I liked your comments. My grandpa (RIP) was using this kind of welder. Now I know what he was doing. Thank you for that, it reminds me of my beloved grandpa.
Thank you so much for this really fantastic video. I've been looking at hobby-level multi-process welder and this was the best 40 minutes I've spent on RU-vid in the process. Your entire video was an education for me on how to set up and use a machine like this. Thumbs up to you!
Pretty nice welder. I have a 3 in one called a TWECO or THERMAL ARC (they merged). I have been using mine for 5 years and have never had problems. The biggest problems I have had have been with the gun and the tips getting clogged. I use a goop to lubricate the tip by dipping the tip in the goop after every use. Gas is so expensive here in Chile that I am using Shielded wire .35 and this way I am able to weld a little cheaper. Thanks for the setup explanation. Jim in Chile.
You should just grab a wire brush and after everytime you use it, wire brush and tap on the tip with the wooden handle to knock the slag off. Also, make sure to keep your tip at a consistent distance from the metal. I had a very good Century MIG welder using flux wire and it never had a single problem with the tip clogging, unless I let my friends borrow it. Bad technique is most likely the problem, if you can keep the tip away from the metal and wire brush it regularly, it won't stick. I also used name brand copper tips. There is a huge difference in quality and heat dissipation between tips. You don't want to use budget tips. The tips are incredibly important and the thicker copper will prevent the tips from melting and clogging. You need the thick factory tips made with real copper.
TIG welding has been around for as long as AC/DC stick welding. That goes for the air-cooled TIG torch with manual gas control on/off switch where you need to connect the gas directly from the bottle. To this day, this TIG torch is used on buzz boxes with the adapter number 105z57 which is held by the stick torch to do TIG. You can’t weld aluminum with this setup. Meaning, you can’t weld aluminum with this welder either.
Helium. DC aluminum was the first tig procedure. It was called heliarc welding with the heli short for helium. This procedure is used to this day in aero-space and certain jobs that require thick aluminum plates.
the threaded part of your grounding clamp on the top. where the all thread and nuts are. its touching were you want to ground completely removing the top copper piece from touching the metal. probably want to back that out a bit. thanks for posting.
These inverter welders have revolutionized TIG welding -- they are so small and light weight!! If you look at the giant brutes that they replace, you will see the difference. Plus they typically have lots of modes and settings: AC / DC, pre flow, post flow, ramp, duty cycle, etc. You can get them with water cooling and a foot pedal, too. For aluminum, my feeling is that you really need TIG, even though I am lousy at welding aluminum with TIG. I find aluminum remarkably difficult compared to steel. Re: the MIG part, I tend to use a separate, purpose-built MIG welder, and it only has the two settings (other than gas flow), and that seems normal to me. You can use different wires, and I have welded normal wire and hard face with my MIG, but I find you cannot really MIG weld with aluminum wire unless ;you have one of those special little spools by your torch, like Cobramatic. Even then, pros seem to always grab the TIG for aluminum. In America, the two main wire sizes for MIG are .030" and .035". Also, I believe that the flux is in the core, not the outside, when using flux-core MIG wire. The only time I used the stick attachment on my multi-purpose welder was to weld cast iron, which requires a special type of nickel rod. Otherwise, unless welding really thick stuff, most folks will prefer that nice easy MIG welder for all steel welding, except for some pretty specialized work with stainless or special cases like roll cages with specific alloys.
Pretty much agree with everything you say (it's taken me three years to learn all of it the hard way !). Anyone new to (hobby) welding would benefit from watching this first. If it is DC only then it will not do aluminium (easily).
Got myself a stick welder (Telwin, Italy made) just this Wednesday. It's a small inverter with a duty cycle of 88% at 150A and 100% at lower amperage. I listened to Ave and Essential Craftsman who recommended to start with stick. Presumably my model can do Tig too, but it hasn't HF. Should the need ever arise for TIG I will get a simple model with HF.
Bien le bonjour du Canada Again well explained. I am not a professional welder but a retiree who likes to understand. I have 2 welders, a very old arc with 2 ranges a low and a high with cables that I move on the front, I arrive welded. And a Lincoln mig with a 75% CO2 and 25% argon gas cylinder. I manage to make welds worthy of the pro with and I put them to the test. Once the skis of my sled entered under the ice at high speed and my welds held well despite the weight of the machine which pulled, I was surprised that I was a good welder ahahahh Greeting Steve and do not let go !!!
