Dynasty 210DX editorial
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:23 pm
Intro rant. Just so you know, I have not been the biggest fan of Miller ever since ITW bought them out. The fact that they moved manufacture of their products out of the country doesn't bother me as much as the result it seems to have had on design and fit/finish. I feel this is the most evident when comparing the Synchrowave 250dx vs Lincoln Precision tig 275 tig packages. I chose this pairing as I have had access to and have used both machines.
The Precision tig is a well thought out package. Torch connections are at operator level on the side of the machine, a place to hang the torch and torch cable immediately in front. Has a drawer for the foot pedal and work clamp on one side and the cooler is in the other drawer. Locations for fill rod boxes/tubes on the back and a storage compartment on top for tungsten and consumables.
Compare that with the current Syncrowave 250dx. No storage for anything. Two crappy handles (that are wobbly) that I guess you can wrap stuff around. The front is largely made of thin cheap looking plastic.
On all the industrial Miller tig machines connecting the torch seems a total after thought. All the machines have (as Miller calls it) "international style" connectors (Dinse) and even though they now own weldcraft, all of the weldcraft torches need an adapter to fit dinse connectors, what gives? On the Dynasty 200 the only power switch was on the back! At least on the 210 the added a "standby" button. The Dynastys are as far up Miller's product line you can go (that I am aware of) and we can't have a switch on the front for power?
With the way the machines are set up, there is a messy criss-crossing of hoses and lines across the front if you run a cooler. OK, sure the Dynasty is designed to be portable so maybe it's too hard to figure out a clean solution, but the Synchrowaves are not even remotely portable, come on Miller, you are supposed to be the top end. End rant.
The other thing you should take into account is I am, at best, a passable welder. Not passable like certification tests, passable like the stuff I stick together usually doesn't fall apart.
"So why did you buy a Miller if your all like irritated and stuff"? you are likely to ask. Well, here is my deal.
My personal machine for the last 5 years has been a Longevity 200dx with cooler. It has done everything I needed it to do. My abilities did not exceed the machine. It did generate enough cash for me to buy a new machine that I am hoping will last 20+ years. I wanted to buy an industrial machine from my LWS so that if I ever needed warranty work or parts or just had questions I could stop in there and they would take care of me.
I have been rather pleased with Lincoln's products of late. My helmet is really nice and my powermig 180c welds like a real welder. I started by looking at the Lincoln machines. The 200 square wave probably would do what I need it to, but I am really tired of the fan always on and the square wave would be the same. All of the transformer based machines draw too much amperage as I am limited to about 30 amps in my garage. The Asptect 375, now that's a machine! Lincoln folks figured I could get about 170 amps output at 30 amps 230 v single phase. Would be plenty for steel, but I sometimes make projects with aluminum. It was quoted hundreds less than the Dynasty 280dx w/cps, but over a grand more than the 210 dx w/cps (I forgot to mention I really wanted to have the cooler controlled by the welder). Since red and blue are the brands my LWS mostly sells and recommended I limited my decision to those two brands. So you see I didn't so much choose the 210dx as eliminated all the options that did not fit my criteria. I would be lying if I said the $400 in rebates wasn't a factor too.
Now that I have the Dynasty, and have used it a very little bit, I am ok with the machine. The standby mode works close enough to a switch on the front for me. I actually really like the "Blue Lightning" HF arc start. It makes a pop and the arc is just there. Then the HF shuts off so it doesn't screw with my bluetooth headphones. The fan on demand and cooler on demand work well too. I opted for a foot pedal from USAWeld because I prefer the ssc pedal to Miller's. I ordered the coolmate 3 instead of the 1.3. I like that the 3 has the flow indicator on the front. The 3 has exactly the same maximum current draw as the 1.3 and I only needed to buy a $4.50 adapter so it would plug right in. The coolmate 3 arrived with one screw sticking out and upon investigation I found that every screw that holds the cover on was loose. My salesguy got Miller to sling me a nice pair of tig gloves for my troubles
I ordered the weldcraft torch because I didn't expect to be buying a new cooler and would have received a $50 rebate. If I were to do it again, I would order a CK torch from USAWeld and skip the adapter. Also the weldcraft torch handle has no feature for retaining a torch hose cover unlike CK and WeldTec.
So that's not really a review. Honestly I cannot tell if there is a difference in weld quality between all of the tig machines I have ever used. If you can afford the Miller it will do the things it is designed to do. I purchased mine locally from my regular LWS so if a problem arises I have the LWS and Miller to back it up.
