250-300 amp tig

[Louie1961]

I request a quote for a 280dx, do i need the 301-235 a/c wave expansion card ?

If you have to ask, then no, you don't need it. I know of one, maybe two people who use that feature successfully. Zank (Mike Zanconato) being the resident expert. He uses it to great success for his aluminum bicycle frames. However most people are not doing the extremely technical welding that Mike does.

[Oscar]

There are a few dozen on Amazon. Sorry, Oscar, but "not a single bad review in teh entire Universe!!!" was so absurd, I just had to call it out.

I know you're a bigtime HTP fanboi and all, but as Joe says, "Come on!"

It's all good, I didn't even know they sold their machines through Amazon. Checking right now I don't see any HTP welders on Amazon. Care to share a link to these bad welder reviews?

I believe you for the quality, my considerations comme from the fact that the rules are different for purchase , no free shipping, custom fee, shipping to be paid for a breakage under warranty. And resale value.

Thanks

Yes unfortunately it is different for purchases to Canada. I think when I initially posted recommending the HTP, your location had not been filled out yet, so I typically assume USA. I'd say get something you can get get service for easier, so the HTP is probably not the best choice for someone in Canada.

[Kelvin]

It's all good, I didn't even know they sold their machines through Amazon. Checking right now I don't see any HTP welders on Amazon. Care to share a link to these bad welder reviews?

Oops. My bad. I googled "HTP welders" and up popped an amazon page, but I didn't notice that the welders in question were AHP, not HTP.

https://www.amazon.com/AHP-AlphaTIG-.../dp/B076BSD6PG

I guess I should have noticed that they were yellow instead of red...never mind!

FWIW, it looks like they were once available thru Amazon (no reviews shown, though)....

[G-ManBart]

There are a few dozen on Amazon. Sorry, Oscar, but "not a single bad review in teh entire Universe!!!" was so absurd, I just had to call it out.

I know you're a bigtime HTP fanboi and all, but as Joe says, "Come on!"

There's only one HTP listing on Amazon that I can find....Invertig 221 going off memory, and it had a total of 2 reviews, both 5 star. I'd be very interested to see the "few dozen" you mention.

[Oscar]

Oops. My bad. I googled "HTP welders" and up popped an amazon page, but I didn't notice that the welders in question were AHP, not HTP.

https://www.amazon.com/AHP-AlphaTIG-.../dp/B076BSD6PG

I guess I should have noticed that they were yellow instead of red...never mind!

FWIW, it looks like they were once available thru Amazon (no reviews shown, though)....

How's that crow taste? jk it's all good. I know they're not perfect, nothing is.

[Kelvin]

How's that crow taste? jk

Not bad, I'm getting used to it...it's an aquired taste!

[G-ManBart]

Not bad, I'm getting used to it...it's an aquired taste!

Salt and pepper helps...then wash it down with an adult beverage and it's not half bad.

[Ralphm]

Are you describing the card that adds amplitude? I've used mine 8? years. No, I don't have it. If I understand, balance control I select a % of amperage on the two way AC half cycles. Adding amplitude to the controllable balance, one can adjust duration of the half cycles. No one has convinced me to pay the price for it. I feel controlling balance, adding pulse for specialized applications meets my needs.

Mike Zancanado (? spelling) has some old threads on the subject.
Shovelon has also contributed knowledgeably to the subject. I believe larger Miller aluminum TIG welders come standard with it.

Yes amplitude card. Very helpful, thanks for the info.

[Ralphm]

If you have to ask, then no, you don't need it. I know of one, maybe two people who use that feature successfully. Zank (Mike Zanconato) being the resident expert. He uses it to great success for his aluminum bicycle frames. However most people are not doing the extremely technical welding that Mike does.

Thanks for the answer. Over 1000$ for the card here.

[Willie B]

If you have to ask, then no, you don't need it. I know of one, maybe two people who use that feature successfully. Zank (Mike Zanconato) being the resident expert. He uses it to great success for his aluminum bicycle frames. However most people are not doing the extremely technical welding that Mike does.

May I point out that Mike's welds were flawless before he bought the card.

[shovelon]

May I point out that Mike's welds were flawless before he bought the card.

Yes, Mike did just fine with standard parameters. But he was itching to optimize production and appearance of his bike frames so he played with the amplitudes and waveforms. What he learned by having and playing with the expansion card was priceless for what he learned and achieved.

When I first witnessed Mike's exploits with the expansion card I was confused. No way did I think you could turn the parameters/amplitudes upside down. Made no sense until it finally dawned on me that as the EN goes down, you can increase the balance to bring the EN back up. Instead the EN in low amps is longer, as the EP in high amps goes up the duration is shorter. The benefit is a more shallow penetration, and longer electrode life. Add in the TriWave form, soda cans are easier to weld without blowing out. For example EN 150, EP 300, Balance 90, Frequency 250. High frequency aids in breaking the oxide skin. Here is a link to the thread he posted. https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/4...nd-EP-amperage

You can also do the opposite for penetration of thick alum with the Advanced squarewave, low EP, and low balance until the cleaning starts getting compromised.

