I'm in the market for a tig welder for my house, and wanted to know what you guys thought would be a good option. I was looking at the syncrowave, and dynasty 200. personal experience on +'s and -'s on both would be greatly appreciated. What are limitations as far as material thickness, ease of use, and preference of both of these machines. thanks for any help

 

I've owned both the syncrowave 200 and the dynasty 200dx.

Price: 2k for the syncrowave...3k for the dynasty

Power Output: Both 200 amps Very similar...the dynasty may have a better duty cycle

Maneuverability: Dynasty weighs 45 pounds to the 250-300 pounds of the syncrowave. The contractor kit makes it easy as well. You can haul in a car and doesnt require a truck to move.

Power supply: The Dynasty can be used on 110v/220v/or 460v. where as the syncrowave can be used on 220v/460v. I like the fact that I can plug it into a wall socket (110v) and weld if I need to. Its come in handy more than once.

Power usage: The Dynasty uses less power...period. Less current draw means you can run it off your household power supply without issues. Unless you run a 60amp breaker on a syncrowave...you WILL throw the breaker. My Dynasty ran on a 30amp breaker and never tossed it. (200 amps welding aluminum for minutes!)

Control panel: They both have "hidden" features, but the dynasty's main features are easy to access and just require pressing buttons and turning the ****...where as the main features on the syncrowave require turning off the machine and turning it back on while holding one or two buttons down. (GETS OLD FAST)

Service parts/consumables: Since the syncrowave is a transformer machine....you can use thoriated 2%(red) or pure (green) tungsten and be fine. But with the inverter...its "recommended" that you use the ceriated (orange)tungsten. Basically..none of the local shops carry the ceriated tungsten and you have to order it from online (kind of annoying)

Extra functions: The dynasty has more functions than the syncrowave like AC frequency control, arc start, pre purge flow time, etc. but...i havent actually played with all of these or know all of them yet.


IMO... Dynasty 200dx.

I hope that helps you make your decision.

 

If you have 220v, get a Thermal Arc Arcmaster 185. Every bit as good as a dynasty 200, but you can get them for $1988 with everything!!! Its what I have. Great machine IMO.

http://www.toolsforless.com/pr...r_Kit


Regards,
Justin

 

dynasty 200dx all the way, will work w/ whatever voltage you have. i'll never buy another machine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Justin Olson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you have 220v, get a Thermal Arc Arcmaster 185. Every bit as good as a dynasty 200, but you can get them for $1988 with everything!!! Its what I have. Great machine IMO.

http://www.toolsforless.com/pr...r_Kit


Regards,
Justin

</TD></TR></TABLE>

i second the thermal arc/dynamic. i'm not that experienced of a weldor but this machine has been nothing but a joy to use. if money is no object and you're looking for a 200a machine i'd say the dynasty as well, but i don't think it has any more bells/whistles/benefits than the thermal dynamics to justify the extra 1000 dollar plus price tag.

 

It's not extra bells and whistles that the extra $1000 buys you. It's quality and reputation backed with an excellent service department.


That might not be worth it to those who dont weld every day.

Lincoln&gt;Thermal Arc.


There I said it and I can't even believe it!


If you are on a budget look into a used welder. I sold my syncro 180 with two bottles, 2 regs, lbs and lbs of various stainless, AL, MS and specialty fillers plus one of my old hoods for like 1200.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ManBearPig4silly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If you are on a budget look into a used welder. I sold my syncro 180 with two bottles, 2 regs, lbs and lbs of various stainless, AL, MS and specialty fillers plus one of my old hoods for like 1200.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I bought my dynasty 200dx for 2600. w/the fc contractors kit

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RTErnie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I bought my dynasty 200dx for 2600. w/the fc contractors kit</TD></TR></TABLE>

i got mine for 1800 w/ torch kit, if you look long enough you'll find a good deal. there no way i could pay full price for the dynasty 200dx.

 

That is BS. I have welded with both the Dynasty 200 and the Thermal Arc 185. The TA185 has a nicer arc and isn't nearly as loud as the dynasty. Plus you get a 5 year warranty with the TA185.

If you have to have a machine that uses 110v, get the dynasty. Otherwise, save yourself the money and buy a new TA185 w/ the warranty.

Regards,
Justin

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ManBearPig4silly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's not extra bells and whistles that the extra $1000 buys you. It's quality and reputation backed with an excellent service department.


That might not be worth it to those who dont weld every day.

Lincoln&gt;Thermal Arc.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I always took it as a grain of salt when people talked about the thermal arc not being that great, since I own a miller I really did not care about what people said about other machines. As of late though, I have been in a lot of these welding shops and all the bad stories these people are telling me about the machines, and the company is self just would steer me away.

 

bad stories about the thermal arc or the miller?
The size, and necessary power to run, steers me to the dynasty, just wasn't sure if there was any other benefits other than these. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

RC is talking about the TA

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kdroberts83 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm in the market for a tig welder for my house</TD></TR></TABLE>
Does the welder get his own room?And what about food and kitchen privileges?
Do you have kids?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RCautoworks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I always took it as a grain of salt when people talked about the thermal arc not being that great, since I own a miller I really did not care about what people said about other machines. As of late though, I have been in a lot of these welding shops and all the bad stories these people are telling me about the machines, and the company is self just would steer me away. </TD></TR></TABLE>

what kind of bad stories have you been hearing? i'd like to know so i can keep an eye out on my machine or know what to expect if something goes wrong.

 

i know h-t in general won't agree, but my lincoln pt185 has been absolutley flawless from day one. It sees between 5 and 10 hours a week of use for the past 3 years. IF I needed service I'm lucky in that lincoln's world headquarters is 20 minutes from my house, but I've never needed anything.
-Niles

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by robbbby &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

what kind of bad stories have you been hearing? i'd like to know so i can keep an eye out on my machine or know what to expect if something goes wrong.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Besides a lot of them coming back with something broken, one of the older gentleman working there told me the whole history of the thermal arc family and if I remember correctly it wasn't pleasant. Its been awhile though and like I said I don't pay much attention to TA because I like miller so much. I'm not biased, what I'm saying is just hear say from other people.

 

Thermal Arc or thermadyne or whatever their name is just sucks as a company.

THe prices for their parts are through the roof and their turnaround on repairs is horrible.
The end.

Lincoln is only slightly better.

 

my thermal arc has treated me great so far. i guess i'll just cross my fingers and pray nothing breaks since getting parts and customer service is that horrible.

 

starting to look like dynasty ftw. does anybody have any experience on any pro's/con's on dynasty v. syncrowave? thanks for all input

 

i have never used the miller machines but just from reading this thread and others i gather that the dynasty is alot easier to use and move through menus, no need to shut off the machine and turn it back on to get into different modes, and also if space is a problem in your garage/shop the dynasty would be great since it is smaller and weighs less.

also if you plan on doing alot of welding the inverter machine is the only way to go in my opinion, it uses about half the amount of input current from the hydro company as the transformer unit to produce the same amount of output current.