Review on 🔧 LOTOS TIG200ACDC 200A AC/DC Aluminum Tig Welder with DC Stick/Arc Welder, Square Wave Inverter - Dual Voltage (110/220V), Brown Finish - Includes Foot Pedal and Argon Regulator by Seth Waldron

Oh my god, it's a mixed bag. It might be the ugliest thing in the world, but that's not what you buy a welder for, so it probably doesn't matter to you. My other welders are Millers (XMT 304cc/cv, Dynasty 200DX) so I must be spoiled. But my Miller's air conditioning function died, so I figured something like the Lotos (whose total cost, including shipping, is about half the cost of repairing my Dynasty) would be a good fit for a very specific replacement. Application only a/c (ie aluminum). I haven't even tried the Stick or DC TIG functions as I'm only interested in the AC TIG function, but I'll look into those at some point and edit my review. For now though. yes, it's ugly, but it works. In fact, pretty much everything adds up. Shipping was FAST, I think I ordered it on a Sunday and it was here in a few days which is great since I'm in Hawaii. Smaller Dinse connectors which unfortunately can't be shared with my Dynasty or most other heavy machines (outlets are EXPENSIVE these days). The good news, however, is that this machine comes surprisingly complete, with a flow meter, hoses, full TIG torch and wires for the rod and TIG. Simply fill up with gas and you're done. Accessories are pretty decent quality. The TIG torch is good but has a thick European style body which I can't hold like a pencil as most Americans weld during a TIG weld. So I hold it like a club and smack it through. The pedal on the TIG is pretty bad. There is no fine control, you get judder and obvious coarse control, but not very fine arc adjustment. The bow itself seems odd, not nearly as focused as I'm used to, but I'm still fiddling with the controls. It came with a medium diameter thoriated tungsten, but the arc seems very thick and unfocused. I tried increasing the argon flow and changing the contours of the tip; but the arch is still bushy. I'll try lanthanized tungsten tonight and see if that helps. Also, I've only tried very thin-walled 16-gauge aluminum tubing so far. Surprisingly, the block doesn't go below about 23 amps. that's a little high for such thin things. It's fine to start with, but after about an inch or so the work gets hot enough to widen the puddle and flatten the bead significantly, and when you try to let go of the pedal to bring the temperature down. the arc is extinguished. It can't be any lower. Sigh. I can live with that and just work with thicker material, but TIG is really a process where you have more control and shouldn't be forced to heat something until you poke a hole in it (although we all do sometimes). However, at this price point, I can't argue about the value; sure a $500 machine is worth less than the PARTS needed to repair the AC board in my Dynasty Miller, but no doubt the Dynasty arc characteristics were SIGNIFICANTLY different, much tighter and the arc was much stiffer , very easy to locate the puddle. and of course that puddle was getting slightly weaker by the minute. Stay tuned (I only had it for a few hours). Edit1: Okay, I tried tungsten with 2% lanthanum (1/16 inch) instead of the thoriated tungsten the machine came with. No difference I could see. Then switch to thicker practical aluminum and see if it works better there. Also, I did all my testing with just a 120V power supply and saw at least 1 review saying the machine was in 220V mode much better responding will have to wait until the weekend. Right now I'm using very low duty cycles and I hope I can survive with that. I think it needs to be made clear that my XMT 304 is a beast and can really perform at a very high level. usually with MIG. Since TIG is severely limited in terms of the amperage that the electrode can handle (I only have air-cooled torches), I look at TIG for projects that require VERY precise control and relatively low amperage, so it strikes me that i am unfair since most people won't be fooling around all the time at midnight. I will try at higher currents and report. Edit2: Okay, I tried higher currents and unfortunately nothing changed. The arc is a little easier to control but still too wide. It IS POSSIBLE to weld aluminum and there is decent cleaning action in the arc, but the arc is still so thick that it's impossible to get the fill rod close enough (you usually keep it inside the gas cone). so it doesn't oxidize, while keeping it away from the inner cone of the arc so it doesn't melt, and just dropping it into a puddle when adding it), the gas cone is the cone of the arc, it's so fluffy. I can't operate my gas lenses with this flashlight (the flashlight body is a different size), so a better flashlight might solve some of these problems. but it's more than just gas flow. The arc is still not sharply focused. At least now I have to return this article. For the time being I'd say this could be used on larger projects (I haven't tried a DC arc when discussing aluminum with AC), but if you're working on small, thin projects your chances of getting a nice weld aren't very good.