should I buy this welder?

[AngryTaco]

Looks like I may be buying a TIG welder this week. I'm looking at a Miller 3-phase High-Frequency Dial Arc. Guy is including all the TIG attachments, a water cooler for the TIG, Stick attchment, cart, bottle of argon, and all hoses. Any one have experience with these and what do you think of them? Need to weld Aluminum, Stainless, and mild. Possibly Ti in the future. The guy is asking $1100 and its in like-new condition.

I'm going to start producing custom manifolds

Heres the link: http://spokane.craigslist.org/tls/4319543816.html

[Rennkafer]

I think it's a little high priced given its age but probably in negotiation range. It's ac/dc so will do pretty much anthing you can TIG.

One thing to keep in mind with older TIG welders is they need a LOT of amperage... figure at least a 60-75 amp circuit to run this. This is the reason my Synchrowave 300 sits all lonely in my garage at the moment is I don't have a circuit large enough to run it (and I don't own the place so I'm not adding one... have to wait til we buy a house).

Here's a manual for it... miller has a lot of great resources on their website.

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o315k_mil.pdf

[AngryTaco]

Thanks for that! We are already setup with a 60a circuit so I'm thinking the TIG function will be ok. I am worried about it if I have to use stick on thick material < .25" thick but I just dont see that happening. If I need more juice, I'll wire another outlet in the shop meant for 100a

[JustinB_20vt]

Thanks for that! We are already setup with a 60a circuit so I'm thinking the TIG function will be ok. I am worried about it if I have to use stick on thick material < .25" thick but I just dont see that happening. If I need more juice, I'll wire another outlet in the shop meant for 100a

FWIW I have a dialarc HF 250 (non power factor) version and it recommended 150A breaker. I run it on a 125 amp two pole single phase.. great welder but without the AC balance a syncrowave or some of the newer welders have welding aluminum can be tricky.

[AngryTaco]

Yeah thats what I've come to conclude. I'm seriously looking at a 225 Lincoln or a 220 Miller inverter unit. It all comes down to $$$ right now

[Rennkafer]

If you have the room the older Synchrowaves are great welders... but like the Dialarc they're power hogs and a fair bit larger than the Dialarc.

I bought my Synchrowave 300 for $650 about 4 years ago with a new watercooled torch, lead, and lead cover... there are deals around if you look (found mine on EBay).

like I said, not a small rig...

[JustinB_20vt]

Heh small... I amost bought an Miller Aircrafter a few years ago which is like a syncrowave only heavier.

[AngryTaco]

There are a few Synchrowaves around but a bit of a drive. Do they have the fancy stuff like arc control and the cleaning functions?

[JustinB_20vt]

I am in no way an expert on this but they are a step up from the dialarc in that they are a constant current vs constant voltage and have ac balance which you need for quality aluminum welding. The newer digital ones i believe have frequency for AC, step in, crater time etc but that's just fancy stuff for producing IROZ parts.