XMT-304 Practical Solution?

[Teeps]

Needs:
Tig, Mig, Stic
AC/DC
Does the XMT have the Adjustability of the 200dx (ac, pulse, et-all)?
For hobbyist needs on steel, Chr.Moly, stainless, aluminum.


Given I'm looking at something that will do up to 1/4" maybe more on a very rare occasion. Mostly 18 guage to 1/8 th, but a trailer build is in my future. (7000 lbs +) might require a 300 amp machine.

I've been looking at picking up the MM210 or 251 + a Dynasty 200dx (or gulp maybe dyn 300)

I'm wondering if 4-6000.00 would get an xmt + all the add-ons, and do the same thing (or better than the 200 amp units).

I'm not sure, maybe it would cost alot more, than the other units, being that you have to add the drive rolls, and other controllers seperately.

I'm not sure if the dynasty would also have more adjustments for specialized welding on stainless, and aluminum.

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree here, thanks for any impressions from those that have used these, or know the best option here.

-Don

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edit: Would have to be one **** of a welding cart, with all of these add-ons, especially tig welding over 200 amps, I'd have to add a water cooled torch setup as well.

[Terence638]

The XMT is a great machine and with the auto link you dont have to worry about hooking up the elctric improperly. But it does not have the A/C unfortunatly It is one of the down falls of the machine although you can set up a spoolomatic up to it with weld control that may give you what you are looking but I do have one for sale (an XMT, CC/Cv).
You definitly need asseccoriues for it.
[email protected]
Terence

[HAWK]

teeps,

I use my ALT 304, "Auto-Line" version of the XMT 304, for DC GTAW. I use it with a Coolmate 4 and a 350 amp weldcraft torch. I only use this set up for DC TIG on thick materials.

I would not recommed this set up for thin gauge materials on a regular basis. It has no pulse which is a real hinderance for .065" and thinner material. As Terence 638 said there is no AC for aluminum. It will MIG al with a 30A spoolgun, but anything less than 1/8" is pushing it without an Optima pendant for pulsed spray.

The MIG and STICK arc is awesome on this machine. It has a fine TIG arc too, but no real adjustability. The XMT machine was designed with the mobile construction contractor who needs STICK and MIG for most of the work. The TIG feature is a convenience for steel and stainless pipe. This keeps the contractors from owning an extra machine. It may not seem like much, but when a construction CO. owns 100+ machines, then 1 welder for all process rather than 2 welders is a tremendous savings!

Go with the Dynasty 300DX if TIG is your main goal. It also has a very nice STICK arc with adjustable DIG. If you are working with 3/16" and less material, the Dynasty 200DX will suit your needs fine. Occassional 1/4" aluminum is possible with the 200DX using 75% HE/25% AR or even pure HE, but 1/4" steel is really too much for the Dynasty 200DX.

If you need a GMAW machine, take a look at the MM210 or the MM251 as a second machine. The MM210 is great for 3/8" down to 20 gauge, 22 gauge with skill and practice, in a single pass. It will do 1/2" material in the spray arc mode and/or multi-pass short arc with proper joint prep. The MM251 will do 1/2" without breaking a sweat.

The XMT is a great machine for what is is intended to do. It has no AC and the machine with all its accessories ( Optima MIG pulser, PC 300 TIG pulser, wire feeder of choice, water cooler, TIG torch, MIG torch) will run you $8000.00 give or take. You still will not have good precison TIG capability. However, You will have one fine set up otherwise!

[HAWK]

Teeps,

As I mentioned I really love the XMT series, but when it come to precision TIG the Dynasty 300DX has my vote. I speak from considerable personal experience on all 3 of these machines: XMT, Dynasty 200DX and Dynasty 300DX.

Good luck and happy decision making!!!

[Teeps]

If I had my way, I'd go with an ALT 304, and a dyn 300 Tig-runner

Thanks for all your insight Hawk.

That is exactly the information I was looking for.

Given my hobbyist uses, and blood donor budget, I think I will stick with an MM210/251 for the thick stuff, and an 200dx for the thin/pretty stuff.

