Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey y`all

Deciding witch tig to buy, be it (another) "Syncrowave 250 dx" or a "Dynasty 200 dx" is the question here, either way it's definitely going to be a Miller!

I've owned several Miller welding machines in the past including one that didn't get stolen... my trusty Millermatic 250 which still runs just as good as the day I bought it, great wire feed indeed!
I've owned the "Econotig" from Miller, good machine, I learned to tig with that rig which I later sold (got almost as much for it as the purchase price!) to buy the Syncrowave that served me very well until some fool decided that he needed it more than I did. It's all water under the bridge now that I'm done moving from state to state plus, I'm a firm believer in karma... Anyway, I'm in a good position (now that my kitchen pass has been approved!) to purchase another machine and was leaning toward the "Dynasty" for a whole host of reasons but for simplicity I'll mention just a few of the obvious here.

Size! and, more options.

I loved the Syncrowave... LOVED IT! Anytime I called upon that machine, I received no matter what the task and it did all my welding chores extremely well albeit, it was big, I couldn't roll the machine to the work very well, the power cord wouldn't allow it and last but certainly not least, no pulse feature unless I ponied up to buy that option etc, etc.
The Dynasty fits all the criteria mentioned above, size, weight, ability/agility/versatility, pulse and less power requirements but, i've never welded with one...

Any comments?

Thanks, Phil

I have never used the Dynasty either. I would love to hear more about it. What are the negatives that you know? Price? Capacity?

I have two Sycrowaves one is about twenty years old and works as well as the day I got it. But like you said it is hard to move around. I made a cart for it and it has a giant cord that is hard wired. But still hard to move around.

I have had my dynasty for a little over a year and love it. I love the portability I take it everywhere and its flawless. I do mostly thin fabrication any where fron .040 to 3/16 depending on application. Have done steel stainless aluminum never a problem. Haven't messed with pulse features yet. Machine is still on 110 voltage and I can still run at about 155 amps output no problem. The arc gets funky trying to push past that on 110. forgot its a 200dx

Hi there,

Is 220 v 3 phase in the US? In Australia we go to 240v on 1 phase. 10 amp plugs for house hold and 15 for industrial stuff. After that we get in to 3 phase.

Mick

We do have 22o single phase and 3 phase. You would never find 3 phase in a house though. It is only industrial. House are wired with 110 single phase and there will be 220 for appliances only.

I have one sincrowave wired to 3 phase. I dont notice any difference in power. I think it is only more efficient.

Here is an interesting thing; here in Philly there is 2 phase and I have that in my shop, I hooked up a phase converter from 2 phase to 3 phase. I wasnt sure it was gonna work but it did. Im not sure there is 2 phase anywhere else in the US.

Checking out the Dynasty it looks like the capabilities are a little less then the sycrowave. The Dynasty 350 has the most capacity. Im loving the remote foot pedal. Its wireless? Awesome if it is. Im still working with wires.

Merry Christmas Y`all!!!

Thank you all for the replies, It's going to come in handy when I make my decision on which machine to buy.
I like that the Dynasty model 951139 compact, complete package with all the goodies and, found a brick and mortar company here in Kentucky that sells this unit for $4600 and some change. Add a grand or so for the 350 dx!
The Syncrowave is right at $4500 plus tax, plus $199 for the pulse module. It's a machine I'm familiar with, and stable between 5-310 amps. Can weld just about anything, no hidden menu's, easy set up... just BIG!

Was at my friends shop the other day for a little Christmas cheer, my friend, knowing I'm in the market for a tig machine walked me back to the welding room to show me a machine he welds with all day every day... a Miller Areowave.
Talk about big! It's almost as tall as I am with the HF starter on top!! It had so many switches and knobs resembling a cockpit to an old airplane, it took me a minute or two to find the 'ON OFF' switch as my friend laughed at me when he told me to find it! Surprisingly, my friend couldn't tell me anything about inverter type welders.

Let the researching continue!

i weld with a dynasty 700 everyday. a few years back we had syncrowave 500s. i have welded with both type machines and familiar with the the features both have. i weld mostly aluminum, with some alumabronze, bronze and brass. my first question is this... what material do you weld most times? if you say aluminum, then i think you will get the added advantages of the dynasty. the added control of the arc with frequency, and the ability to get more penetration on the ac balance is great tool for aluminum. do not worry about the menus you can learn them. if you say you only weld mild steel and stainless then i would go syncrowave. the durability of the transformer machine is probably better. in dc, they both weld the same in my opinion. one thing about the dynasty... you didnt say what your budget is, and how thick of material your going to be welding. if you can afford it take a long look at the dynasty 350! its not very large, and can do almost anything amp wise. hope i helped your decision.