Anybody else notice that he salivated when speaking of the quality of the unit? That tells you everything ya need to know!! ;-) The man is legit and so is that 3-in-1 welder! (My conclusion as of 1:56). *Oops. I was a bit wrong after watching whole video. It's decent, but not a great machine. Still impressed with him so I've subscribed.
The downside is when you lose any one of the functions you probably lose them all. I stick weld about once a year but MIG almost weekly. TIG is new to me but I suspect he is right that the gas valve on the torch is a terrible idea that would lead to an empty Argon bottle very quickly. BTW, I just refilled my MIG bottle and asked why it was more than pure Argon. The gas guy told me it was because of the extra step required to mix the two gasses. So pure Argon is cheaper than Argon/Carbon Dioxide mixed.
We used straight co2 for steel, argon to certify and stainless I certified with co2 more than once. This was welding rail cars, they always said I had too many bad habits from stick, I welded everything that came my way, cast, steel, and stainless, don’t remember al
Great Review - As Regards Kevin Travis NEGATIVE review, well what did you want Kevin as I felt it was honest, fair and well presented. As a matter of interest, what did you not like about it or do you have a conflict of interests. This is a low cost 3 in 1 welder. Thanks folks. Tommy from Ireland. (The Republic of Ireland)
As always loud and clear video, and very helpfull when you want to buy yourself a welder. For my steam boilers, I'm rather into soldering at high temp with a flame. Maybe another video of yours? :-)
You connect the gas separately because it costs to add a gas solenoid, and the control circuitry, and this is a budget welder. I’ve never seen a three wire feed roll. They only have two. They can’t have three because then the groove would be in the wrong place. What they should have done, which is what companies do, as you know, is to give another feed roll. By the way, if they didn’t supply a feed roll for flux core wire, then you can’t use the machine for that, until you get the serrated groove roll. Saving money again. Same thing for no tungstens, and apparently, no sample welding wire or rods. I hope the manual explained all this, and the company sells the extra parts.
Reference to TIG: Great machine, despite the direct connection to the gas bottle, the inverter brings advantages in terms a safer torch connection, it eliminates adapter 105z57 which can be dangerous if not you’re not careful. Also, it also gives you easier current setups. The machine is light weight and last but not least: The MIG feature makes it worth buying.
Nice video but I have one note. You mentioned that there is no groove for 0.6 mm wire and it will be a problem to use it. I think it is not a problem. You just need to buy another wire feed roller, e.g. 0.6/0.8. I've never seen roller with more than two grooves so it is quite common that you need to have more different rollers...
With a welder always buy bigger than needed, running anything at max power is bad , my small mig is 100 percent duty cycle at 117 amps and only 60 percent at 150 amps , but i have a three phase 350 amp for heavy stuff, which is also good for thin panels but very bulky. Welders have come a long way in the last 30 years
Here is the thing about these machines. So listen up. Consider your equipment around your computer, having a copy and printer machine as one bundle. If the printer goes out, your copy machine also goes out because its all linked as one unit. When you have something like a welder doing all 3 things in one unit, lots of things can go wrong and hence you are SOL. If you want to do stick buy a stick welder. If you want to mig buy a mig welder, if you want to do TIG aka Heli-Arc welding then buy a TIG OK Keep them separate because if one goes down you still have the other 2 units to work around and still get your projects done while the other is being repaired. Keep in mind 120 volt welding units the Amperage is always lower as it will not have the push like a 220 volt welder amp wise. Depending on your projects most people usually will use max 3/16th inch plates or less for most projects and even lower down to 1/8 or 3/32 or even to sheet metal. Having a 160 amp welder will do most jobs up to 3/16th inch. When you start going 1/4 on up you need higher amperage above 200 amps to penetrate that thick steel otherwise it will not hold up to specs. Argon gas is much more expensive than just Co2. If you buy Argon with Co2 tanks 75/25 of course it will be more expensive putting 2 different gases in one tank. Argon is used mostly on TIG aka Heli-Arc and primarly for Stainless Steel. If you are going to use Tig on Carbon Steel then Co2 is the gas to use. Co2 is also used on MIG for Carbon Steel welding. Stick welding has flux on them. For me regarding stick welding> I like RB-26 6013 Rods and you can control the Arc and the flux peels