Does it help these machines considerably to wire up tri-phase instead of single phase 220?

I'm about to upgrade to higher amperage anyway, I was looking at the volt amp curves, and it seems if your right at the edge of the top end, you might get a little more out of your welder with tri-phase.
But I have no practical experience with either 220 or tri-phase on these welders, nor the top end.

Not sure how much tri-phase hook-up would cost over regular 220.

I think I already have 220, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to upgrade to a larger box anyway to get more amperage out to the shop, time to decide which way to go, I'll have to research it a bit further.

Now how to get a loan for equipment usage. Small business loans anyone?
Thanks again for all the insight.

[HAWK]

Teeps,

For sake of discussion let me preface this post by excluding 120VAC from the equation as it is only available in 1 phase. The Dynasty is limited to approximately 150 amps of TIG welding ouput when operated on 120VAC.

The Dynasty 200DX (do get the DX---NOT the SD) does not care about the input voltage phase. It is simply increasing the operating frequency many thosands of times. The final welding arc will not differ at all from 1 phase 220VAC to 3 phase 220VAC or any other voltage within its rated operating range (200-500-excluding 120 VAC). If you are running "true" 3 phase from the utility district, not converted 3 phase from single phase, you will see miniscule power savings.

The ALT and XMT machines will supply the ultimate arc on either 1 or 3 phase power. Once again the machine does NOT know the difference between phase input in regrading the actual welding arc. However, the ALT and XMT will provide a higher rated duty cycle at anything over 225 amps when operating on 3 phase input power.

These machines will provide the full 400 amp output on single phase at approximately 1/2 the 3 phase rated duty cycle. On 1 phase input power the input rectifier bride and filter capacitors must work signifigantly harder to supply 225+ amps welding output. This would be the only reason to use 3 phase input power on the ALT and XMT series machines.

[HAWK]

Teeps,

Let me address part of your question I skipped over in my previous post.

You might get a little extra duty cycle at maximum welding output on SMAW with the Dynasty 200DX on 3 phase as oppossed to 1 phase input power. It will not affect your actual amperage output or the arc quality. You will never see the difference on the TIG output.

However, due to the initial cost of a "true" 3 phase installation the neglible difference is just that-neglible! The Dynasty 200DX uses a different input power circuit configuration than either the ALT or XMT machines. The duty cycle/amperage output compared to the input power relationship is just not prevalent like it is with the ALT or XMT inverters.

[HAWK]

Teeps,

Good decision. I recently sold my 200DX since I no longer do mobile work. I use a 300DX for my shop TIG except when I need 300+ amps of DC TIG output. For such applications I turn on the ALT 304 and Coolmate 4 with a 350 amp water cooled weld craft torch.

The Dynasty 200DX is fantastic machine and I thoroughly enjoyed mine. Somewhere down the road you may want to consider Coolmate 3 or 4/diamondback #20 torch when welding for prolonged periods regardless of amperage. The torch is lighter and easier to control due to its small size and flexible cables. On anything over 120 amps the cooler torch makes all the difference to me.

I use a water cooled torch for most every application except for a few. The reason being I have a really sweet air cooled torch I run a gas lens on with .010" tungsten for .004 range materials. I could do it with a water cooled unit, but the torch is sentimental for a number of reasons so I like to use it from time to time.

If you have the budget go for the MM251X. I like the MM210, but prefer the SCR output of the MM251X. It also has the output/duty cycle to tackle all but the most demanding MIG jobs.

[Teeps]

Thanks again for all your insight,

MM251X?

what does the X designate?
Is this a different model?

Thanks,

Don

[ASKANDY]

350 or 350P

No X's made anymore.

Would a MM 350 or 350P wourk for you? It has the same bennefits at the XMT or Alt and it has a feeder built in. You just can't do any stick or TIG with it but the pulse unit does great Aluminum pulse MIG. I was welding 18 gauge to 1/4 inch at the SEMA show with it!!

Andy