OXFORD MigMaker Purchase?

[Kent]

Too true its definitely heavyweights kit thats mainly why i recon it needs a coded welder with applicable experience rather than my amateur touch even with a good weld machine its getting it done right to ensure its safe and load spec is maintained. I did a welding apprenticeship 10 years ago and ive hardly picked a torch up in the last 7 year, not a good combination it integrity is essential.

Cant really agree, I had a break of about 20 yrs myself ( I have to look up some facts now and again (mainly things I didn't ever do much of day to day, also i have to study things that didn't really exist back then) but my actual ability with a torch hasn't overly suffered neither has my knowledge of what is not a good idea. But I do wear reading glasses for the harder stuff but that is age and wear and tear

My point was the metallurgy of the two parts needs to be equal and towing or snatch recovery gear is far better not welded at all but fastened with the correct bolts or other mechanical fixings. These things are mostly castings, whatever coding someone has its not entirely relevant unless its issued for welding tow hitches to m/s plate and bar (codes being a test for a particular task not a badge of honour transferable into other tasks)

 

[ffr90]

Have you ordered it?
The reason I ask is I have the Tec Arc 231 and I paid a lot less than that and it came with a 4m torch and reg.
http://www.rotecweldingequipment.co.uk/acatalog/TecArc_Compact_Mig_Welding_Machines.html

Additionally this has been posted also which put me off the Tec arc

I have a 211 and regret buying it. I am planning on selling it and buying a second hand murex or similar( when a decent one finally turns up). I use Murex and Eland machines at work and find the tecarc very frustrating in comparison. It lacks smoothing capacitors and I believe it's optimised for thinner materials (automotive) making it not so great for 3mm plus which seems daft for a 200 amp mig. I've spoken to tecarc and they confirmed that it's the way the 211 is. To be fair they did kindly offer an exchange of a bigger machine with smoothing capacitors but I would have had to pay for palletised delivery etc. I decided to keep the mig hoping I'd get used to it but it's just not happened. I regret that too!
On thinner material 3mm or less it's absolutlely fine. I find the semi-synergic control wierd. I prefer the wire feed to be as set by the knob not just trimmed by it. I find getting repeatable welds difficult with it. You may want to bear that in mind and go for a larger machine with smoothing capacitors or an oxford which are made by tecarc but have capacitors (I believe). Dependant on your planned use perhaps you'd be happy with the 211 but it's not for me.

 

[blenkie1]

The 240 has semi syngenic control and I am not keen on it as well. I prefer to set up manually but then I am used to it so that's maybe why. It would be a lot better if it was switchable. The weld quality is good though which I cannot fault but start welding with it at high amps for long periods and then you seem to be constantly adjusting wire speed. You might never be bothered by it I made the mistake of not buying a bigger machine

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Additionally this has been posted also which put me off the Tec arc

Well I have the 231 and don't recognise the problems above. It has 12 settings and although I have never used setting 1 finding it too low I have also only used 0.8 wire.
And if you don't like synergic controls don't buy a synergic welder?
As to smoothing capacitors I have never noticed the absence of them, I've used Kempi and Miller as well as others and not noticed a difference with the weld produced compared with mine.

 

[blenkie1]

Never had a machine before to try synergic though. When I do buy another machine it will be a tec arc or oxford with manual control I have the oxford, 256 ac/dc tig and just got a 350i wire feeder all from tec arc

 

[blenkie1]

I have no problems with the weld quality of the machine and for the most part the synergic works ok, its when it starts to get near the end of its duty cycle it causes problems. The whole problem is I brought the wrong machine for the job it was intended for. Its working near its duty cycle most of the time. I am lucky to have a Lincoln Ranger as well so got the tec arc 350i wire feeder to do the bigger stuff. For the most part the oxford has been great considering its been in and out of the back of a van, dropped out of a tractor bucket and sat covered in snow in a shed. It has not had any easy life. ffr90 will more than likely find it more than capable of what he needs it for and maybe the semi-synergic controls more useful but I use other welders everyday and manually set the wire speed so setting wire speed up is not a problem. Less expericened welders will probably like the system better but for me it you could switch it on and off would be better for everyone. Weld quality and build quality and also the service is a bonus for the machine