On my scale of 1-10 with 1 being an ac only stick welder cobbled to scratch start tig and 10 being the Precision Tig 275, I would rate the Dynasty 210 dx a 7. This opinion is mine alone and likely to be wrong.
The Precision tig is a well thought out package. Torch connections are at operator level on the side of the machine, a place to hang the torch and torch cable immediately in front. Has a drawer for the foot pedal and work clamp on one side and the cooler is in the other drawer. Locations for fill rod boxes/tubes on the back and a storage compartment on top for tungsten and consumables.
Compare that with the current Syncrowave 250dx. No storage for anything. Two crappy handles (that are wobbly) that I guess you can wrap stuff around. The front is largely made of thin cheap looking plastic.
On all the industrial Miller tig machines connecting the torch seems a total after thought. All the machines have (as Miller calls it) "international style" connectors (Dinse) and even though they now own weldcraft, all of the weldcraft torches need an adapter to fit dinse connectors, what gives? On the Dynasty 200 the only power switch was on the back! At least on the 210 the added a "standby" button. The Dynastys are as far up Miller's product line you can go (that I am aware of) and we can't have a switch on the front for power?
With the way the machines are set up, there is a messy criss-crossing of hoses and lines across the front if you run a cooler. OK, sure the Dynasty is designed to be portable so maybe it's too hard to figure out a clean solution, but the Synchrowaves are not even remotely portable, come on Miller, you are supposed to be the top end. End rant.
The other thing you should take into account is I am, at best, a passable welder. Not passable like certification tests, passable like the stuff I stick together usually doesn't fall apart.
"So why did you buy a Miller if your all like irritated and stuff"? you are likely to ask. Well, here is my deal.
My personal machine for the last 5 years has been a Longevity 200dx with cooler. It has done everything I needed it to do. My abilities did not exceed the machine. It did generate enough cash for me to buy a new machine that I am hoping will last 20+ years. I wanted to buy an industrial machine from my LWS so that if I ever needed warranty work or parts or just had questions I could stop in there and they would take care of me.
I have been rather pleased with Lincoln's products of late. My helmet is really nice and my powermig 180c welds like a real welder. I started by looking at the Lincoln machines. The 200 square wave probably would do what I need it to, but I am really tired of the fan always on and the square wave would be the same. All of the transformer based machines draw too much amperage as I am limited to about 30 amps in my garage. The Asptect 375, now that's a machine! Lincoln folks figured I could get about 170 amps output at 30 amps 230 v single phase. Would be plenty for steel, but I sometimes make projects with aluminum. It was quoted hundreds less than the Dynasty 280dx w/cps, but over a grand more than the 210 dx w/cps (I forgot to mention I really wanted to have the cooler controlled by the welder). Since red and blue are the brands my LWS mostly sells and recommended I limited my decision to those two brands. So you see I didn't so much choose the 210dx as eliminated all the options that did not fit my criteria. I would be lying if I said the $400 in rebates wasn't a factor too.
Now that I have the Dynasty, and have used it a very little bit, I am ok with the machine. The standby mode works close enough to a switch on the front for me. I actually really like the "Blue Lightning" HF arc start. It makes a pop and the arc is just there. Then the HF shuts off so it doesn't screw with my bluetooth headphones. The fan on demand and cooler on demand work well too. I opted for a foot pedal from USAWeld because I prefer the ssc pedal to Miller's. I ordered the coolmate 3 instead of the 1.3. I like that the 3 has the flow indicator on the front. The 3 has exactly the same maximum current draw as the 1.3 and I only needed to buy a $4.50 adapter so it would plug right in. The coolmate 3 arrived with one screw sticking out and upon investigation I found that every screw that holds the cover on was loose. My salesguy got Miller to sling me a nice pair of tig gloves for my troubles
I ordered the weldcraft torch because I didn't expect to be buying a new cooler and would have received a $50 rebate. If I were to do it again, I would order a CK torch from USAWeld and skip the adapter. Also the weldcraft torch handle has no feature for retaining a torch hose cover unlike CK and WeldTec.So that's not really a review. Honestly I cannot tell if there is a difference in weld quality between all of the tig machines I have ever used. If you can afford the Miller it will do the things it is designed to do. I purchased mine locally from my regular LWS so if a problem arises I have the LWS and Miller to back it up.
On my scale of 1-10 with 1 being an ac only stick welder cobbled to scratch start tig and 10 being the Precision Tig 275, I would rate the Dynasty 210 dx a 7. This opinion is mine alone and likely to be wrong.