Not 52 Lbs; with water cooler (approx 230 lbs)
November 8, 2016
=== Initial Evaluation ===
Miller Dynasty 280 DX: #951468; Water Cooled with cart and foot control.
I am very pleased with CyberWeld. It took longer to get the system than expected... but that was the trucking company. Very surprised at the pallet weight of 240 Lbs. My unit was missing the nozzle kit AK4C and a bottle of antifreeze was leaking... poor packing. Because of the Water Cooler, a four prong electric connector is needed; or use the wall outlet ground wire for the welder's neutral (white) "THIS COULD BE A SHOCK HAZARD" Miller: possible a step down transformer could have avoided the need for a four prong electrical plug. Some shops are wired for 2 wire 220 not 3 wire 220.
Pros:
Haven't used the unit yet... waiting for AK4C kit. There is a very nice plastic covered operations summary sheet
Cons:
The owner/user manual is terrible!!!... Convoluted & not welder friendly!
==== Follow-Up ====
Five Stars
Ref: Not 52 Lbs: Miller Dynasty 280 DX: #951468
Miller Dynasty 280 DX: Water Cooled with cart and foot control
Cyberweld:
Cyberweld was supper in dealing with the shortages in shipment.
They 2 day shipped the AK4C kit and antifreeze from their stock;
instead of waiting for Miller to ship the shortages to them, then reshipping to me.
Miller: Primo!!!
What a great welder, I am very impressed!!!
With that said some background.
I did some stick welding for the Navy (SF2) some 55 years ago and some MIG welding around the ranch some 10 years ago, but never TIG welded! Youtube made it look easy, so at 73, why not.
My project is aluminum square tubing 1 1/2 by 1/8 thick. Aluminum is a major conductor of heat and side by side the tubing is greater than ¼ thick. The Klutch 220IS MIG could not weld the 1 ½ tubing without preheating; the Klutch 220IS is rated for 1/8 thick aluminum.
My project uses over 4,000 ft of 1 ½; aluminum tubing; in (30) 20ft x5ft frames with numerous small pieces fit to close tolerances. My plan is to jig up and tack-weld the frames, then take them to a professional aluminum welding shop. I just finished one frame (all went well) and it is now at the welding shop.
My concerns about buying the Miller Dynasty 280 DX: #951468:
1) This is some serious money to me; am I sure I really need to do my own welding?
2) TIG vs MIG welding: does TIG penetrate as deep and is the weld as strong as MIG?
3) Can the Miller 280 handle the 1 ½ square aluminum tubing?
4) Do I need water cooling and how will that affect flexibility, weight and balance of the welding head?
5) Why not save some initial money and add water cooling later?
6) Do I need the cart and is it just a convenience for moving the gas bottle and welder at the same time?
7) Notice I didn't ask if I could learn to TIG weld, typical guy!
My conclusion:
1) Yes, I need to be able to do some of my own welding. My project is $100K plus and it is important that I control my time line, not having to wait days or weeks each time I needed something welded.
2) I was surprised to find both TIG & MIG welds equally strong; provided you use a filler rod with TIG. Without the filler rod, TIG looks good but is very weak.
3) Yes, it can weld the 1 ½ square aluminum tubing; the 280 is rated for 3/8 aluminum. I only needed about 240 Amps of arc starting current, then reduce the amps with the foot paddle as the aluminum heated. The variable foot or finger control is absolutely needed when welding aluminum.
4) Not sure about needing the water cooling but my best guess is yes. I have not turned off the water cooler to see the effect of no water cooling. Water cooling insures I can continuously weld without waiting for the head to cool. What small amount of welding I have done so far, the head has never heated. The welding head is amazing light and the cabling is flexible; however Miller no longer offers the flexible adjustable angle head, this would be nice in some welding positions.
5) No, add the water cooling with the original purchase or do without and expect to have to wait for the head to cool.
6) Yes, you will need the cart if you plan to move the unit. I had no idea that the system and bottle weighs near 300 pounds. It is a very nice cart and easy to roll on my concrete floor. Maybe not so good in my pasture, I plan to put the generator & welder on a trailer when field welding.
7) Before I struck an arc, I hire a professional welder to show me his settings and some of his techniques. This was a $100 well spent, even though he offered it free. He also brought his Miller with a spool head. It could really lay down some weld quickly, unlike the slower TIG process. TIG meets my needs.
The welder: *** I truly love it ***
My initial settings: AC; TIG HF IMPULSE; RMT STD; BAL 70%; FREQ 80; AMPS 235; Argon 20; electrode 3/32 tungsten from the kit; #7 gas nozzle from kit; filler rod 3/32 4043; Tubing 1 ½ inch 6063 aluminum
1) Starting the arc without touching the metal is wonderful and no sticking of the electrode.
2) The foot control allows you to crank up the amperage during initial puddle start and to back it off to adjust for speed of travel and prevent falling though. After I get the puddle started I move back about a half puddle before I start adding filler and traveling forward. I could have set the amps to 250 but I am not use to the foot peddle. The other hard thing for me to do is to reduce the amp with the foot peddle on the last puddle to let it slowly cool to prevent cracking. Also leaving the post gas on the last puddle to aid in cooling.
3) Electrode position and shape: this took the most time to get a feel. I allow the 3/32 electrode to protrude about a 1/4 inch past the #7 gas nozzle. I only slightly taper the electrode from about 0.1 diameter tapering to about 0.06 to 0.07 diameter, leaving a pseudo (slightly rounded) blunt tip. I found about a 50 degree electrode angle to weld works for me. I will probably change this angle as I learn.
4) Filler rod: takes practice to get the correct distance, angle and speed from the puddle/heat. If you keep it too close to the puddle it will melt a ball on the end of the filler and contaminate/short-out the electrode (re-clean and re-sharpen the electrode).
There are a lot of things that must be done at the same time to get the weld humming/hissing, but when it all comes together it is really good.
Miller: Two/Three wiring issue!!!
There are a lot of options on how to fix the 2 wire vs 3 wire electrical connection issue. This is a terrible and dangerous design with little effort and expense you can correct the issue. I would have to run new wiring or an extension cord from the circuit breaker but no typical guy, I just used the ground wire (bad idea but such is life) I know not to use any other 220V outlet on that circuit when the welder is plugged in!!!... as the ground will be elevated in voltage: I inventor of the arc fault circuit breaker).
ProsVery versatile TIG welder, I believe it can do ever thing that I need to do.
There is a very nice plastic covered operations summary sheet
ConsRequires a 3 wire (four prongs) electrical connection.
The owner/user manual is terrible!!!... Convoluted & not welder friendly!