 

[ffr90]

The 240 has semi syngenic control and I am not keen on it as well. I prefer to set up manually but then I am used to it so that's maybe why. It would be a lot better if it was switchable. The weld quality is good though which I cannot fault but start welding with it at high amps for long periods and then you seem to be constantly adjusting wire speed. You might never be bothered by it I made the mistake of not buying a bigger machine

Well I have the 231 and don't recognise the problems above. It has 12 settings and although I have never used setting 1 finding it too low I have also only used 0.8 wire.
And if you don't like synergic controls don't buy a synergic welder?
As to smoothing capacitors I have never noticed the absence of them, I've used Kempi and Miller as well as others and not noticed a difference with the weld produced compared with mine.

I have no problems with the weld quality of the machine and for the most part the synergic works ok, its when it starts to get near the end of its duty cycle it causes problems. The whole problem is I brought the wrong machine for the job it was intended for. Its working near its duty cycle most of the time. I am lucky to have a Lincoln Ranger as well so got the tec arc 350i wire feeder to do the bigger stuff. For the most part the oxford has been great considering its been in and out of the back of a van, dropped out of a tractor bucket and sat covered in snow in a shed. It has not had any easy life. ffr90 will more than likely find it more than capable of what he needs it for and maybe the semi-synergic controls more useful but I use other welders everyday and manually set the wire speed so setting wire speed up is not a problem. Less expericened welders will probably like the system better but for me it you could switch it on and off would be better for everyone. Weld quality and build quality and also the service is a bonus for the machine

Thank you for the input guys with my relative inexperience and being out of any professional welding now for over 15 years I don't honestly remember disliking the synergic control units I used before, so i think its a good thing to have.
I can foresee it working near the end of its duty cycle, more like down the lower end 2-4 90% of its time, but having the ability to get upto 7-8mm for short runs is very desirable and actually makes it better long term value for me, especially as i hate stick welding.
I will definitely try to negotiate a better deal on the 240-1 but i do already have a good load of the items that they've tried to offer me to sweeten the deal, so struggling there.

 

[matt1978]

There is a huge difference between Synergic and semi synergic.

Either way there is a optimum relationship between wire speed and voltage, that's not decided by Tec Arc or Lorch or any other manufacturer. Its just the way it is, so providing the machine is delivering the correct amount of wire for the voltage selected then I can't see how it can be a negative. The only way it could be a negative is if the wire speed /voltage correlation is a million miles away and you have to trim it so far away/different to the factory settings then it's not worth having.

 

[blenkie1]

The oxford can be fine tuned either way slightly on the dial. Which is great but I find and it's maybe just my machine the more work you do the more you seem to be adjusting it for the wire speed. For instance one day I started welding with the wire speed at 5 by the end the dial was at 0! Again the machine is more than likely being marketed for people that don,t do as much or as heavy welding as me. It's weld quality is great not to be faulted even on heavier steel. It's been semi-retired since I got the wire feeder but I am going to start using it for what it should be for car bodywork, and mostly stuff around 3mm or less and very occasionally heavier.

 

[matt1978]

I don't know what wire dia your using but one of the issues with "most" semi-Synergic units is they cant differentiate between which wire diameter your using, its very much a one size fits all approach. Obviously the Voltage/Wirefeed rates vary from 0.8-1.0-1.2mm diameters and also the percentage mix of Co2/Ar will have an influence.

HOWEVER..........

You should be able to match the Voltage and Wirefeed relationship to suit your local conditions (Wire Dia/Gas Mix) by choosing a low setting (you should then fine adjust the wire so it matches perfectly the voltage you have selected) after that when you increase the voltage to get into the Spray range for thicker materials, then the wire relationship should be fairly accurate. That's how it used to work on our sets anyway.

 

[Kent]

I cant really see the point in not liking any automatic setting other than if you were unable to trim it slightly from its setting. If its worth the extra cost to someone who uses the same plant a lot is the debateable bit to my mind

 

[blenkie1]

HOWEVER..........

