Welding Tips and Tricks

just traded my syncrowave 200 with bernard cooler for this little beast...and boy is it little and a beast...im 100% amazed at how awesome this little welder is. should have the water cooler for the dynasty within the next week or so.

Oooo. Congrats on the new equipment. A deceivingly small yet hefty contraption! I actually looked up the welding machine you had and the reviews for it were phenomenal. Miller appears to be the gold standard when it comes to welding equipment (Tig welding, in particular). I'll be sure to make note of that when I'm getting started. Thanks for sharing the pictures, gurew! Looks like you're having a field day!

it is an amazing welder in such a small package...the hz control and pulse are just insane...stainless steel at 400pulse and aluminum at 83pulse with 120hz...just insane how awesome the beads are, extremely tight beads on aluminum


ill post up some more pics as i go on...im at the new job now working so not much time to take pictures...working on ferrari and porche stuff

not so comfortable with the torch it comes with..hose is harder than well...you know....soon ill have the water cooler with the most awesome flexible hoses....

hey gurew, im kinda in the same boat about trading my syncrowave 200 for the dynasty. I could really use this small welder that packs a punch. as you know the syncrowave isnt the smallest and lightest where did you manage to trade yours in for the dynasty? also if anyone knows where i could get one at a good deal used dont be afraid to chime in thx

i had a newer digital syncrowave 200 with a bernard 2500ss water cooler, ck-20 torch along with gas lenses collets etc to go with it and a large tank. complete running tig machine. sold it for $2200 and paid $2600 for my dynasty with a tiny tank. worth every penny....i would have paid full price for this machine and it would have been worth it....

Artisan wrote:also if anyone knows where i could get one at a good deal used dont be afraid to chime in thx

A used one on Welding Web.
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=45034

Or you could buy a brand new Everlast 250EX for even less money.

Nice work.

why thank ya...i love this new welder, needs a water cooled torch setup but other than that its pretty tits

Nice stuff , 1st grade

Mine is smaller btw , nobody's gonna touch it

welds could be better i know but i had to rush my ass to make 20 of these today

it looks very nice, how's the inside?

good idea, ill take a pic today of the insides, there has to be enough penetration to not fall off obviously and hold 30psi of pressure, also the inside has to be fairly smooth with no burn through markings. everything is mandrel bent so welding on the outside of bends is a pita sometimes since its alot thinner

Hey gurew - nice looking work. Just curious, to weld around those aluminum bungs/nipples, how many arc stops / torch repositions / arc starts are you doing? I've always had trouble maintaining a constant torch angle while welding around small circular things like that, without doing a whole lots of repositionings. I can do it in fewer torch repositionings, if I start the torch angle pointing backward away from the filler, and end pointing way aggressively forwards, usually stop when my filler rod gets too toasty. Although it works, it doesn't give the most uniform ripple pattern doing it that way.

176 amp, 120hz, pulse it with the foot on and off, i do about 3 beads then reposition. if you are steady enough it will look like 1 pass no start/stop...trust me it can be done and i do it daily

ill post some more pics in a second

Thanks for the info. Whenever I restart on aluminum, I get a frosty cleaning band around the restart area on the previously laid down weld beads. I think I can see that in some of your beads too. I think a flex head torch might help a lot with being able to put the torch in the position I need while maintaining some range of motion to pivot in my torch wrist. (I am just using a rigid head, 17 series type one.) I'd like to try out a CK Flex-loc.

from what i see in the auto industry, you have 2 main types of torch.... 20 and 9. the 20 is water cooled, the 9 is air cooled..both are super tiny torches compared to the wp17 which is huge and a pain in the ass to use...

you can pick up a wp-9 torch with all the collets etc.. for under $50, if you cant find one local for cheap ill get you one at my cost which is way cheaper than you will find online most likely...

Thanks gurew. I just melted my 150 amp air cooled torch on a 3/8" aluminum sign project using my machine's max 200 amps. I need to upgrade the torch, but 125 amp air cooled would be a step backwards for my needs. I am considering water cooled now, or perhaps 200 amp air cooled.

idk, i use the wp-9 daily at 180amps welding aluminum...im sure if you use it long and hard and heat it up good it will burn up...just take breaks...

but yes, watercooled is the way to go, i had a wp-20 torch with a bernard 2500ss and it was awesome, never got hot....soon i will go back to water cooled

i decided to post a video of me welding some stuff, i dont have any through lens stuff yet but in time i guess...


im welding the 2 aluminum pipes together that have been coped and tack welded in place. i have to crank these out fairly quick at work seeing as i have about 50 of them to do, when i have some free time i weld them a hair slower and the beads are super nice like the pics i post, but all of these get powdercoated black afterwards...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-U2BE9wCs

Nice looking work. You might consider picking up some leather welding sleeves to protect your arms. Harbor freight actually has a pair for just $4. (There may be "better quality" available elsewhere.) Great to throw on over your bare arms when your welding short sleeved.

I picked up a "stubby collet body" for my 150 amp air cooled that I am going to try, which basically adapts a 9/20 series cup to fit a 17 series torch. I'm looking forward to trying it.

ya i noticed i had nothing on later in the vid, i almost always wear a green welding jacket. notice in the vid my torch..thats a wp-9 air cooled torch

fitment was my sub par...i was trying to have this part done before the end of the work day with only 1 .5 hours to fab and weld. going on the boss' car so i def should have made the fitment better on the seams.

usually i have stuff like this waterjet cut or sheared and the parts come out dead nuts and fit flawless with a perfect gap...even a 1/32 gap change in this thin of alum makes a world of difference in how the bead control is

either way im semi happy about it!, its a battery tray for a datsun 510