new to message board

[xseabee]

I just registered but have been reading the message board for about a month . I was a seabee for 5 years ,thats how I got into welding. When I got out of the navy ,I still wanted to keep welding. I got hired at a pontoon boat shop here in TN. All alum. welding.I really fell in love with alum welding specially tig welding. We had our differences (mainly not enough pay)and I left and started working for the state in youth corrections. I want to start welding again and am thinking about buying a syncrowave 180.

[xseabee]

didn't mean to click the thumbs down . Still working the bugs out

[HAWK]

The Sync 180 is a nice machine. I prefer the inverters, but that is a personal thing for my application-portability. Where are you in east TN? I am in Knoxville.

[xseabee]

Hawk, I am in crossville about 60 miles west of you . Why do you like the inverter? is it better? I used a syncrowave 250 ,at the pontoon boat shop ,and it worked great.

[HAWK]

The Sync 250 is a nice machine. I don't have much experience with it. I TIG in a residential location and power input is limited. The Dynasty DX fits my power requirements and is very portable for mobile use. I have a Trailblazer 301G and do some scratch TIG on DC, but use the Dynasty for all my AC road work. It does not have the top end amperage of the Sync 250, but it serves my purpose well. Is it better? Just depends on your application. I need mobile portability and 230 single phase power drawing less than 30 amps. I have ordered a coolmate to use with the scratch start on my engine drive and a 300 amp torch with valve for the heavier DC work. I think the potential for the Dynasty 200 DX is incredible and have had no problems.

Have a good day.

[xseabee]

hawk, does your tungston get comtaminated when you scratch start?

[HAWK]

I'm sure there is some tungsten contamination from scratch starts and the base metal will also have some tungsten in it as well. The 301G Trailblazer has a dedicated "scratch start circuit" that helps to minimize the contamination. You can further minimize this by scratch starting on a "start block" ( a piece of metal the same as your base metal to be welded) and quickly transfering the arc to the welding base metal. I've never run any X-ray test to see the degree of contamination. I can't pick it up with my eyes. If it's a truly critical X-ray tested weld, then I would vote for a Hi Freq start with the proper tungsten for the particular weldment as called for in the certification procedure.

Scratch starts have been done for years. Lift arc technology has not always been around. You can scratch start with just about any DC machine and a dry rig torch setup.

Hope this helps.

[xseabee]

Iwould love to go portable but i don't know if there is enough business in my area..I was told by a few people that if i could weld alum, they would line up at my door. I guess I shouldn't talk about it I should just do it!!

[HAWK]

I have friend who took a spoolgun, Hi Freq unit, tig torch, argon , and engine drive to a boat dock for a one customer job. He ended up working all day long on boat ladders, rails, cracks, etc. He made out like a bandit! ALL ALUMINUM!!!

[Engloid]

Hawk

I just noticed you're in Knoxville, as am I.

Please email me at EngloidATdespammed.com

The board here says you're not accepting email from other users.

[Paul Seaman]

Xseebee:
Welcome aboard, I have been in welding classes for several years and have used many different machines and the syncwaves are formidable machines, but they are very heavy and draw alot of current. I have used Dynasty 300DX's and I really believe the sync's are good machines but a Dynasty can make me look good then it will make an accomplished welder oh sooooo much better. The waveshaping features and pulse make it a dream.

I have only begun to learn the potential of my D200DX and love it. Oh by the way can we say its light, only 45 pounds+ accessories. It also has MVI technology{multi voltage input- 110v,230v,460v it will accept them all} its really plug and play!

I think if you get a test drive on a Dynasty you'll be hooked.

Weld well,

ps, Your welcome to come north and I'll let you try mine.

[KB Fabrications]

hawk, does your tungston get comtaminated when you scratch start?

Good question and as HAWK stated, there may be some MINIMAL contamination invloved. He also stated that it has been used for years which means that it is tried and true for its particular application.

As for Lift-Arc, I have used this on my Dynasty 200DX with amazing results. I recently welded some very small stainless parts, small machined blocks joined to 1" x 3" x .045" blanks, that could have absolutely no arc marks on them. It was hard enough just to ground these things let alone have zero arc wander on start-up. After a few test pieces didn't go so well using HF start, I switched the Dynasty to Lift-Arc and the rest of the job went flawlessly. Also, after 40 of these things I only changed my tungsten once and it wasn't because of the Lift-Arc, if you know what I mean. It is a great feature for certain applications and another feature that sets the Dynasty apart from its transformer-based cousins.

[Bulldog]

Engloid,
Wow - what great pics! The welds look fantastic! I was showing my son the pics and he went wild. Now he says that he want's a tig setup... He's a good welder but he's not ready for tig just yet. Anyway GREAT JOB!
Bulldog

[Terence638]

Xseabea
welcome to the site it is a really informative site.
sorry to jump on your thread about this q hope you dont mind
Hanwk
Im wondering about the spool gun your buddy used at the boat dock
most marine aluminum is annodized was there a lot of cleaning on the pipe?
is the spool gun sufficient enough to weld on the annodized pie or is there a lot of prep work invovled?
I love my syncrowave 250 but it limits me to the shop and even then it limits me to be within 25' of the machine to work with. which brings me to another q can i extend my leades on the machine in order to have more radius to work with? IE the water cooled leads an the ground and work connections.
You can email me a [email protected] if you dont want to keep jumping on this thread
Terence

[Mike W]

Terence638, would it not be easier to make a longer power cord?