off, saving you lots of work etc. The other rods I like is 7018, 7024, and definitely 7028 70 series rods I definitely like 7028. Getting a A/C Stick welder along with DCEP AND DCEN is worth your money period. As for me regarding MIG, this is my go to welding over 80% of the time. Easy to weld and to do my private jobs. If I have a mess to fix up say from my stick welding, which happens once in a while, I can always go to TIG aka Heli-Arc and fix it up. TIG gives out nice smooth welds in my opinion. Do your research folks before you dive into the welding business. As for the large welders, I only prefer Miller or Lincoln and with that said they are reliable and last for many years. These are in the 8 thousand dollar range and + on up usually used by companies that can afford it and for production runs etc. Before you start I highly recommend You have at least minimum 2.5 Grand cold hard cash in your pocket and this also will cover for Transportation and accessories that you will need to use for yourself. To get a good decent single individual Welder (ex: like a Mig or Tig) it will be around the 1.4 Grand range just to start. If you want to do a lot of hobby or small short projects welding per se, then buy the other 3-1 welders that have minimum 60% Duty cycle with warranty and do get the extended warranty if at all possible, as these will not last max 2-3 years if you do short welding every day on your projects, as they are only meant for Hobby or short term welding using low amperage on small carbon steel 9/64 inch max thickness. If doing Stainless its another beast by itself and its also very tricky without a doubt. For me I rate welders as Beginner, Junior, Senior, Master then Pro. A Pro is like the guy on Weld.com here on You Tube. Some of these dudes do have their shit together. Ditto. Good luck
Quite good video, except I noticed you have stick welded more than anything else in that (at about 25:50) you were dragging the gun when mig welding, it is best to PUSH in mig welding or you get a high crowned weld, stick and flux core you drag, (the saying goes: if it has slag- you drag ) mig you predominantly push the puddle. Also grinding Tungstens, you must grind straight to the length of the tungsten, NOT sideways.
Loved the video and that D3S replied to most comments.Good to have learnt about the grooves in the wheel which could explain my problems with my SIP birdsnesting. The references to .8mm is fine but the other size is 1mm not .1
The "no-gas" wire is Flux Core. Meaning the metal wraps around the flux filler. Not the other way. Stick electrodes have flux on the outside. Maybe you mixed up?
Very decent tutorial. It would be a good thing if you had done the following: Provide a link for the machine. Advise potential newbie that they must be careful when handling the spool of wire because it can spun off accidentally.
Its best to buy a second hand commercial welder and eliminate all problems. I bought one like yours many years ago i found it to low on power and lousy weld finish .
An excellent review, I like the fact that the wire feed rollers are metal, rather than the usual plastic things found on cheap MIG welders, also the wire reel mounted vertically is a nice touch, the horizontal reels are constantly tangling up the wire on overshoot. Interesting how the ball of wire wool caught light and burned up during your demonstration, I assume this is available from the Dutch tool supplier? Chris B.
I bought this welder and after stick welding for a few minutes it stopped working. The amp/volt reading drops to 14 from what i set it to and doesnt weld. The light on A is on so not sure on the problem. Any ideas?
That sounds like a defect, I seem to recall that these had that issue in the beginning and were all fixed. Unless yours slipped the fix... take it back to the shop
Hi thks for the review.... but how come there is not Brand & Model described? what service can make the review of something that I don't know how to buy? (or did I lost some?)
Good review and demonstration of a low cost welder, then he complains about not having certain functions which are on higher end welders which also cost at least twice as much as the one shown. With welders you really do 'get what you pay for'. high end = high cost, most of the time.
First of all, I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken to give us a fair and unbias review of the MTS. Is that welder sold in the USA? I am really looking for MTS welder without having to take out a second mortgage. In your opinion, is there a way to get a MIG/TIG welder capable of welding 1/2" steel and aluminum without breaking the bank?
Thanks for the comments, I would think so.. It all depends how often you want to use it. But to be honest, a good quality MIG/TIG with replaceable parts over time is running about 600 -800 Dollars/ The one here is a lot cheaper, and works well. The only question is will spare be available a few years down the road ?
