HBT250P AC/DC

Can’t be beaten for the price, sure if it goes wrong you might struggle to get it fixed but the tig and the stick are great. Welder mate has one in his van for occasional use. That’s why I bought one.

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.

First Impressions –––––––––––––––- •Packaging -Well-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 is suitable for >13A, but even at full tilt the current draw never gets quite that high. •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 on 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 a 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 and easily melted. The whole loom is quite heavy, somewhat rigid and a bit unwieldy. -TIG torch is a generic WP-17 (not a flex head, although possible to reshape) in an ergo handle with a microswitch. Supplied with 2x #4 and 2x #6 standard ceramic cups, long collet body, 5 sizes of collets, stub and full-length cap. -TIG electrodes included are 1x 1.6mm and 1x 2.4mm thoriated, 175mm. They oxidised slightly more readily than branded tungstens. -Semi-rigid clear hose supplied for gas has slightly too large an ID for the barb on the back of the unit. It is supplied with 2x jubilee clips, but is still leaky due to the sizing. 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 reflective. -Rotary encoder knob has an indexing line and is pushable, but neither seems to serve any purpose -Buttons are tactile domes under plastic •Conclusions 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. 1 Year On ––––––––––––––– I've been very happy with this welder; it's given me no major problems and has been dependable. Some comments after a year of use, in no particular order: •I have adjusted the HF spark gap to make starts a little more reliable, and Hitbox were very helpful in providing location and default spacing for the spark gap. It likely shifted during shipping. •The welder has a powerful fan and very good ventilation. Even after heavy use, the exhausted air is barely warm. I'm very happy with the thermal design. •The included torch handle is of ergonomic design, but I prefer a slim CK-style handle. The cable and hose are permanently teed, which is slightly wider than a slim handle. I ended up 3D printing my own slightly wider handle. •There is an optional foot pedal accessory. It's low-cost and quite tall, constructed from thin steel and bolts, but it does the job. I ended up riveting a textured aluminium plate to the pedal to give it some more rigidity. It's still not super ergonomic, but current control can be essential. There is a current limit knob on the pedal, but it doesn't give you an indication of the selected current. I shorted the torch to ground, fully depressed the pedal, then read the current from the welder's display and marked various positions on the knob to make it a bit quicker to use. •The UI has a bit of a learning curve. There are LEDs for each selected setting, shown on a printed waveform, and LEDs indicating the displayed units. Even so, there are so many settings that it takes some reading to change the right one. I'm sure if used often you'll get used to the number of button presses to reach each setting, but for occasional use it's a little cluttered. •The TIG setting will cut the current when a short is detected, and has switch/pedal control. The MAG setting delivers full current under short conditions but does not have switch/pedal control. This is all as expected for a welder, but good to be aware of if your intended use is different (e.g. using it as a spot welder). •Low current control leaves a bit to be desired. Allegedly, the minimum is 10A. With the pedal, it ends up with quite a dead zone at low currents. I've managed 1mm, but no thinner with it. Latest Conclusions –––––––––––––––––– If you're learning TIG or want a low-cost TIG setup at home, I can't fault this. It's been reliable, and it's packed with all the essential features plus some nice-to-haves. You'll easily spend more on gas than this unit. I would recommend picking up a WP-17 kit and a variety of tungstens too, then you've pretty much got it all.

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

Purchased for use at our Men's Shed first job mending an alloy wheel first class job on AC next one welding band saw blades then welding the battery carrier on a electric bike (all done by a professional welder of 40+ yrears who has just retired ) he is very happy with the results of this welder

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.

I will update when I get time to put some decent use in with it anyone buying this before you use change the fuse in it, as it has been bypassed by the manufacturer, this will overheat and set on fire, it is extremely dangerous. - Update, I am overall happy with the welder, Let me just add that I am a complete armature when it comes to TIG welding ad I am only welding things that I personally use, ride and drive ect. I have upgraded the torch to a CK worldwide flex head before even using the supplied torch, I will keep it as a spare or when a footswitch is not an option. I have welded lots of mild steel, a few bits of stainless and no aluminum as of yet, I have bend tested and hammer tested all of these in my vice and under great stress, I have had nothing crack or snap so far, 6mm thick steel is bending and holding the weld well, no cracks or splits in the welds when i've hammered with force, so I am confident the tabs ect I will weld will hold as well as I need them too. so I am really happy with the welder, for the price, capabilities and setting it provides, as I said change the fuse as its a danger to you and then you are all set. Ive attached some images of my terrible welds so don't judge too much, these were done after about 10 minuted of flat practice and a stress test 🤣