help me make a choice here gentelman

[HAWK]

jeff,

I have not heard of any problems with the Satellite. It sounds like you need to call your helmet vendor and take advantage of the warranty! I can tell you I really like mine, but the more I use the Big Window Elite, the more the Satellite stays in a cabinet.

[jeffscarstrucks]

Hi Hawk, I had my camera in the truck and didn't take any pics. When I got home I was in trouble because my wife wanted to E-mail a couple of friends who are into that show. I guess It's not that big a deal when you are familiar with machines in general. I only have the one 304 that was an auction purchase of course. I have TIGed with it a time or two but mostly it runs my wire feeder or spool gun. My favorite is the 200dx as I'm sure you could have guessed! I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I did want to ask you if you have heard of any problems with the Sattelite hoods having a dark band through thr bottom area of the lense. I noticed a definite line while welding stainless at 60a today. It looks like it has a two year warranty but that doesn't make it any better if it is broken! Thanks, JEFF

[HAWK]

jeff,

The Atlanta Expo was really neat. I wrote a review on it shortly after I returned home. I saw the back up close as I had my picture made with the bike and Miller rep touring with it. It is slick! How many XMT's do you have?

[jeffscarstrucks]

I tried to sneak under the rope to switch the stars and stripes cover with my XMT cover but my son kept holding me back! I was actually there on buisness with a couple of other people so I am not sure who was there with the bike but I did have a chance to talk to the area Miller rep. He is a good guy who seems to care about his end users even though he doesn't deal directly with them. All Blue...Thanks, JEFF

[fun4now]

stars and stripes

maby miller will make us some stars and strips power suplies.
pobly not but sounds kool

[HAWK]

jeffcarstrucks,,

I saw it in Atlanta at the spring Expo. I am a lot like you about the bike thing, but it is very nice. How do you like the Stars and Stripes XMT? Who was with the bike display? Sue?

[jeffscarstrucks]

OK...OK...so I,m jealous and i wish I had a 300 but I saw THE chopper today. A nice piece of art even if I'm not into bikes. I would be interested in how your choice works out as I do a little of what you do myself. JEFF

[HAWK]

klsm54,

Well said!

[klsm54]

340mag,

Besides the Dynasty 300DX benefits already mentioned, you also get:

Auto-Link - Let's you hook up to 230 or 460 Volt, single or three phase power, without removing the case and manually changing links.

Built-in Pulser - that provides pulse frequencies from .1 to 500 pulses per second. The optional ($184.00) pulser on the Syncrowave offers .25 to 10 pulses per second

It has options such as a Spot Timer, Initial Amperage, Final Slope Time, Final Amperage, built in, that would require a Sequence Module ($304.00) on the Syncrowave. Many of these features offer more adjustability on the Dynasty also.

That and the nature of the solid stae controled inverter allows much more fine-tuning of your arc.

You would also want to add Power Factor Correction to a Syncrowave ($365.00) to cut your power consumption by about 25%, but still not coming close to the savings a Dynasty will give you.

With the Dynasty you would also get an AC frequency control from 20 - 250 Hz, providing yet more arc control, and bead appearance control on Aluminum welding.

Procedure Memory. On the Dynasty 300Dx you can store up to 4 weld procedures for instant recall.

And there is more. But anyway, I am just trying to show you that there is MUCH value to the Dynasty 300DX over the Syncrowave. Whether that value is important to you is a decision you need to make. I would highly recommend this though, if aluminum is what you are buying a machine to weld, forget about CST250's and Maxstars, they are DC only. If it is a Miller Tig machine you want, your choices are Dynasty and Syncrowave.

[jeffscarstrucks]

I bought a 200dx based on what I read on this board and a couple of demo rides. Everything on this post about the Dynasty series is dead on. The only thing that came to mind is that most of what you mentioned is not welded in a very fast manner: lots of repositioning, climbing on,under etc. If the majority of aluminum work is not 3/8 maybe a 200 would work. Believe me you can't beat a 300 but If the 200 air cooled fit the arc-on time constraints it could be an option. Let us know how your choice works after you get settled in. Just make sure not to under estimate. Good Luck, JEFF
P.S. ...going to see the miller bike in St. Louis at Cee Kay tommorrow(good sale too!)

