Welding Tips and Tricks

Been practicing pipe. My 30 year old miller aead200le is just not cutting it. I want to get a job pipe welding and a new welder. I'm going to rent a vantage 300 today. I've got a bunch of 8 inch sch 40 all preped and ready to try out the high tech inverter type from lincoln, but I think I'm leaning towards the old school when I buy a new welder. The classic 300 is what I'm thinking. Any thoughts from the pipers out there?

My best mate is a pipe liner. He swears by his Miller PipePro which is inverter-based. Not waging a red vs blue debate, just commenting on the inverter or non inverter argument. It does take a bit of acclimation to switch to them, but once you do, I think you'll find they're outstanding welders. A mutual buddy of ours, also a gas line welder switched. He tore his hair out until calling Miller and got the "orientation" on setup. Since then, he too swears by the newer inverters.

I hear great things about the new Lincolns too from others who have them-

I'll probably start out with something cheaper like a trailblazer or ranger, then move up to a diesel powered machine after I've had the job for a few months and confident it will be a long term thing. Inverter type vs old transformer type is a great debate I want to hear from the pros about. I'm picking up a rental his afternoon, so I'll coment on that inverter based machine tomorrow.

Both types weld fine once you have enough hours experience - inverters are fine all the time they are working - we had a Ranger 305D which welds fine but the cost to repair it when the pixie smoke leaks is high & it never did many hours or worked hard - a mate has the Trailblazer diesel & loves it - no problems so far - can't comment on how it welds as I never been to his yard when it was home - the old school pipeline machines are way more durable - look at the ages of some of Travis machines still going - same as the electric drive versions though I've not seen one recently in a shop.

I ran 6 8 inch pipe joints in 6g position today with the vantage 300. I couldn't tell the difference with the open root pass from my old miller dialarc hf, but when it came to the hot pass, I loved the control I had with the vantage. The arcforce adjustment seems to give great control to the bead profile. I'm using 5p+ 6010 1/8 inch for everything as I don't have any 8010 to work with. I'm going to try some 7018 fill and cap tomorrow. I haven't tried many types of machines, so I don't have much to compare to yet. I'd love to try a classic or an sae 300. I'd also like to try a pipe pro 350. Chances are they are all great pipe welders, just a bit different in the controls.