Someone named/going by Steamboat Ed (steamer) read the following post I had put in rec.metalworking and said I should post it here and ask Ernie so here it is below. Thank anyone for your time. I basically got two responses over there and only one really tried to address my base question which is about a couple of machines I'm thinking of buying to replace my current welder.
Original post below------
Hey, all, I currently have a Hobart Stickmate 235/160 AC/DC machine and I am thinking of buying a larger machine; what I'd like is to know thoughts and opinions about what would be a good machine to get.
I mostly do hobby welding but that may include hours of continuous welding (I sometimes, rarely, will weld for a couple of hours non- stop). I build smokers and have also built metal brackets to use to raise my concrete foundation on my house (and lots of other projects), and almost all the material I weld on is 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch thick. Mostly I use 6010 or 6011 rods which are 1/8 inch diameter, although I have found a really good use for 3/16 inch diameter 6010 rods. I have also used 5/32 6013 and 7014, and most all of this has been done with DC at the maximum output of my welder, 160 amps (well, whatever it puts out when it's cranked up fully, nominally it is 160 amps).
I was in the middle of building 35 brackets to go under my foundation last year when, POP, my little Hobart went from humming along to being noisy as hell and it's never gotten quiet again. I'm not sure what changed, maybe an adjustment screw on the slider in the thing fell out, who knows? It gets hotter than hell (even with a 120 V, 112 CFM fan scabbed over a hole immediately over the rectifier in the thing). I don't use it all day any day, but, from time to time, I will crank it up and burn rods for, literally, a couple of hours. I do a fair amount of welding in the 90-120 amp range with 6011 rods that are 1/8 inch diameter, and also some 7018, 6013, 7014 rods, all at 1/8 inch diameter at various amperages, but never anything below 75 amps.
I feel I'm asking too much, at the higher output, from my little machine and would like a larger one. I live in rural (sort of, we have a 24/7 Supercenter about 4 miles from me; how rural can it be?) north central Texas and my power feed from the grid is what we call
220 VAC, 60 Hz (but, with my RMS meter is really 250 VAC). Whatever it is, it is single phase and not strung between two of the grid's phases (208, I believe) as I have spoken to the utility to be sure. My shop is fed off a 100 amp breaker from the power pole and has a 100 amp main breaker in the power panel/breaker box.So, I started looking at the Lincoln Idealarc 250 with PFC (power factor correction) it can draw as much as 68 amps at 230 VAC supply (I presume that is what I have here as it is the closest of the voltages I've seen to my voltage). I looked at a comparable (sort of) Miller unit the Dialarc 250 AC/DC which, with PFC, gets me down to 60 amps draw at less than its rated max output (225 amps output, DC).
It seems both could do what I need and run on my available power, although, my outlets in the shop are 50 amp, so I may have to change receptacles and breakers (or, at least breakers). But, the Miller rep was at the shop I stopped at and he gave me the sales pitch on the Shopmate 300 DX. Skip most of the tedious details and it seems like it's the equivalent of a giant switch-mode power supply (like in our computers). It draws less amps at max output (57 amps) and has a higher duty cycle at 60% at 250 amps. It weighs about half as much as the Miller or Lincoln machines I mentioned previously (testament to that it probably is a switch-mode power supply), and can support TIG if I choose to do that, and, according to the rep (who would probably sell his mother for a nickel so I'm not hanging on his every word here), it has arc characteristics that are similar to a three-phase machine (which I've never used so how would I know three-phase characteristics from meatloaf?). It can also support MIG, but since I have a Millermatic 210 that I'm happy with for my light-weight stuff that is not an attraction for me.
Anyway, since any one of these machines is gonna set me back about
2,300 bucks I'd like to see what thoughts and opinions and experiences you folks might be able to pass on to help me make a better decision; I'd like to not spend that kind of money and hate it a few months later.Thank you for your time and information.
--HC