I'm not against inverters at all, in fact I love them. I realise that this is a milling forum but the conversation has gravitated in this direction so heres my 2 cents worth. Inverters, being a DC power source as opposed to a transformers AC output, can bring certain annoyances along with their benefits and honestly, how many people ever use them to run a scratch start TIG.Īs with most things, price has tempered quality so the best way is to try before you buy. Often these machines are seen for sale quite cheaply. Yes, they are nice and portable and weld very smootly, however the average home welder will be just as well served by a decent transformer welder, preferably copper coiled, that will supply a genuine 120-160 amps. To be honest I feel that many people have gone inverter crazy when choosing a welder. Also bear in mind that the highest duty cycle achieved during stick welding is considered to be around 60%, (time lost chipping slag and changing electrodes etc). Be aware that there are 3 time periods that I am aware of when measuring the duty cycle 5 minutes 10 minutes and 60 minutes, as you can see a 30% duty cycle would equate to 1.5 minutes, 3 minutes and 18 minutes respectively. Duty cycle is very important and dependant upon what the intended usage is and does vary with the quality of the power supply, long extension leads are a killer. Speaking as a Boilermaker with 20 odd years in the trade the comment I would make regarding welders is along the lines that many manufacturers have both good and bad models and choice should be based upon a demonstration of the machine - particularly when buying a MIG.

Stihl vs echo trimmer 2016