: 5-210A
End Amp Range:
120V:
DC: 3-120A
AC: 5-120A
240V:
DC: 3-210A
AC: 5-210A

How does end amp range affect welding thin stainless steel?

Any other advice with these welders will be really appreciated. Thanks to all that have posted in this thread.

I mean, I homebrew, have a kegerator, and initially tried, as a beginning TIG welder, to weld a fitting on a Korney keg, but finally resorted to bulkhead compression fittings with the orange O-ring, as that thin, formed stainless steel will show up like a potato chip unless you're spot-on with the heat input on those vessels.

I have a kegerator too. Old used freezer for my redneck unit, holds 5 kegs tho.

[performance]

Ther's a good bit of difference. Not only in control, but also design. The 210 EXT has wave form control, advanced AC pulse, and memory, not to mention more (and more precise) adjustments, and more stick welding features (and VRD for situations where it is required). It is probably our best valued (but often overlooked) machine in my opinion.

[christian]

Yeah,

I own and like the 210EXT.

I've used a 200DV on DC TIG, briefly, a few years ago. The 210EXT is much quieter, at least it was back then.

The added features and digital interface of the 210EXT are worth the extra cost over the 200DV, I think.

[BCBoy]

What other items will I need to weld thin stainless steel, ie tungstens and consumables. How many years is the warranty if I live in Canada? Thanks again.

[Rambozo]

For food grade work, the one big issue is that hasn't been mentioned, is that you really should back purge the weld with argon. That shouldn't be too difficult with a container that can be closed, but it will require more bits and pieces than your typical welding setup. That way you don't sugar the backside of the weld and leave pores that bacteria can hide in. Search sanitary tube welds and you will see examples of how it is done. You will want 1/16" and or .040" tungsten for the best heat control. All the machines mentioned will do the job. It will still take practice to be good at this. Even machines with low start amps, often have a kick when using HF, so they can be tough to start on really thin material. For what you're doing you can just make sure to do your starts on the thicker fittings, so no problem there. If you are learning welding just to do this kind of job, I would say just send it out to be done. However, if you have a lot of other welding word, then by all means give it a try and see how you do. Another option is to take a night course in TIG and get a feel for it. You will then know a lot more about what kind of machine you want.