Syncrowave vs. square wave, and old school

[ACID_RAIN28]

Okay, I don't know if it has been brought up before but I have been asking around what the difference between the square wave from lincoln and the syncrowave from miller. A couple people I know have newer Syncrowave, and they don'e have a clue. Some say Syncros are for aluminum, and squares are for both. I don't know. I have used all of them and I can't tell the differance. At my shop I have an OLD SCHOOL Dialarc form the Indy 500. I Have been drawing killer beads for years on my machine with steal, the aluminum is just a similar bead pattern. At my work I use a 200 amp mini miller with no high freq, it sometimes is a hassle to start in tight places, and it is dc only/ but i also use an older square wave too with no difference in bead context between the two. I mostly draw on 4130, it seems to pool differently than cheep steal.

So i pass the question on to those who are all knowing. What is the difference? I can't find a straight answer. What machines do you use. ie donahoe, camburg, bajashop, etc. which is best for aluminum and vice versa? These gas tanks that the jeeps get are aluminum and have stacked beads, like1/4" apart, but a lot of truck aluminum, ie taylors tanks and panels, and baja shops cell containers have longer bead patterns of almost 1 in. what is the deal?

P.S. that is a lot of questions, feel up to the task?

Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream.

[SPONSOR]

Membership in the largest desert racing community has its advantages - Participate in Forum Discussions - Send and Receive Private Messages - Maintain Public Photo Albums - Access to Groups - User Profile in our Social Network - Increased Access to more Sub Forums - Reduced Online Advertisements Join our community today

[AZmiik]

Syncrowave is just a brand name for a blue box. There is also an Aerowave and the Dynasty series. Square wave only affects AC so there would be no difference when using mild or 4130 steel or even stainless. What is happening with square wave is you are going peek to peek with no falloff, as you would have in a normal sine wave. Also with many of the newer boxes you can control the length of time your electrode is positive and negative. This allows you to be able to adjust your cleaning time heating time and so forth. You also have the ability to adjust the amperage used in both modes.

Mike

[FABRICATOR]

That answer is right on. The main thing (only thing?) square wave provides is improved cleaning of the weld area on aluminum. You can weld some fairly oxidized or dirty parts with it. Since it's cleaner sooner, you don't have to screw around waiting for the area to get clean. This means there is less chance of overheating the weld area or ending up with contamination.

<font color=orange>The best ideas are the ones that look obvious to the casual observer.</font color=orange>

[geoff]

If you are welding primarily steel, and want to try welding aluminum in dc only (yes, it does work) the Miller Maxstar series kicks ass. Digital power supplies, ultra low current draw, you can run it in to a 120 v and it only weighs 37 lbs.

we have both a maxstar and a syncrowave and the maxstar welds steel sooo much more smoothly.

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams." -- Willy Wonka

[ACID_RAIN28]

The maxstar is the unit i primaraly use at work, it is very smooth.

I was looking into the syncrowave a while ago and i think the web said that it was able to weld alloys such as stainless better, but i am not sure. So basically they all do better aluminum work but as far as alloys and regular steel they all work the same?

Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream.

[jwfab1]

Almost all GTAW machines currently produced use high-frequency or have a square-wave output.

[ACID_RAIN28]

Really? The Maxstar does not start as smooth as the other machines with the high freq option.

Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream.

[geoff]

do you only have a maxstar 140? We use a 200 SD. That has pre and post flow and high freq start. The 140 doesnt have much...

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams." -- Willy Wonka

[ACID_RAIN28]

it is the 200. I asked the other guy I work with when i first started and he said he did not like it because it made his radio go crazy when it started and that it had no high freq. I know it does not start as smooth as my dialarc so i just assumed he was right.

Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream.

[AZmiik]

The HF is what mades the radio go crazy. It probably needs adjustment or something. We have 8 dialarcs adn 6 syncrowaves in the shop and I think only one of them can be heard over the speaker system.

Mike