[HAWK]

340mag,

Experience is a teacher. I promise you the Dynasty 300 will outweld any of the Syncrowaves due to its advanced squarewave arc and almost infinite adjustability. Like Andy said it will pay for itself in the long run: maybe as little as 6 months if you weld a lot.

[ASKANDY]

340MAG,

If you plan on using this unit in any amount, an inverter will pay for itself eventually in the power savings alone. The CST you mentioned will not do aluminum. You would want to opt for the Dynasty 300 Tigrunner. Easily can plug into almost any MIG welder plug and run making it very portable. The Syncrowave will have to be wired to a 100Amp breaker, usually hard wired, making it less portable and hard to drag around the shop with a 300lb electric cord.

The Tig is the way to go because of the precision you need. MIG welding Aluminum is more for production type work like building trailers or dump boxes.

Good luck!!

Andy

[340mag]

Ive received several private EMAIL suggestions and together with the info on this forum Im starting to form an opinion,first ILL be buying a TIG welder not a MIG, but one thing still has me questioning the tenitive choice,of a (Miller Syncrowave 250 DX TIGRunner with Torch) some INVERTER type welders like the (MILLER CST 250 DC STICK/TIG WELDER)
seem to weight considerably less and appear to give you more power and range than the heavier transformer base design tig welders, COMMENTS ?? thoughts?

[klsm54]

I overlooked the MM251 with the Push-Pull module. Definitely less costly than the MM350P. If your aluminum mig welding will be on heavier material, 1/16 and up, the advantage to the pulser probably won't be utilized. If, however, you have thoughts of fabricating aluminum Hot Rod bodies, from lighter gauge aluminum, the Pulsing option may be worth the extra money.

You said you were not "locked in" to buying from Cyberweld. That is a good thing in my eyes. Although internet buying has it's place, and I do buy a lot of things over the 'net, welding equipment, especially as technical of equipment as you are looking at, is, in my eyes, best bought from a reputable local dealer. It will go a long way towards establishing a good relationship with a dealer that very may well be invaluable to you down the road.

Not every dealer will have an "Inside" guy who is familiar with the equipment we are talking about. If they don't, ask them to have one of their more technically oriented "outside" salesmen to call on you at your shop. He will most likely be able to help you more, and it will make sure he knows where you are, if and when you need some help.

When worst comes to worst, if your local dealer is stumped, he has the ability to bring the Miller district manager to your shop to help you out. Like HAWK said, you will not get that kind of service from the on-line dealers.

Good Luck, I will look forward to hearing what you decide.

[HAWK]

340mag,

Many of my posts are long and drawn out. This one is short and to the point. For the al manifolds I highly recommend the Miller Dynasty 300DX Tig Runner Package which includes all the goodies, a Coolmate 3 cooler and a #20 water cooled torch. This is an expensive package, but well worth the cash. It will outweld any of Miller's Syncrowave series as well as smoke the competition blind folded. I rely on one daily. If you want to see the quality work this machine is capable of producing, then take look at the PICS links in any of the posts and replies by ENGLOID on this forum.

For your less critical applications where a wire feed welder(GMAW)will lend speed and good solid welds the Miller MM251 is the ticket. It has a clean crisp arc with plenty of adjustablity. The MM210 is also a fine machine, but experience shows the MM251 to have the upper hand for day in and out use. It is also easily adaptable to high quality push/pull aluminum MIG welding if needed.

I would skip MIG welding of aluminum all together if possible. If not, a push pull module and any of the Edge series guns including the Python can be added to the MM251 as easy as plug and play.

These are by no means the least expensive options, but quality costs.

Well I just spent $8000 of your hard earned money on the 300DX package and the MM251. The Python and puhs/pull module for the MM251 will push the grand total to roughly $10000.

As for internet buying I think it's a good place to compare prices. However, I recommend and practice what I preach, you buy from a hometown dealer and negotiate the price using your internet wealth of knowledge. If you have warranty issues or need assistance or even consumables this is a very valuable relationship to develop! The internet is great, but try to get good and fast warranty work or a loaner machine to keep you running through the "net". It "aint" going to happen! Welding machines cost as does good service. You get what you pay for.

Decisions. Decisions. I wish you well. Let us know what you buy.