Bought a syncrowave, bad choice??

[pepsiguy]

I happened to be at an auction and found an older 300 amp Miller syncrowave. It had all the options. I always heard the syncrowave's were good machines so I started to bid. I got into a bidding war but stopped at $900. Guess what? other guy didn't go higher.

I was happy until I saw the input is over 100 amps. I think i'd have to rewire my house in order to use it to it's potential. Current plan is to plug it into a 40 amp breaker and not turn it up too high. Oh, and it weighs 700+ pounds.

Anyone else have a monster machine like this in their home garage or should I just put it on ebay and get rid of it?

[Sberry]

I am not sure how well its going to run on a 40, it will run on a 60 though. You learned all those issues the hard way. It happens all the time. I have one I bought used but those things are not a problem for me. I wouldnt mind a water cooled torch but mine is for repairs only and sees limited use.

[fun4now]

transformer

the syncrowave is a good machien it is also a transformer based welder as such yes it requires more in Amsp per out Amps then a inverter type like the maxstar or dynasty i was looking at the syncrowave 180 but decided to save up for the dynasty 200 and that was a big factor in my dicition. it is unfortionate that you had to find out the hard way as it were. but if you have the power it will be a great machine and last you a lifetime as transformer based welders seme to have a longer lifespan.if your breaker box is in or near your garage it wont take much to put in a subpanel.
you could look into how sberry got his 60amps going looks like he has you coverd
good luck, hope all works out

[Paul Seaman]

Sounds like a great purchase, When I purchased my house I installed a 200 amp panel, just in case I found a deal like that. The garage is on 60 amps and the mm210 is 30amps of that.

I agree with fun a sub panel would be a cheap fix maybe even a trade off. I know some electricians that do trade off work as professional courtesy, a bit of welding for an install. You never know.

BTW congrats on the sync250

[BugEyedValiant]

When I bought my 300, I only had a 70 amp breaker to run my whole garage. I have since upped all the wiring to it, but I ran it for quite a while on just the 70 and had no problems with it tripping unless I was doing AC welding with the balance cranked. It is a GOOD machine if you have the space. I even built a cart for it to be able to push it where I need it.

[sparky123]

It shouldn,t be that hard to find a electrician to do the upgrade for you. I am an electrician and i got my first stich welder as payment for an istallation of a subpanel in a garage. to find a electrician find a jobsite in your area with a electrical truck in the drive and go talk to the guy. we get a lot of work like this.

[karish]

Sychrowave 300 in the garage

pepsiguy,

I too have an older (1988, I think) Synchrowave 300 in the garage. I had a spare set of breaker spaces (240V) in my existing load center, so I used them. The house has a service rated at 125A max. I'm hoping to change this soon before winter gets here. In any case, I've been using my unit with a 70 Amp breaker and have yet to trip it. You'd have to be working on some large stuff to pop it.

Talk to the electrican before you install the new service. It wouldn't be a big deal to arrange to have a few extra 120 VAC outlets, or a 240 VAC outlet added in the area of your welder if you need to support things like grinders, drills, etc. Bang for the buck, it may be worth while rather than just running three wires for the Synchrowave.

Enjoy your toy.

[Justin00Stang]

I have an 02' syncrowave 250 (310amp max), according to my cheapo ampmeter it pulls around 70amps when welding AC at 150amps.