Well, I just bought a used Tig. Its and older Miller syncrowave 300. I paid 850 for it but it needs torch. Anyone know of a good place to buy one. Is 850 a good buy? O its not watercooled either. Any thoughts suggestions?
try local welding shop. Give them model number and make and they should have it in stock. Broke mine, next day, had it up and running.
Cool, I was kinda worried. I had to send my old man out to get it for me cause I'm in Ohio and it was for sale back in Utah. He's kinda old and grouchy and bitched that he had to go get it but I figured it was a pretty good deal. We both don't know shit about them but I really want to learn and figured I could buy this one and if I get decent at it I can always buy a watercooler for it. Thanks -Zipp
hell yea you got a real deal!!!!! i bought a new one a little over a year ago but a 250 and it was 3600$ sooooooooooooooooo yea you did good. and yes i wish i had got a 300!!
Cool, same model I bought a couple of weeks ago. I guess we both got pretty good deals: mine was $800 with cart and coolmate 12 cooler. Now I need to bump up my circuit breaker to 150 amps or so. You can download the manual at http://www.millerwelds.com/service/ownersmanuals.php, but you will need the serial #. Good luck!
Is the speedway cooler the one that uses antifreeze? I don't have water ran out to my shop and its pretty far from the house so I'm thinking that's the one I'm going to have to buy. Plus running a water hose out the shop isn't a problem in the summer but the winter might not be very fun lol...
Just make sure you don't use regular auto parts store antifreeze in them (Miller or Speedway or anyone else). The automotive stufff has a small amount of stop-leak in most mixes now, and it can plug the lines on the water-cooled torches. And yeah, you did most excellent on the price. I finally gave up on trying to find a decent deal on a used one so I got a new Syncro 200 a couple weeks ago. Haven't gotten to do much with it yet, though.
Quick question... I have a Lincolin 175 Square Wave TIG, it came with the foot pedal amptrol. Any of you guys using a hand operated amptrol? If so, is there a particular model you recommend or suggest I stay away from? I'm tired of using the foot pedal and wanna switch to the hand unit. Thanks, guys!
Actually I was just talking with some of our machinists today, I never even knew they made that. They all said they really suck and to stay away from them. I've never used them I'm just going off what they said... Anyone know a good place to buy a water cooler? Holy shit are they expensive, lol gotta love this hobby ... -Zipp
I just found this article, I dont know if its been posted before but thought maybe some of you could use it. Its all about how to make your own water cooler. http://www.thefabricator.com/ArcWelding/ArcWelding_Article.cfm?ID=1275
I have found some good deals on weldcraft torches on Ebay. There are usually some pumps to use on your chiller. All you need is a pump, small tranny cooler and a tank and you are set. Mike
Profax is a good source for torches and other welding related parts a chiller isnt necessary just get another gas solenoid and hook up a water supply . wire it in to your existing gas one and it will flow water when you flow gas cheap and easy. Bill
Go with the water cooled torch, with a 300 amp machine air cooled just won't work well. Dig up an old heater core or a small radiator, mount it over the fan circulation hole in the back of the welder, get a small Water Puppy pump, you want one that is 120 VAC, you will also need a small, 1-2 gallon tank. Mount the tank and pump on a base plate have the pump suck out of the tank and pump through the heater core and then to your torch. Your welder should have a relay that turns on the welder and its fan, connect the pump to that relay so it comes on with the welder. Fill with water and a little antifreeze and start laying some beads!! I have had my old 460 amp Airco, which was bought by Miller, for over 25 years, still have the original water pump! and I use it almost every day for something. The 300 will be great for aluminum and you can do some pretty thick steel also and thin steel and aluminum are really easy. Remember TIG welding is like gas welding, make a puddle , add filler, move forward repeat. Except it it much easier than gas! Also get a regular foot pedal for current control, the hand jobs are a pain. As I always say "Stick welders and MIGs are for building trailors, TIG is for building hot rods"!!! Rex
Thanks for the input guys. I guess I'll just stick with the foot pedal then. I've been tigging for a couple years now, just never had the opportunity to give the hand amptrol a shot. Happy welding!
Go ahead and scrounge a water cooler; you will be much happier with a water cooled rig. I just bought a weldcraft crafter 310 and love it. The size of #9 air cooled and rated for 310 amps. Also, I had both controllers. Kept the pedal and gave the thumb control to the old man.
Regarding foot control vs. finger control... to me, dexterity is everything when I'm Tig-ing.... you gotta do it right and there's no "Edit -> Undo..." function! Using the finger control, it compromises my dexterity. I have always been able to find a way to use the foot control... even laying under a car or other awkward positions. I've been known to use elbow, back of the knee, back of my head, shoulder, etc to work the foot control. Some people really like the finger controls, so your mileage may vary, grain of salt, all that.
I've always made the foot pedal work as well. Just didnt know if the hand control was the way to go to make things alittle easier.
Maybe I missed this in the post, but you can get rid of the pedal and hotstart. It just requires that you use the same settings the entire time you weld, but sometimes when I'm really on a roll I'll just set my pedal to where the pedal all the way down is what I want and then control everything else with travel speed and filler metal. I just floor it and go!
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