Check into Everlast. They’re close in quality to Red or Blue, but 60% of the cost and machines the others don’t even produce. Ie MIG/TIG(AC/DC)/Stick Multiprocess.
I went to tool mania. And they don't have anything showing that is similar . I searched under 3 in 1 , combo welder , mig tig stick. And I get a response that no such item was found , are you sure you didn't just put a Tool Mania sticker to promote site clicks ???
MIG welding requires a mixed gas or pure carbon dioxide for steel. MIG welding with pure argon is never going to give a good solid weld; it produces an unstable arc with flaws in the toe of the weld. Unfortunatly TIG and MIG are just too different to get away with the same gas, unless you're doing aluminium, that uses pure argon for MIG or TIG. I can tell by the welds that you did use pure argon and you can poor the fusion is at the edge of the weld, and how tall the bead profile is. It's a very weak and poor weld. If you incist on using pure argon for MIG you'll need to floor the welder's voltage to the highest. The weld bead should have wetted more out to the edges, that's not what it should look like. You can buy a small bottle of pure CO2 and mix it with the pure argon, for metal under 5mm 5% CO2 is enough to ensure an alright action but 10-15% is better, however you won't need a very big bottle if you're only using a small bit of CO2, a Y spliter lets you connect both.
You stated duty cycle wrong! It's not 6 minutes and stop for 4 min. That would also mean if you only ran it for 3 minutes you'd have to wait 7 minutes. The 60% Duty cycle means you can run it at full power for 6 minutes and still have to let it cool down for 10 minutes a 100% duty cycle means you can run it for 100% power for 10 min and still have to let it cool for 10 min.
that ground clamp will not cut it. low price 3 in 1 are jack of all trades but master of none but they give people a chance to learn before major investment. but it's better to get dedicated low cost than 3 in 1. cost a little more but get much better welders.
this is a MTS-205 205 Amp MIG/TIG-Torch/Stick Arc and the cost is almost 1 Grand which you will see on E-Bay and also on Amazon which costs nearly 2 Grand. This is not a low cost 3-1 welder folks.
Am I missing something ???? Nowhere do you say what the brand name is of this thing. The model number or where you got it. What kind of review does not mention the make or model of the tool?
i just baught this one in a pinch. my lincon went down and I was tired of messing with it. setting it up rite now with flux 035...cant get it to ground or something. i got it pushing wire but not arking...wth?
Nice trials. Careful with the steel-wool on the side, wau did't expect to see that catch fire so easily. Was any acetone or diluant on it? Just curious. PS: Short advice when but joint welding... or let say works better for me, let a small gap between the parts, like .3 mm or .5 mm, not big than .8 mm, the weld will protrude better thru the metal, this is good specially wen you plan to grind the weld flush with the surfaces...
Is "tool mania " your company or you just make videos for them ? I can see the channel affiliated to the brand (ToolMania BV ) ,but i don't get why you separate the two by masking the brand here. Looks like you have interests in the brand but try to stay objective and neutral here,i don't really understand.
Thanks for the comments, OK I do every so often independent testing for different brands and toolmania is one of them. Sometimes they want to use the video, other times not... So in short , I do not have any relationship with any bussines. I stay neutral and say what I think. You will notice that I do not always say positive things of a product. In many cases I list both objective. On my channel, I will not make a commercial for a brand, I will test and provide the needed comments.
Thanks for the comments, In my case I would never provide a biased review as you will notice. I am neutral and provide my experience with it. Like in this case, manual gass for TIG !, poor grounding clamp , 160 amps max where it say 180 etc... so honest assessments.
@@D3Sshooter I know. I said maybe they asked for that. Its one of the reason I follow your channel, you're not going to make garbage look like its good. You're giving your honest opinion with all the disadvantages. Thanks for that ♥️
Esab Rebel... only welding machine you ever need... Esab smartMIG , tell the Welder what you weld and it adjust it self and you dont need to adjust anyting, just weld... MIG,TIG , Stick and more Best welder in the world ! Esab=Swedish
That's the kind of welder for the people who call themselves welders but really all they can do is run a bead cause they have no clue on how to set the machine.
