OK, I spent an hour or so monkeying around with the new machine last night. I know it is not an industrial quality machine, and with that knowledge, I need to me mindful that the things I am accustomed to and are used to won't be with this machine. I also need to remember the price, and what the intended usage of this welder is. That being said, here are my first impressions.
Overall, this is a very nice little welder. It does what it says it will. I will end up purchasing this machine at the end of my demo.
In the Pro column:
200 amp AC/DC TIG power source for $1500. Nothing else on the market has this for this price, brand new. Yes there are better 200 amp welders, but for twice the cash. This is huge, and the primary reason for me choosing this welder.
Easy to use. There is only one knob, and only a couple buttons. I had no trouble fiddling with the polarity, frequency, pulser, amp control and so on. I have experience with much more complicated machines, so this is no big deal for me, but for someone like my dad, who is used to a lincoln buzz box, this is very easy to understand. Good for novices.
Power switch on the front of the machine. This made me happy for no reason other than it just makes sense. Why oh why do so many welders put the power switch on the back? I find that annoying that you need to do a reach around and ***** for the power on some more full featured machines.
Very clearly labeled lead lugs. I like the machine labeled + and - on the outputs. This is one of my early gripes with the Dynasty. Unless you know the polarity of the settings, there is no way to tell what is + or -. I know this is designed so you can leave you ground lead hooked up always, and just switch the electrode, but it took some head scratching to understand that the machine switches polarity between tig and stick.
Standanrd DINSE lead lugs. The smaller, less industrial 200A machines from Miller use a smaller lead, which is a pain if you already have extensions, longer torches, or adapters for a water cooler. I was pleased to see industrial standard lug sizes.
Arc quality. It welds very nice, once the arc is initiated and stabilized. Good control with the pedal, and has all the beans it needs on the 240V input.
In the CON column:
Cheesy components. I know this a function of the cost. They had to save a few bucks somewhere, and in a way, I'm happy it was with the easily replaced components. That said, you pretty much immediately need to replace the flow-meter. It is a hunk of junk. The supplied torch is nice, but the leads are very heavy and awkward. They are also very short, only 10'. I'm so used to 25' of torch, I almost forgot they make leads this short.
The arc start is not great on thinner metal. It starts out with a burst of current and then drops to a minimum of 10A. For 99% of things, this will be fine. But for the occasional thin sheet job or repair, this is a major pain. I welded a couple razor blades together, and you can see where the arc blew away the edge until it stabilized.
Lastly, you must use a remote of some kind on TIG. I routinely use Miller's "lift arc" where you set the amperage and then scratch start. I weld a lot of pipe, and it would be a huge pain the *** to have to deal with a remote in the field.
I know this isn't a big deal to a lot of home shop guys, but honestly, this is the biggest detractor for this machine for me. If you are welding a roll cage, under a car, on a ladder, on top of the table, inside a tank, on a scissor lift, or any other place besides the welding bench, you really want to remove the remote from the equation. Yeah, you can get a finger control, but its really just another thing to break in the field or add cost, or even to think about when you're running a bead in a 6G pipe upside down in some dirty hole.
Simple is better here. It would be worth at least another $200 to me to have this feature. I would happily trade the pulser AND AC frequency features for this. It basically removes this machine from the mechanical contractor field. I know, I know, not the intended audience. But Lincoln could sell a hell of a lot of welders to small independent contractors that are using a maxstar or multimatic right now at twice the money.
Like I said, overall a good welder. I like it. It met my expectations. I would give it a preliminary 8/10. A 10/10 for the money if they added a lift arc.
Something to consider if you're gonna be doing some pretty thin stuff.
