HITBOX 200A Aluminium TIG Welder AC/DC, Digital Inverter TIG Welding Machine with Pulse & Square Wave, Professional TIG Welder (HBT250P AC/DC)

For the money, buying this as an aluminium capable starter welder is a no brainer. Yes i will probably move to something better/shinier/more well known, once i get competent. But for now it works, and I have made some reasonable practice welds. Reading up on alloy welding is an art form, so I just hope to be vaguely competent one day. I bought the pedal attachment with the welder, which may or may not be good for a beginner, but all the videos said i must. Its a bit like patting your head and rubbing your belly, but we will get there. Give it a go.

Note: This is just first impressions - will update as I continue to use it •Packaging -We’ll sized triple-walled cardboard box -Polystyrene cushions -Accessories in resealable bags, some in a secondary cardboard box but some loose •Initial Inspection (addressing past reviews about the fuse) -Mains flex is marked 2.5mm H05, terminated in a moulded BS1363 13A plug -Plug contains an off-brand fuse marked BS1362 13A -Neither the plug nor the fuse are suitable for >13A and should be replaced with a more suitable connector if required •Accessories inspection -Ground clamp and rod holder cables are marked 16mm² H01 - but it’s copper clad aluminium (CCA) so not really H01 -Ground clamp is of typical design but with copper jaws both sides and CCA braid between the jaws. Cable is crimped into a copper-plated brass ring terminal stamped 50A then bolted to the clamp. -MMA electrode is of typical medium current design, GF phenolic plastic shell with brass jaws and a heavy spring. Cable is fixed in a hole in the brass by a shim and two grub screws -TIG handpiece has one current conductor marked 16mm² H01 (but it’s CCA), one multicore going to a single micro switch (multipin connector on the other end), and one rubber hose for argon with taper fitting. All in a baggy rubber sleeve. Strain-relief is provided by the rubber sleeve clamped into a flexible boot - it is effective but loose. The whole loom is quite heavy and a bit unwieldy. -TIG torch is a generic WP-17 (but with a somewhat flexible head) in an ergo handle with microwsitch. Supplied with 2x #4 and 2x #6 standard ceramic cups, 5 sizes of collets, stub and full-length cap. -TIG electrodes included are 1x 1.6mm and 1x 2.4mm thoriated, 175mm. They oxidised even under argon where branded tungstens do not. -Semi-rigid clear hose supplied for gas has slightly too large ID for the barb on the back of the unit. It is supplied with 2x jubilee clips but still leaky. Replaced with a more appropriate hose. •Welder inspection -Somewhat small, somewhat light, gloss powder-coated formed sheet steel unit with a decent handle, and case protrudes over the controls for some protection -Gas inlet is on the bottom rear -Power inlet is on the top rear, with a power switch beside -Front panel is all LED, but they forgot to remove the protective film from the digit display before assembling. It works fine, just a little glossy. -Rotary encoder knob has an indexing line and is pushable, but neither seem to serve any purpose -Buttons are tactile domes under plastic •Conclusions to-date: It’s certainly built down to a price. Overall it seems good value, but I will try to focus exclusively on the quality, usability and reliability. Fans run all the time and aren’t super quiet but they push a lot of air. CCA cables aren’t a disaster and make the handpiece slightly easier to move about, but coupled with the undersized brass ring crimps and uncrimped ferrules, they’re not super low resistance. Most plastics have a bit of flashing left, making them uncomfortable to handle unless it’s trimmed off. They all seem to be glass-filled, phenolic where required. Otherwise, part quality seems perfectly acceptable. It’s not got all the ratings, features or ergonomics, but it’s absolutely not the most basic model out there. I’d have few complaints if stuck using it instead of a more well-known model. HF start, variable pulse, variable AC/DC, variable ramps and time-variable gas solenoid control make it a highly versatile machine. There are very few jobs I do that absolutely require a better one especially when paired with a foot pedal. It’s an inverter design so inherently square wave. With light use I haven’t hit any thermal limits yet.

Bought this to fix a bit on my boat , cast aluminium goose neck , never tig welded before but with a lot of youtubing and burnt fingers it sorted the problem. Great AC/DC Tig- For those about to weld No complaints for the price. Owning a boat means in the past i had to pay to get stainless and aluminium welded this welder will save me in the long run.

Used it for a gas Tig weld on stainless steel. Excellent product, comparable to more expensive products. I used it may be 1 hour at the times and it was brilliant.

I bought and imediately returned this item as I value my families life to much to risk using it. The welder draws 27Amps to run , The plug that is fitted is a standard UK 13 Amp plug ( not designed to carry 27Amps) so I investigated the plug further to see how a 13Amp fuse cold possibly work without blowing when the item wants to draw 27 Amps. It was fitted with a normal 13 Amp fuse , or so it appeared until I turned it round to see the other side ( see the picture) . The makers have soldered a thick wire across the fuse to stop it blowing. I'm told that thin silver paper in a packet of cigarettes will carry 80 amps without blowing so with wire the thickness they used it would possibly take 100 amps or more for it to blow and before it did your house wiring gets so hot it would catch fire and burn your house / family. As a retired insurance salesman I can tell you they would not pay insurance on a fire caused by a botched fuse like this. I thought Amazon had been unlucky and sent a bad batch of these welders so I reordered the same model but this time from Ebay. That too came with the doctored fuse. I can only assume they are all like this . I wrote to the ebay seller and said it was faulty but didnt say what the fault was but his reply said ( this is a snip from their email )... Hi， We will accept your suggestion and investigate our products. We will improve our quality. Regarding this plug, So obviously they already knew the plugs were faulty because I hadnt said what the fault was yet they still sold it to me . Doing this to a fuse is strictly agains the UK wiring codes so my next move is to inform trading standards. I hope Amazon read this and stop selling it before someone dies. If you have ordered one please check the fuse by removing it from the plug and checking. If it has the thick wire soldered on DONT use it

im still learning about this, but its welding all the stuff i wanted. I even able to stick two bits of alloy plate together after some tuition from Bob at the machine shop , see him on youtube he's got a way of teaching that worked for me

Not been able to use yet as gas pipe is an odd size and have not been able to get gas tight seal on back of machine using supplyed pipe, Ihave checked fuse as in some reviews the fuse had been bypassed this was not the case with mine, hopefully once seal on pipe is good i'll be able to report all ok. Update i have purchased the correct pipe and it is gas tite welder works well , i how ever need practice with tig

Got this mobile welding machine for my husband. He hasn't stopped talking about it ever since.