I got a smile from capozzoli's post. I hadn't heard that in a while.

"Two-phase" is a regional term in Philly, and refers to "split-phase". It's actually single phase, and is how an American household gets 230V and 115V out of the same circuit box.

In Spilt-phase, you have three conductors coming in to the house. Two are "hot", the third is "neutral", and tied to ground. A circuit across the two "hot" conductors will be 230V potential, while a circuit between either "hot" conductor and neutral will be 115V.

Steve

Im pretty sure it is true two phase. Each Phase differing in voltage by 90 degrees. There are 4 wires two for each phase. No neutral. Its definitely strange.

My shop is in an 19th century textile mill.

Yep, it is definitely not 'split phase'.

We were talking about it today. It is two-phase. Philadelphia and I think Cincinnati are the only two cities that still have it. Many of the old industrial buildings in these cities are still wired with it.

It was phased out (no pun intended) around 1910.

The static phase converter I bought is old. It converts two phase to three phase. Its called a "Philadelphia" phase converter. Ill see if I can get some pics.

Would love to learn more. This is a new one for me.

Steve

A quick search turned up some wiki info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-phase_electric_power

Its crazy stuff. I wired it up to the static converter myself and I am not an electrician.

I was biting my lip when I threw breaker to the on position. I have the 240 two phase going to a static converter that transforms it to 240 three phase, then it brakes off to two lines. One goes to the sycrowave, the other goes to another transformer that transforms it from 240 three phase to 480 3 phase. That goes to the cold saw.

I never thought it would work but both machines work great. Even at the same time.

Its all about the KVA.

I'm a power engineer, and I seriously doubt that you have the old 2-phase power. Power companies don't generate that kind of power anymore. As with all houses, I expect you have two legs of the three phase Y, 120degrees apart. The fact that whatever piece of equipment you hooked up to gives you three phases, means its expecting two legs of 120 degrees. So you gave it what it wanted.

Anyway, I had a Syncrowave and took it back to get a Dynasty 200. Best move ever, if you can afford it. Unless you are doing some serious continuous industrial welding where you need the duty cycle that a Syncrowave can provide, buy a Dynasty. It'll hook to 120v, 240v, 3phase 240 Y, 3phase 480 Delta, 50cycle/60 cycle. Take it anywhere and do most anything TIG and stick related. I took mine to Europe and welded and it didn't care, input power wise.

I will say tho, that I like the Everlast front panel better. I like knobs I can twist vs button pushing, but I didn't know about the Everlast 7 yrs ago. There have also been some power board failures on the Dynasty as I remember, so google that for newer info.

There is a lot of confusion about the different types of wiring in homes. You might find split phase in a rural farm area but it would be pretty rare to find it in a residential area. I'll stop short of saying you don't have it because I've seem some pretty weird stuff where you'd least expect it. I happen to work in a commercial office building that has 460 and is one of only two buildings in the entire town with 460. The owner is always complaining about how much power we use. He obviously doesn't realize how lucky he is. Anyway

The Miller Dynasty 200DX is sweet although it is a little under powered. If you get into 3/8 aluminum you'll need to add some He in to the gas. A proper setup for that will run you around 1500.00 including a 250cf 99.999% pure HE bottle. You wouldn't need that with the Synchrowave. I've test driven the 200DX. I have my eye on the 350p with the push/pull gun. That will set you back about 7,000.00 and will do some pretty nice aluminum work. I test drove it with the pulse, it's as close to a TIG weld as you can get with a MIG machine. With either TIG or MIG and Al your biggest problem is getting carried away and welding to much at once. Those training videos where the guy welds 10 inches are fun to watch but in real life you'd be shrinking the crap out of you workpiece with TIG. That's where MIG pulse really shines. If you plan on doing 1/8 to 1/4 sheet work the better process in my experience is MIG. If you like fine detailed work or need to work on small parts or thin sheet stock then TIG is your process and the 200DX is the a real winner there. Personally, I'm all over the map so the MIG is the best deal for me. I just sold my 212 and 3035 spool gun and should be ordering my 350p in the next month or so.