For reference the Miller default settings for AC is SoftSquareWave, EN100,EP100. Balance 75, Frequency 120. Basically a jack of all trades program for 1/8" sheet alum.

[Ralphm]

Yes, Mike did just fine with standard parameters. But he was itching to optimize production and appearance of his bike frames so he played with the amplitudes and waveforms. What he learned by having and playing with the expansion card was priceless for what he learned and achieved.

When I first witnessed Mike's exploits with the expansion card I was confused. No way did I think you could turn the parameters/amplitudes upside down. Made no sense until it finally dawned on me that as the EN goes down, you can increase the balance to bring the EN back up. Instead the EN in low amps is longer, as the EP in high amps goes up the duration is shorter. The benefit is a more shallow penetration, and longer electrode life. Add in the TriWave form, soda cans are easier to weld without blowing out. For example EN 150, EP 300, Balance 90, Frequency 250. High frequency aids in breaking the oxide skin. Here is a link to the thread he posted. https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/4...nd-EP-amperage

You can also do the opposite for penetration of thick alum with the Advanced squarewave, low EP, and low balance until the cleaning starts getting compromised.

For reference the Miller default settings for AC is SoftSquareWave, EN100,EP100. Balance 75, Frequency 120. Basically a jack of all trades program for 1/8" sheet alum.

Very good explanation. If i understand correctly, without the card, it's only the square wave, balance, frequency and pulse ?

[Ralphm]

It's all good, I didn't even know they sold their machines through Amazon. Checking right now I don't see any HTP welders on Amazon. Care to share a link to these bad welder reviews?



Yes unfortunately it is different for purchases to Canada. I think when I initially posted recommending the HTP, your location had not been filled out yet, so I typically assume USA. I'd say get something you can get get service for easier, so the HTP is probably not the best choice for someone in Canada.

You're right, i added my location later. For your information if you are interested, the invertig 221 is a real deal here vs dynasty 210dx. Half the price with the exchange rate included. It is not the same with the 280dx and the invertig 313. Ratios a totally different and the gap is much tighter.

[Munkul]

I always wanted a machine with independent amplitude control, especially after reading about Zank's findings and experiments.
We finally got a Lincoln Aspect 300 in our shop at work 3 years ago, it has independent EP/EN, so I had a blast trying it out.
I quickly realised that as a mediocre part time TIG welder I was never going to get any benefit whatsoever from adjustable EP/EN, and i went back to my Lorch TIG set which has just the usual settings, and decided just to get good with what I had. hood time definitely matters most.
I'd still like the option, but I don't think I'd pay the £700 it would cost over here for the 280 upgrade.

[Ralphm]

I always wanted a machine with independent amplitude control, especially after reading about Zank's findings and experiments.
We finally got a Lincoln Aspect 300 in our shop at work 3 years ago, it has independent EP/EN, so I had a blast trying it out.
I quickly realised that as a mediocre part time TIG welder I was never going to get any benefit whatsoever from adjustable EP/EN, and i went back to my Lorch TIG set which has just the usual settings, and decided just to get good with what I had. hood time definitely matters most.
I'd still like the option, but I don't think I'd pay the £700 it would cost over here for the 280 upgrade.

Thanks for sharing the experiment. Really good to know. You are so right with the hood time. How do you like/compare the aspect 300 and why choose it rather than the others brand available?

[shovelon]

Very good explanation. If i understand correctly, without the card, it's only the square wave, balance, frequency and pulse ?

I believe you are right. The idea I think is the basic machine without the card is much easier on the learning curve for first timers. For example when I got my first Dynasty350DX I screwed it up so bad that the sales rep came out and had to call technical service for a reboot sequence to default settings. Then I did not mess with it for a year until I had another one to fall back on.

[Munkul]

Thanks for sharing the experiment. Really good to know. You are so right with the hood time. How do you like/compare the aspect 300 and why choose it rather than the others brand available?

It wasn't my decision, it was before i had control of the shop purchases. My predecessor replaced 2 broken Kemppi Mastertig units, one with a Lincoln TPX 220, the other with a watercooled Aspect 300, roughly the same time.

Both machines are lovely to use. Really nice arc on them. Controls are well laid out and they are good on power consumption.

However...

The 220TPX died completely within 2 years of purchase. Lincoln UK initially refused to honour the warranty as their terms were "2 years from date the dealer takes ownership" not from the date of customer purchase.
The dealer persisted and got them to honour the warranty and they replaced every single board in the machine.

The Aspect 300 failed shortly before Christmas and is still at the dealer under repair. It started as a HF failure but also wouldn't work on AC at all, just DC. They replaced the HF board for £400 and now going to replace a control board for another £700. Hope it fixes it this time.

