Inverter efficiency ie. Miller vs. Thermal Arc

Nov 24, 2005 1 Replies
S

I thought I had made up my mind about a new inverter TIG and decided on the ThermalArc 185 over the much more expensive Miller Dynastar 200 DX. But then I looked at the details of the power requirements and If I am reading the data correctly it apppears that the Miller is more efficient and requires much less input current as a function of the output current when compared to the Thermal Arc unit. The ThermalArc unit appears to need 38A @ 220v and the Miller 20A @ 220v (or 28A@



120). Am I reading the datasheets correctly, does anyone have direct experience with either of these units and can confirm? Thanks, Rick
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S

Millers are generally better. If you look close at the Thermal you will see that is for the stick mode. You can add 70 amps hot start to the current of a Thermal in stick. My little spendy 160 TS dc unit (cost more then the prowave 185) has the same disavantage to the Maxstar 150. It seems like really close in input to a Maxstar 200 if you do not factor the hot start. In fact they look the same. I also have a 300 tsw and I can weld over

200 amps at less then 30 amps input on 230 volts.
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