Followup on Welder from Iggy

The Syncrowaves are great machines. The machine is so good it enables an occasional hobby welder to make good welds. I'll never part with my Syncrowave 250.

somecomments.

thanks for being a great customer

150a is all you need for steel, al may require more.

this is truly a gentleman's welder.

i love buy> Well... I had a setback in trying to fire up the Syncrowave 300 I bought > from Ig.

It's not only the size of the wire, it's the length. What size is the Main Panel, and how far does the #8 have to go from the Main to the Barn? Aerial or Underground?

It's real easy to run a larger wire and then swing the Barn service over at your leisure.

It's not as easy but a lot more useful (especially if it's several hundred feet to the House) if the Utility will give you a separate service to the barn. Might even get 120/240V Open Delta or Full Delta

3-phase, and that's VERY useful if you want to get a real big welder, compressor, lathe or mill...

The Power Utility gets to cheat the hell out of the Ampacity ratings on their wires on the other side of the meter, and there's not a lot you can do other than complain of excessive voltage drop measured at the meter - They'll put in #1 AL for a 200A service drop from the pole to the house, then you connect 3/0 Copper to it for in the riser.

But remember, the weld bead can be as beautiful as a Renoir Painting - but if you don't get proper penetration on both sides of the bead (and let it cool slowly so it doesn't crack, etc.) you aren't welding, just spackling. And spackle fails real fast...

You have to make practice welds then put those sample coupons in the bench vise and beat them to heck, and make sure the parent metal fails first.

Does your Syncrowave have a sister? Preferably Engine Driven?

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"Bruce L. Bergman (munged human readable)" fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Bruce, the barn is a commercial/agricultural building on its own service. I'm completely compentent to size and run the correct wiring from the meter can to the distribution box.

I've been stick, MIG, and O/A brazing/cutting for decades (actually just started O/A fusion welding about a year ago), Bruce. I can make and recognize a good stick weld, even with a Craftsman buzz-box. I just never realized how _easy_ it was until I got this nice welder.

And I never owned a TIG. That will be where the learning curve is for me. I've already figured out that the puddle looks a lot different with TIG than it does with OA welding. I've also figured out that with this small #200 torch, #12 shade helmet lens is too dark, even when working on aluminum. Probably it would be right for a bigger electrode, but not for an .040" tungsten at low amperage.

Lloyd

A good machine certainly makes a difference. The arc control setting on the Syncrowave certainly helps when stick welding, particularly if you rarely do stick.

Invest in a good adjustable auto helmet like a Jackson EQC. Also invest in a couple of the Harbor Freight $50 auto helmets for assistants. They make life a lot easier, particularly since you can move from one weld position to the next or even rearrange clamps without bothering to lift the helmet.

Assistants do not need autodarkening helmets, you can get by with old darkened glass helmets.

i

For $50 or less with coupon for the HF autos, who cares?

I've hardly used my new (ADH) autodarkening helmet, but I would think that they would be indispensible to assistants, too. They could see WTF they were doing helping you position something to weld, etc. Dark glass is a bitch to work with and my welding improved immediately upon purchase of the ADH. Some day it'll even be good.

-- The business of America is not business. Neither is it war. The business of America is justice and securing the blessings of liberty. -- George F. Will

"Pete C." fired this volley in news:502fa96a$0$14604 $ snipped-for-privacy@newsreader.readnews.com:

ACtually... there is a concern. Some of the cheaper ones turn off unexpectedly. If you don't use one often enough to recognize that it's off, and "re-tap" the glass to turn them back on, you could get a shot of light you don't expect or want.

If the folks kibbitzing aren't experienced with auto-darkening helmets (I have one... I meant "set to #12 shade" earlier), then I'd suggest that a fixed lens is better for safety.

LLoyd

On 8/18/2012 7:22 AM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote: ...

Yeah, I'd not had a auto-shade helmet, either, and Dad's didn't fit well so I bought an moderate one (I can't bring myself to trust HF for this kind of thing). It's too dark for everything I've done to date since even w/ a standard arc; can just barely see anything. I suppose again if I had it cranked full bore it might be ok, but all in all it's not been the help I was expecting...

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It has little to do with safety. All the auto darks provide full IR and UV protection on or off. You can only get dazzled by visible light.

I have a Jackson EQC and an HF, both work just fine. The EQC has about

3x the window area and 6x the price.

I had a Harbor Freight one, it was OK while it worked, eventually it brkoe and I have a Miller now.

How does a larger or wide-angle lens help when the area of focus is so small?

-- The business of America is not business. Neither is it war. The business of America is justice and securing the blessings of liberty. -- George F. Will

They are indeed one hell of a machine.

Btw...be damned sure when Tig welding..that you wear all the appropriate clothing over every bit of exposed to the arc skin you can. The Syncrowaves are VERY heavy on UV..and will burn you so quickly you wont know about it for a couple hours..then you damned sure will know it.

I was testing mine (Still for sale btw) and wearing a short sleeve shirt while simply testing electrode and tig modes..and got badly burned. Normally I wear leather apron, leather coat and of course good mask...and didnt. I was burned and crippled for 2 days.

But they are one hell of a machine! Which is why they have been around for so long!

Gunner

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure

- and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

- Jeff Cooper

Need a tig capable gasoline welder? Ive got a Lincoln Ranger 9 available for $1800 and a 1943 Hobart 300 amp DC only on a trailer for $800. Chrysler straight 6 converted to 12vts

The Ranger 9 (250 amps, 9000 watts generator/120-220) will also do MIG

both weld good.

Gunner

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure

- and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

- Jeff Cooper

Thats where a decent autodark with density adjustment hood really comes in handy. Along with "cheaters" inside so you dont need to wear glasses.

Gunner

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure

- and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

- Jeff Cooper

The Harbor Freight hoods work just fine. Ive got 2 in the rack and I may grab one of them, or the $450 Openel. Whichever is closest.

Gunner

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure

- and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

- Jeff Cooper

It helps in seeing you position relative to the part, and particularly when changing positions or moving clamps or the like.