Now this is in a 24/7 dry, heated workshop, both on fairly light duty steel/stainless pipe TIG welding most of the time... what, 80-150 amps mostly? The Aspect gets used for the occasional alloy repair job as well. There is no reason either of them should have failed like they did.
There are still 2 Kemppi masterTIGs going strong after 10-11 years, and an Esab Caddy TIG that's about 2 years old.

When the next welder fails beyond economical repair, it will be replaced with a Lorch. I've had bad experiences with every Lincoln machine I've ever came near, for some reason. Yet they are still probably the best known welding brand in the world...

[Ralphm]

I believe you are right. The idea I think is the basic machine without the card is much easier on the learning curve for first timers. For example when I got my first Dynasty350DX I screwed it up so bad that the sales rep came out and had to call technical service for a reboot sequence to default settings. Then I did not mess with it for a year until I had another one to fall back on.

Very helpful. Thanks
I just have to think about my next move.

[Ralphm]

It wasn't my decision, it was before i had control of the shop purchases. My predecessor replaced 2 broken Kemppi Mastertig units, one with a Lincoln TPX 220, the other with a watercooled Aspect 300, roughly the same time.

Both machines are lovely to use. Really nice arc on them. Controls are well laid out and they are good on power consumption.

However...

The 220TPX died completely within 2 years of purchase. Lincoln UK initially refused to honour the warranty as their terms were "2 years from date the dealer takes ownership" not from the date of customer purchase.
The dealer persisted and got them to honour the warranty and they replaced every single board in the machine.

The Aspect 300 failed shortly before Christmas and is still at the dealer under repair. It started as a HF failure but also wouldn't work on AC at all, just DC. They replaced the HF board for £400 and now going to replace a control board for another £700. Hope it fixes it this time.

Now this is in a 24/7 dry, heated workshop, both on fairly light duty steel/stainless pipe TIG welding most of the time... what, 80-150 amps mostly? The Aspect gets used for the occasional alloy repair job as well. There is no reason either of them should have failed like they did.
There are still 2 Kemppi masterTIGs going strong after 10-11 years, and an Esab Caddy TIG that's about 2 years old.

When the next welder fails beyond economical repair, it will be replaced with a Lorch. I've had bad experiences with every Lincoln machine I've ever came near, for some reason. Yet they are still probably the best known welding brand in the world...

It's always very interesting to discuss and have opinions on equipment from other brands not available here.
Often, the problems are similar.

[danielplace]

Very good explanation. If i understand correctly, without the card, it's only the square wave, balance, frequency and pulse ?

Are you talking about a Miller 280DX ? It has four AC welding waveshapes.

. Wave Form = SOFT/ADVS/SINE/TRI

[Willie B]

Are you talking about a Miller 280DX ? It has four AC welding waveshapes.

. Wave Form = SOFT/ADVS/SINE/TRI

Mine, I have tried the four wave shapes. There is a choice of advanced, and soft in square wave. The publicity suggests soft square is preferred. I can't honestly say I know the difference. Sawtooth, I'd guess serves somewhat a substitute for pulse. Sinewave, I paid a great deal of money to have another choice.

I alternate between advanced square & soft square. They are very similar.

[Ralphm]

Are you talking about a Miller 280DX ? It has four AC welding waveshapes.

. Wave Form = SOFT/ADVS/SINE/TRI

OK 4 waveshapes whitout the expansion card?
Finally, the card only make independent adjustements?

[Willie B]

I bought the Dynasty 280DX when they first offered it. The expansion card came along after. It was talked about in the forums. I asked questions at the time. If I understand, balance controls amperage EN & EP half cycles. The card enables you to control the duration of the half cycles. In Example: 60 cycle would be 1/120 second EP- 1/120 EN amperage might be 120 Amps EN, 80 Amps EP. More honestly, it'd be expressed as a percentage.
Amplitude gives also control of duration. Lets say you might choose 50/50 balance, but shorter EP half cycle.

We'll have to ask Shovelon or Zank about the advantages, I'm over my head.

[Ralphm]

I bought the Dynasty 280DX when they first offered it. The expansion card came along after. It was talked about in the forums. I asked questions at the time. If I understand, balance controls amperage EN & EP half cycles. The card enables you to control the duration of the half cycles. In Example: 60 cycle would be 1/120 second EP- 1/120 EN amperage might be 120 Amps EN, 80 Amps EP. More honestly, it'd be expressed as a percentage.
Amplitude gives also control of duration. Lets say you might choose 50/50 balance, but shorter EP half cycle.

We'll have to ask Shovelon or Zank about the advantages, I'm over my head.

Well, at the first time, i understood the 4 wave shapes also came with the card.
It seems that the machine is perfectly functional without it.

[danielplace]

Well, at the first time, i understood the 4 wave shapes also came with the card.
It seems that the machine is perfectly functional without it.

They are seriously functional, and the card is almost certainly not needed by many for almost anything.