Syncrowave 250 and Spoolmatic 30A

[BSOK]

Greetings all. I am new to this forum and here is my first post. I recently purchased a syncrowave 250 tig runner package. I Love the machine and its capabilities. I am interested in a Spoolmatic 30A to do some AL repair work. AL tig would take to long. My question is, can I connect the spoolmatic 30A to my cc syncrowave? Or should I go with the Lincoln spool gun set-up for my PM200? I found the WC115 control unit listed in the accesories portion of the 30A page and it says it is designed for cc power supplies. Next question would be which WC115 do I need? With contactor or w/o contactor? Please explain the differences, I am not familiar with this set-up.

Thanks to all in advance for any input and recomendations.
Have a great day.

[hankj]

BSOK,

Welcome aboard.

The bad news is your Synchrowave is a square-wave power source, good for TIG and stick. You can't wire weld with it - that's a DC process. The good news is that you've got a good machine.

Be well.

hank

[paulrbrown]

The Synchrowave is squarewave in AC, but not the DC mode. No need to mig with AC, just use the DC side. ESAB says a CC type machine is better for Aluminum mig welding, electrode positive. I have not tried this, but they do make a lot of aluminum wire and machines, they also invented the covered electrode in the early 1900's . I have the same situation myself, just using a Cobramatic with the 250 Synchrowave, I have not tried this yet though. Let me know what your results are. Best Regards, Paul

[ASKANDY]

Welcome!

I think you will find that wire welding with the Syncrowave is not that great... It can be done but not well. The window that it works in is very narrow with the CC power source. Years ago the CC power units had more of a droop power curve to them and that made it easier to do this type of welding. Like Paul said, ESAB says CC is better and maybe to them it is but I know from MILLER's standpoint, CV is easier and better and therefore we choose to make more CV spoolgun type welders. We do offer the WC115 and XR control that have the ability to operate in the CC mode but these were designed more for the stick type welders like the SRH, Goldstar, and enginedrive welders.

So, as much as I hate to say get the Lincoln spoolgun for the PM200, that would work the best and give you the flexibility to weld a larger variety of material thicknesses.

Good luck!

Andy

[karish]

Older Synchrowave and wire feed

Andy,

You mention the Synchrowaves made "years ago" would support the 30A spool gun better. I have a late 80s vintage Synchrowave 300. Would this be useful as a power source for a wire feeder? I'm glad BSOK asked the question, as I've been wondering about this for a little while.

Thanks,

John

[ASKANDY]

John,
I'd have to say the tig welders like the Dialarc or Goldstar did a better job than the Syncrowave. Let's put it this way... We don't even test the Syncrowaves during initial development with any wire feed equipment. I don't want to say it can't be done but it's not ideal by any means. You'll always find someone who can do something with about anything that it wasn't intended to do and make it work. I'm interested to see how Pauls Cobra/Sync works for him. The last time I tried it, the Syncrowave had stumbly, stubby starts or flare backs to the tip. The Syncrowave has about 80 volts at the start of the arc which presents a problem. Once you finally get it running, it welds but is touchy to excessive arc movements like whipping the bead. Maybe the Cobramatic has a more forgiving voltage sensing circuit.

Paul,
Are you missing anything to try this or just haven't had time or the right job?

Andy

[paulrbrown]

Andy, I have just been putting it off, busy with other projects, I will jump on it this week though, thanks for asking, paul

[BSOK]

Thanks to all that replied. I have eliminated the syncrowave & spoolmatic idea from consideration. I am considering the spool gun for my PM200, I found it online for $525.00.

I am currently taking a class at the local community college and we have MM251's with spoolmatics on them. I really like the set-up so maybe I will look into selling the PM200 and getting a MM251 set-up with the spoolmatic gun?

thanks again and have a great day.

[ASKANDY]

Brian,

The MM251 and Spoolgun go together like peanut butter and chocolate!
It's a nice clean set up that welds great but you know that already

a-