On Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:40:51 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Well... I had a setback in trying to fire up the Syncrowave 300 I bought
from Ig.

My shop is in a 1968 hay barn (no hay now), and some of the wiring is
mine; some is original. My welding station works out of one of the
original distribution boxes around the structure.

I went to hook it up to test. I knew it could draw about 130 amps, so I
checked stuff. The main in the distro was 200A, but when I looked at the
wiring feeding that main, it was #8 (damn!). Well... it had worked for
years at 40 and 50 amps for my little Mig and buzz-box, so I thought I'd
hook up anyway, and try a low amperage setting.


It's not only the size of the wire, it's the length. What size is the
Main Panel, and how far does the #8 have to go from the Main to the
Barn? Aerial or Underground?

It's real easy to run a larger wire and then swing the Barn service
over at your leisure.

It's not as easy but a lot more useful (especially if it's several
hundred feet to the House) if the Utility will give you a separate
service to the barn. Might even get 120/240V Open Delta or Full Delta
3-phase, and that's VERY useful if you want to get a real big welder,
compressor, lathe or mill...

The Power Utility gets to cheat the hell out of the Ampacity ratings
on their wires on the other side of the meter, and there's not a lot
you can do other than complain of excessive voltage drop measured at
the meter - They'll put in #1 AL for a 200A service drop from the pole
to the house, then you connect 3/0 Copper to it for in the riser.


Guys, except for my MIG, I've never done any DC welding, never owned a
TIG, and never had any high-frequency in any machines. This thing is
like a paradigm shift for me.

It welds so smoothly at 125A in stick mode that I can almost weld
blindfolded, just by listening to the arc. In TIG mode, it's so near
impossible not to strike a proper arc on the first try that you'd have to
work at it to fail.

But remember, the weld bead can be as beautiful as a Renoir Painting -
but if you don't get proper penetration on both sides of the bead (and
let it cool slowly so it doesn't crack, etc.) you aren't welding, just
spackling. And spackle fails real fast...

You have to make practice welds then put those sample coupons in the
bench vise and beat them to heck, and make sure the parent metal fails
first.


This thing was built in the late '80s or early '90s, but it's more welder
I think I'll ever need. All copper, too!

Ig doesn't know it, but he's looking for some other shop tools for me.
G

Does your Syncrowave have a sister? Preferably Engine Driven?

-- Bruce --