New mig brands and wire speed

[Tassyshed]

Hi , looking at buying a new MiG been a while since i owned one let alone ones like there pumping out of the factories today.
So the one I'm looking at is the HITBOX MIG Welder IGBT Inverter ARC MMA Lift TIG Aluminium 6 in 1 Welding Machine 250amps 240v (yep a mouth full)
Just wondering this machine says as you increase the amperage the wire speed changes to suit , quite a few on the Web say they do the same.
Has this been a problem for anyone I'd imagine you would have to tweak your welding technique to how the machine wants you to weld , I'm concerned welding thinner material at low amps it
will be trying to punch the wire into work or not fast enough same goes for thicker and different materials
Has anyone had one of these " I'll choose the wire speed and amp for you machines " and if the pre programming works for them
thanks for any intel

 

[123hotchef]

you can normally change the wire speed also if you need to well on my lorch synergey you can

 

[Jack Ryan]

It's talking about a synergic mode and those differ a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer,

Some allow you to set the material thickness and the machine does the rest.
Some allow you to set the voltage and the machine does the rest
Some allow you to set the current and the machine does the rest

In each case, there is a trim available in case the synergic setting is not quite right. Some machines might do all of the above.

I came across one recently that had a synergic mode and a manual mode. In Synergic mode, you set the material thickness and the machine did the rest. In "manual mode", you set the current and the machine did the rest. There were trims available in either mode.

(Probably the difference between the implementations of the two is "40A/mm").

Often, there is no actual manual mode where you set the voltage and the wire feed speed. If there is only one knob, there may not be a manual mode.

Despite how scary this sounds, the machines of this type that I have tried, did a pretty good job.

Better machines will have a synergic mode and a proper manual mode.

250A from a low end machine is probably a stretch and "6 in 1" would mean that MIG, MAG and FCAW are each counted separately.

Jack

 

[eddie49]

I would second everything Jack Ryan said.
A typical "synergic" machine of this class will have a single dial calibrated in millimetres of material thickness. You have to hope that the pre-programmed voltage-to-wirespeed ratio ( map or algorithm ) is correct. On some cheap machines it is not.
A better-quality machine will also have a "trim" dial, which lets you fine-tune the setting. It is usually marked "Voltage" and may be calibrated with a centre-zero and "-1" or "-5%" anti-clockwise, and "+1" or "+5%" clockwise.
As Jack said, the best option if you are considering one of these modern synergic models, is to look for a machine which also offers a "Manual" mode, with the usual two fully-variable Voltage and Wirespeed controls.
From what I have seen, Hitbox is actually a pretty good brand. As usual, they tend to overstate the actual current ratings of their tiny boxes....

As for having to "tweak your welding technique" - yes, it's a bit like a first-time driver learning on an automatic and never understanding gearshifts or clutch control. Since you already know about voltage and wirepeed, I think you would be fine with an accurate, or trimmable, synergic welder.

 

[Mark 2]

Wouldn't touch it with a telescopic barge pole.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

As you're already familiar with MIG welding, if you don't need a welder right now I would seriously consider shopping around the used market and purchasing a secondhand machine from one of the brands who aim mostly or exclusively at industrial customers

(Both very established names like ESAB and Lincoln, and newer entrants like Parweld and Jasic).

With a synergic machine, the extra effort is likely to pay off, in terms of better programmed (and a wider range of) synergic modes, and access to a true manual mode.

The higher end machines can be updated with improved software and/or additional modes via SD card too.