I'll offer these thoughts on buying a welder:
As has been said in other earlier postings on buying primary shop equipment, you get what you pay for. Welders are no exception. The opposite is true too -
it's easy to spend too much for your actual needs. It seems to me that there are a lot of features of a welding machine that go unused, particularly in a TIG machine. Starting out it's usually difficult to tell what you really need versus the glitz of the whistles and bells.
I haven't shopped for a welding for several years, so I looked at the Primeweld 225. Here's what seems like a good review of the machine:
https://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/viewtopic.php?t=14803 FWIW, this is a Chinese machine - as are many other brands on the market today (in fact even the high end machines may be made in China).
If I were buying my first welding machine today, here's what I would do:
- Shop craiglist for a deal - there are lots of good used, name brand welders routinely listed. Get something at a fraction of list price and see just how much you use it - or, what features you would like to have in your next machine. Test drive it before purchase!
- Get a 110/220v machine - that allows you to use 220v in your shop and then you can move the machine to another location where only 110v is available.
- If you are looking for a MIG machine, look under the hood and see how the wire is fed. the drive rollers and gears should be made of metal, not plastic, and should be interchangleable/reverseable to use multiple wire sizes, like .030 or .035 (or .045)
- Also, on a MIG welder, see if you can easily get a replacement wire sleeve (the spiral metal sleeve that the wire is fed through to the gun).
- In my opinion, unless you have a specific need, a MIG spool gun is a waste of money. Sure, you can theoretically weld aluminum, but I've found it to be much harder than advertised. (if anyone wants a Miller spool gun, I've got one for sale)
- And finally, if possible, try to buy a machine that can be serviced by a local welding shop. That will save a lot of aggravation when trying to get support when a problem arises.
