2013 200DX 240 Volt Version First Impressions

[vicrc]

I have never tried stick welding with my 200DX, you have any pictures you can share with stick welding with your machine?

[cbmkr]

Here are a couple of pics , nothing pretty just playing with scrap, some 7018 3/32 at 75 amps up hilll and flat. Some 6011 1/8" same amps flat. These rods need dried they have been laying on a shelf for a couple of years.

Had a dirty piece of 1/4" aluminum did some outside corner inside corner and a little flat until the material got too hot. Settled out around 125 amps on AC for the 1/4".

[Odyknuck]

Ok, I am a little confused here. The 200DX has a max of a 1/4" aluminum per spec and your only using 125 amps on 1/4"? Am I missing something here. Note I have zero experience welding aluminum.

[Rambozo]

Ok, I am a little confused here. The 200DX has a max of a 1/4" aluminum per spec and your only using 125 amps on 1/4"? Am I missing something here. Note I have zero experience welding aluminum.

The power required for welding aluminum is a function of the heat dissipation. For little pieces like that you don't need a lot of power. Just like for large castings, even with 1/4" thick sections you can need 300 amps or better to get a good weld without preheating. The published spec is just a baseline for typical conditions. 1 amp per .001" is considered the average requirement. With AC balance you can push that a little since you don't need to run 50%. So the 200DX is rated to 1/4" even though it doesn't make 250 amps. Just like fuel economy, YMMV.

[DVA]

The power required for welding aluminum is a function of the heat dissipation. For little pieces like that you don't need a lot of power. Just like for large castings, even with 1/4" thick sections you can need 300 amps or better to get a good weld without preheating. The published spec is just a baseline for typical conditions. 1 amp per .001" is considered the average requirement. With AC balance you can push that a little since you don't need to run 50%. So the 200DX is rated to 1/4" even though it doesn't make 250 amps. Just like fuel economy, YMMV.

It does seem like some of the welding specifications are like fuel economy, just typically welders tend to work in our favor.

I second what Rambozo said just add that the specifications are typically built off of a single pass for the material thickness. But a single pass on something larger than 3/8 inch is impractical unless it is some type of submerged arc from my experience.