DX in cold weather

[DEA]

This may have been asked before but, will it harm anything in the Dynasty DX or any of the inverter machines to leave them in a unheated garage when not in use?With winter here and temps. in the 20's and 30's so far
Thanks
Doug

[ASKANDY]

Doug,

Good question. There would be no problem leaving your unit in an unheated area. It's designed to work in extreme environments both hot and cold.

Keep warm

Andy

[fun4now]

thanks guy's

i been wondering about that my self, i know the electronics are in a closed enviorment but was a bit concerned about condincation? it seems my concerns are not to be worried about.

[Blown S-10]

mine is in the garage. its probably about 35 in there. i have no concerns about it, as far as that goes. the machine is made for portability, and that means it is meant to be used under a WIDE variety of conditions. i just would not want to get it wet, and that may not even be a concern.

[drscotch]

Up here garage heat is a must, insulation doesn't help much when it's -40 outside. One thing to consider about condensation is taking a unit from a very cold environment into a warm one. We had a UPS guy drop off a nice shiny new computer monitor at work which had been in his truck for a long time in the winter. It came into a nice warm and humid office and someone didn't bother to let it warm up, POP - one dead monitor. Condensation was the culprit.

I'm sure the Dynasty is built for tougher environments than a monitor but it's something I thought I'd mention.

[Bubba]

Depends.....

It would be nice to know what grade Capacitors Miller used in these machines. I've been in Electronics for 30 years and I know that Capacitors are extremely sensitive for low temps. If the ambient temp around them is very low than they may fail. I think it helps if you do not start welding right away after power on.
Inverters do not need to warm up per sey.. but turing them on 4-5 mins. before perhaps help. It's funny I was just thinking about it this morning, was cold out there. Just in case I put a few logs in the woodstove before welding.

[fun4now]

Bubba

It would be nice to know what grade Capacitors Miller used in these machines

i'm prity shoure miller isent willing to give out too much info on them but as askandy said it was tested and desined to handle extreem's.i'm also shoure they spend that lil extra to get the good grade Capacitors .

[df5152]

good to know what about the torch coolers??

[Blown S-10]

good to know, what about the torch coolers??

i have given that a tiny bit of thought. it seems to me that automotive antifreeze, at a 0 deg temp mixture, would be the ideal fluid. no matter what the climate of the machine.

what color is the miller collant ? not that that really matters

[dyn88]

you dont want to use automotive antifreeze as it is not ionicaly neutral and is also a little gummy and could easily clog the stone filter. Most torch coolant is just about the same as the car stuff (ethelene glycal) but has been treated to use specificaly in the welding enviroment.

[DEA]

what about the antifreeze used in diesel truck's or equipment?Since most of these engines use cylinder liners.If automotive type a/f is used there is a charging of particles in spots on the cyl. liners(can't think of word for this).which causes hot spots.(Is it electomagnetic charging,electrolis or something)).
Anyway I'm sure the recomended coolant is better.Just brain
storming I guess

[Blown S-10]

you dont want to use automotive antifreeze as it is not ionicaly neutral and is also a little gummy and could easily clog the stone filter. Most torch coolant is just about the same as the car stuff (ethelene glycal) but has been treated to use specificaly in the welding enviroment.

i wouldn't know about that, but i think its the environment that charges it, dissimilar metals in the system. perhaps the newer style a/f, dexcool etc, would be better suited.

when mixed to a 0 deg mixture, a/f is about as thin as water. and i would think that distilled water would be best.

somehow i don't think its as big of an issue as some would want us to think = LOTS of profit to be made on a gallon of $20 a/f.

[fun4now]

cooling system change

keep in mind that it used to be commen practice to just run tap water through the torch then own the drain. this was found to cause sereouse problems.the coolent they desined for the torch coolers dose more than just keep the watter from growing alge. it also deals with curent drain off and causing arc problems. there are places to save a $ or too for shoure but i think this might not be 1 of them.
if you try it and it causes problems, what do you stand to loose ?? a $100.00 torch, maybee even a $400.00 cooler.
true tig cooler coolant is expensive but its not like you need to change it once a week.
just an opinion (we know what they say about thouse ) but i think i would stick to the recomended coolant.