syncrowave 250?

[Sberry]

Like you said,, owned for decades and sold/traded for a more modern machine. Could simply skip a step to start with. Nothing wrong with the other but if value and cost and practicality are a concern then a used synch would be down on the list. If it was given to me or some insane low price would also be different but if I had to toss money at it new would be on my short list.

[StandarDyne]

I have a Sync 250 I got new about 15 yrs ago. Love it. Great machine. And I suspect it'll still be a great machine decades after the current crop of disposable inverters are in the landfill. YMMV.

[Louie1961]

Like you said,, owned for decades and sold/traded for a more modern machine. Could simply skip a step to start with. Nothing wrong with the other but if value and cost and practicality are a concern then a used synch would be down on the list. If it was given to me or some insane low price would also be different but if I had to toss money at it new would be on my short list.

I bought two of them at once for $450 each. At that price it was a fantastic welder. But honestly my Multimatic is a better stick welder and a better DC TIG welder. I have no need for AC TIG (never really did, but just had to have it. Once the novelty wore off, I decided to let go of the Syncrowave.)

[Louie1961]

Louie,,, really,,, if you were a real bud would be helping me to get him to run down and get a yellow 180 and trade me for the synch.

Cary...LOL :-)

[WESTOF7]

Syncrowaves are great industrial class machines. I love everything about them they've made me tons of money with almost no issues. One of the best welders ever made imo.

I would go 350 they seem to weld better and have more headroom if you ever need it for thick aluminum. More controls. I like the digital readouts.

I still use mine for some stuff. Way better for stick than the inverters. Better duty cycle than the dynasty 400 I have.

They are power hogs with ridiculous input power requirements.

[shovelon]

Syncrowaves are great industrial class machines. I love everything about them they've made me tons of money with almost no issues. One of the best welders ever made imo.

I would go 350 they seem to weld better and have more headroom if you ever need it for thick aluminum. More controls. I like the digital readouts.

I still use mine for some stuff. Way better for stick than the inverters. Better duty cycle than the dynasty 400 I have.

They are power hogs with ridiculous input power requirements.

I guess you are not using the 3 phase service input feature that the Dynasty series have. That is where the Dynasty and even the new Sync inverter series really shine.

[WESTOF7]

I guess you are not using the 3 phase service input feature that the Dynasty series have. That is where the Dynasty and even the new Sync inverter series really shine.

Yes I've used it on 3 phase. Currently only have single sadly. The dynasty is by far the superior performing machine except for duty cycle and longevity.

My syncrowave 350 hasn't skipped a beat in 32 years. Not a single issue. The Dynasty is disposable by comparison sadly.

I can make beautiful welds on both the syncrowave is just much less forgiving.

Syncrowave is a great machine for someone to learn on then to have as a backup when a inverter inevitably fails.

[Louie1961]

There is (was?) a member here named Steve (7A749) who was in the business of repairing and restoring welders. The syncrowaves were his least favorite because of all the PC1 circuit board failures they were prone to. I think he would take exception to the longevity statement, FWIW.

[Sberry]

Its how I got mine,,,, it was broke. It had a board problem and its been a while,,,, but it came service manual and as I recall it might have had board replaced, dont recall except it was a transistor.

[vwguy3]

I would pick a SW250 as I have seen hundreds of them in the years in my job as opposed to maybe a handful of 350s. Point being if I needed to replace a part on my 250 that was only found on a parts machine I can likely find one with ease.
I have no problem believing that my nephews will use or sell my SW250 after I take a dirt nap.

[Oldendum]

So, what modern welder will approximate a used Sync 250 for specs and what does it cost?

[vwguy3]

Syncrowave 300 10,336.00

[Louie1961]

So, what modern welder will approximate a used Sync 250 for specs and what does it cost?

Depends what you do with it. For me, I never needed 310 amps of max power. So honestly, a Primeweld 225 would have been a lot better welder for a lot less money. I think a lot of folks using a Syncrowave 250 because they are cheap, could easily replace them with a Primweld, an HTP Invertig 221, a Lincoln SW200 or a Dynasty 210 if they wanted.

[StandarDyne]

There is (was?) a member here named Steve (7A749) who was in the business of repairing and restoring welders. The syncrowaves were his least favorite because of all the PC1 circuit board failures they were prone to. I think he would take exception to the longevity statement, FWIW.

Yeah, I remember talking to him about my 330A/BP and he mentioned that. Sounds like he had some bad luck turning them up to Eleven.

On the other hand, they're the Chevy 350s of the tig power source world. They've been made at least since the late '70s (over 40 years?) and who knows how many thousand (million?) of them are out there. If they're as trouble-prone as suggested, seems like you would hear about failures on a weekly basis, like we do with 10-year-old ****box inverters continually giving up the ghost. But you don't.

And when they do fail, usually it seems the owner gets them back running again with not too much cost and expense. They don't seem to be prone to the "cascading failures" you so often hear on inverters, where one board fails, the owner chucks another $1000 board at it, and as soon as he turns it on, it leaks the Magic Smoke again because of some other (upstream, unreplaced) part was the original cause of the cascading failure. Lather, rinse, repeat. A few episodes of that $1000-per-throw dice roll, and those inverters end up in the scrap heap. Syncrowaves, not so much.

[Oldendum]

Main thing is can you feed a 350 with your electric service vs. a 250? They both require a substantial feed, not like some more modern inverters. Good, durable machines. I fed our 250 on a 70 Amp/240V breaker, which wasn't enough to use it to full capacity. It's been years, but I think I paid $850 for it in nice shape. Used Miller Coolmate 3 cooler cost about $300. It's worth more than the welder now.

[Sberry]

We read about constant failures with old machines. They are old so it makes sense but they cost a lot when they were new. They are expensive to fix.

[shovelon]

There is (was?) a member here named Steve (7A749) who was in the business of repairing and restoring welders. The syncrowaves were his least favorite because of all the PC1 circuit board failures they were prone to. I think he would take exception to the longevity statement, FWIW.

Steve is doing well building stuff and enjoying family. This place drove him nuts.

[FrankcoProducts]

I think I know which Steve you are referring to, I'm friends with the guy. The Steve I know professed his disdain of syncrowaves. I loved them, they're the easiest board to diagnose and repair among all of the Miller brands. I repair them all too!