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[tomsky]

Out growing my high mileage Airco wire feed. Thinking about an Econotig and Spectrum 375 plasma cutter. Need lots of clean welds, mostly steel, but some AL. I will be doing metal joining for the local universitie's art department, so I need good looking welds. Looking for pros and cons or other suggestions.
Thanks,
shinertom

[fun4now]

how thick ?

realy need to know how thick material you intend to work with ? realy hard to say without some ideal what you intend to work on. the spec 375 is a fine plasma cutter but if you are in the sizes that the econo tig will work on you might consider the spec 125 if you need more cut than the 125 you will probubly need more welder than the econotig. i have a spec 125 and have cut up to 1/4 inch and i dont think the econo tig will weld that thick. you might think about the syncrowave 180 or the dynasty 200. the dynasty is more $ but will give you more welder and options than the syncrowave as well as caust less to operate. also you must consider the power suply you have available bolth the dynasty and the spectrum 375 have the option of 120v or 220v the syncrowave will require a large breaker ( atleast 50 amps 100 would be better) and 220v feed.
we will help in any way we can but you will have to give us a litle more info to realy help.

Size and type of work to be done
power suply available
amount of space you have to work in will also mater as the dynasty is a much more portable machien

hope this helps some anyway
good luck

[tomsky]

Thanks for the reply and appreciate your suggestions. First time I have used a message board. Guess I should have added more details, sorry. 1/4 inch steel or less, probably most projects will be 1/8" to 3/16". Shop is about 750 sq. ft. and has several 220v outlets. Also, some aluminum welding is possible, but only after some much needed practice. I am looking for the best value for my $$.
tomsky

[fun4now]

spectrum 375

i would say you are right on with the spec 375 but you are asking too much of the econo-tig.
best value would be the dynasty 200 as it will pay for itsself in your electrick bill and has many features that the syncrowave dosent. you will spend about $1000.00 more on the dynasty than you would on the syncrowave. bolth fine machiens the dynasty is an inverter based and the syncrowave is transformer based.
if you dont need or want all the added bells and whistles then i would say save the $$$ and get the syncrowave but you should look closely at bolth as they are different in several ways look them up on the miller site if you need.

[HAWK]

Originally posted by tomsky
Thanks for the reply and appreciate your suggestions. First time I have used a message board. Guess I should have added more details, sorry. 1/4 inch steel or less, probably most projects will be 1/8" to 3/16". Shop is about 750 sq. ft. and has several 220v outlets. Also, some aluminum welding is possible, but only after some much needed practice. I am looking for the best value for my $$.
tomsky

I think the Dynasty 200DX and the Spectrum 625 will meet your needs nicely with some room to grow!

http://millerwelds.com/products/tig/dynasty_200/

http://millerwelds.com/pdf/spec_sheets/AD4-8.pdf

http://millerwelds.com/products/plasma/spectrum_625/

http://millerwelds.com/about/news_releases/articles18.php

http://millerwelds.com/products/plasma/spectrum_625/models.php

HAWK

[klsm54]

it looks like we have already ruled out the Econo-Tig, which is good. I consider the Syncrowave 180SD the entry level Tig machine in Miller's line. In my eyes, the Econo-Tig has been made all but obsolete by the added features and value in the 180 SD.

That being said, I too would have to reccomend the Dynasty 200DX. It is just a hard machine to pass over when you look at VALUE and PERFORMANCE. Yes it is more money than a 180 or 250 Syncrowave, but for what you get, it is a great deal.

I would tend to look at a Spectrum 625 over the 375 also. The 625 will cut thin material just fine, but you can't make a smaller plasma cut more than it was intended to. I have lo's of people wanting to trade up to larger plasmas after buying 1/4" and 3/8" capacity machines, but nobody ever wants to trade down.

The decisions are yours, only you know what you need today. And you know best what you may want the capability to do in the future. Good luck with your decision, hope we were of some help...