Which Miller to buy?

[braincrater]

I am in the market for a Tig machine and I have read quite a few threads about this and I am still undecided. I am stuck between the syncrowave 210 or just go all out and get the dynasty 200. As far as portability, the welder will stay in the garage so I dont NEED the small package of the dynasty but it would be nice. I will be welding aluminum and steel but it will not be a form of income, however, if the occasion came up for me to make money with it I want to make sure I have the right welder for the job. I know you can get the memory car expansions for the syncro but part of me feels like that is money that could have gone to a dynasty.

Any ideas?

 

[zkling]

If you have the budget for the Dynasty, you won't be sorry especially o thin aluminum and stainless. I haven't ran a syncro 210 yet. I don't fully understand the market need for that machine but, what do I know.

 

[shawnspeed]

I would probably go with the dynasty , or jump up to the syncro 250 dx.....but that is just me....

 

[sberry]

The Dyn makes you feel like a superhero.

 

[brucer]

To save yourself potentially several thousand dollars, I would look for a used Syncrowave 250.. just make sure you have enough available input power..

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I personally run the Synchro 250 and am very happy! I did add the H2O cooler as well though...... Mine is the Miller Coolmate 3

Adam

 

[zkling]

To save yourself potentially several thousand dollars, I would look for a used Syncrowave 250.. just make sure you have enough available input power..

That is what I was going to recommend as well, but I got the impression the OP wanted something a bit smaller and more "advanced".

braincrater, brucer is correct the 250 is one heck of a machine, time tested workhorse, there isn't much you can't weld with one. You can usually pick up a running unit with cooler $1k give or take depending on location, market and luck. However you will need the 240v 50amp breaker to run it, the floor space, and unless you are the hulk, throw portability out the window with that machine.

 

[kazlx]

If you have the funds, the Dynasty is awesome. Me personally, the HTP 221 will be my next Tig.

And on sale for Black Friday already....less than $3K shipped & water cooled. $500 more if you want the dual voltage.

http://www.usaweld.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=70221-12.5

 

[braincrater]

I know I said earlier that portability isnt an issue however, space is an issue and a sync 250 takes up quite a bit of space.... I am leaning towards the dynasty in that aspect. I dont have any plans of welding anything over 1/4" and I will not be doing production work to I feel like the dynasty would be up to the task.

I will look into the HTP as well.

 

[brianpgriset]

I know I said earlier that portability isnt an issue however, space is an issue and a sync 250 takes up quite a bit of space.... I am leaning towards the dynasty in that aspect. I dont have any plans of welding anything over 1/4" and I will not be doing production work to I feel like the dynasty would be up to the task.

I will look into the HTP as well.

Might want to consider a Thermal Arc 186 too. Very competitive price, but made in China.

 

[kazlx]

Both, I would imagine, would be great machines, although I haven't used the 210. Given the choice, I would personally go for a Dynasty between those. It really isn't *that* much more in the long run.

FWIW, I have ordered misc stuff from HTP quite a bit. They are always helpful, friendly and quick. I wouldn't hesitate at all to buy a welder from them.

Food for thought...check out http://www.toxicfab.com/

 

[BD1]

Dynasty has too many bells and whistles for me. I vote for the 210. i have a older MILLER 180SD syncro. Turn on gas, turn on machine, set heat, push pedal and weld .

 

[Seiler]

I'm a ******** Miller fanboy. That said, I would personally pick the Dynasty, especially if space is a consideration. I just purchased mine a few months ago and love it. It's a great machine. Another item to consider is power usage. Newer inverter machines (like the Dynasty) in general are far more efficient than the old school transformer rectifier machines (like the Syncrowave). You'll see less of a hit on your electricity bill with the Dynasty vs. the Syncrowave.

 

[AndyA]

If you have the coin, my pick would be either the dyn200dx, or the sync250. Both of these are very capable machines.

A used sync250 is probably a good choice. Good luck finding a used dyn200.

Be sure you can power the sync250. You'll need something like 100 amps to fully feed it.

Unless you're running it 8 hours a day, I wouldn't expect you to notice much difference in the electric bill between the dyn200 and sync250.

You can run an aircooled torch on either machine. Air cooled torches top out around 200 amps with a limited duty cycle. You'll probably want a water cooled setup at some point (more so with the sync250 and it's extra 100 amps of output). You can do the poor-man approach and hook the torch up to the water faucet if the budget requires.

I have the dyn200dx and the coolmate3. The coolmate3 is LOUD! I've heard about reliability problems with them, but I haven't had any troubles myself. I'd probably kick in a little more $ for a different cooler.

If you plan on doing a lot of aluminum or very thick aluminum, the dyn200 is probably not going to be enough amps or duty cycle.

The dyn200 is outstanding at portability. It weighs 45 lbs and runs on 120 volt power (with limited duty cycle, 140 amps at 40% versus 150 amps at 60% on 240V).

Miller also has a dynasty 280. You lose the 120 volt capability, but gain amps and duty cycle (235 amps at 60%). Add another $1000 to the price tag, ouch! I've never used one of these machines, so I can't say too much about it. Given my past experience with miller equipment I'd say you won't be disappointed.

 

[BigMike782]

The SW210 is a very nice machine. I demoed one for a weekend and it is a simpler version of a Dynasty in a bigger case(storage inside).
If I had the funds I would buy a Dynasty 200DX(or a 280 if I was really feelin froggy),next would be a SW210 and last would be a SW25DX.
Used? I would look for(and found) a SW250 water cooled.

The point of the SW210?....soon the SW250 will be an inverter and transformers will be a thing of the past.

I run my SW250 on a 60 amp circuit.......I know,I know,it CANNOT be done....wrong done it. 100 amps for full tilt boogey 310 amp output.

 

[kazlx]

I run my Sync 250 on a 50A circuit.

 

[shawnspeed]

The SW210 is a very nice machine. I demoed one for a weekend and it is a simpler version of a Dynasty in a bigger case(storage inside).
If I had the funds I would buy a Dynasty 200DX(or a 280 if I was really feelin froggy),next would be a SW210 and last would be a SW25DX.
Used? I would look for(and found) a SW250 water cooled.

The point of the SW210?....soon the SW250 will be an inverter and transformers will be a thing of the past.

I run my SW250 on a 60 amp circuit.......I know,I know,it CANNOT be done....wrong done it. 100 amps for full tilt boogey 310 amp output.

Hell, all I have is 60 A into the barn...mine is on a 30A breaker , and does fine , except on that 1/4" + aluminum...