You should be able to match the Voltage and Wirefeed relationship to suit your local conditions (Wire Dia/Gas Mix) by choosing a low setting (you should then fine adjust the wire so it matches perfectly the voltage you have selected) after that when you increase the voltage to get into the Spray range for thicker materials, then the wire relationship should be fairly accurate. That's how it used to work on our sets anyway.[/QUOTE]

Yes the oxford works the same way you can fine tune wire speed either way and it works fine change power settings and the wire feed changes accordingly again it can be fine tuned either way, the problem is when its used a lot and getting near its duty cycle (getting hot) then you seem to have to fine tune it more and more to get that perfect speed. It can be infuriating if it was manual that would be the wire speed set wether it was getting hot or not. An option to switch to manual which I think some machines have would be much better. It could be a fault with my machine, like I said its been dropped out of a tractor bucket, sat covered in snow and all the other general abuse it receives. 80-90% of the time it works fine the rest of time its painful. I think its the fact the machine is doing more than what it was designed for in other words should of got a bigger one which is my fault not the machines.

I cant really see the point in not liking any automatic setting other than if you were unable to trim it slightly from its setting. If its worth the extra cost to someone who uses the same plant a lot is the debateable bit to my mind

I don't like automatic cars either. Some are OK and work fine but others are dreadful. Manual works well all the time. Try an automatic gearbox in a DAF wagon theres nothing to like.

 

[matt1978]

But the semi synergic function shouldn't be effected by Duty Cycle or Over temperature. If there is a issue with your machine, caused from when it gets hot that same issue would still be there even if it was in manual mode by that I mean you'd still be adjusting the wire feed later on in the day after a lot of welding.

Are you having to increase the wire rate or decrease it?

 

[Kent]

I don't like automatic cars either. Some are OK and work fine but others are dreadful. Manual works well all the time. Try an automatic gearbox in a DAF wagon theres nothing to like.

I drive either and appreciate both have plus points. Driving out here in the hills and hairpins I like a torquey manual in cities like Manchester at rush hour Auto is the boss, horses for courses! If I was doing endless amounts of one thing there is hardly a need to change settings and the common ones soon get logged in the head without reference to the actual readings but using 0.6,0.8,1.0 on a range of thicknesses and even differing metals heck I see the advantage of synergic= even if it only gets you near enough.

 

[blenkie1]

I drive either and appreciate both have plus points. Driving out here in the hills and hairpins I like a torquey manual in cities like Manchester at rush hour Auto is the boss, horses for courses! If I was doing endless amounts of one thing there is hardly a need to change settings and the common ones soon get logged in the head without reference to the actual readings but using 0.6,0.8,1.0 on a range of thicknesses and even differing metals heck I see the advantage of synergic= even if it only gets you near enough.

But the semi synergic function shouldn't be effected by Duty Cycle or Over temperature. If there is a issue with your machine, caused from when it gets hot that same issue would still be there even if it was in manual mode by that I mean you'd still be adjusting the wire feed later on in the day after a lot of welding.

Are you having to increase the wire rate or decrease it?

Yes you are right it should not be an issue with the heat but it is on mine. For example I started work with wire speed at 5 at the end the wire speed was at 0! perfect welding and wire speed spot on but no more adjustment and funnily enough it welded like this for a while before cutting out. Don't know if its a design fault or its just a fault with my machine but its been there since new maybe someone else could tell me and then is there a machine doing as much work as mine to compare. Like I said the semi-synergic (its not full synergic) works fine 80-90% of the time, weld quality not in question but surly if it had no semi synergic system its set from the control and thats it, the machine has no control over wire speed?

Kent I see the benifits of the system thats why i got one its just not working as well as it should and yes i see your point about auto and manual my point is if you drove a DAF auto wagon (years ago) and it was dreadful you drove it in manual mode more. Drive a auto Volvo with iShift and it was great, better than using a manual. Was it because Volvo had a better R&D to perfect the system while DAF just produced a system. Both systems have an option for manual control because in some situations it is better for the operator to be in control. I would still buy a system with semi-syngenic/full syngenic on but with a machine where you can switch it off if need be