How much power does a big old miller syncrowave 300 pull?

[Jinx]

Hello fellow shapers,




There's a Miller syncrowave 300 for sale not too far from here for about 360€. I'm getting pretty interrested in this set... the only thing that worries me is the power consumption. From a bit of research i've found these beasts are quite Amperage Hungry!

Does anyone have any experience when using a syncro 300 or similar machine on 230v Single phase? I've only got 25 Amps at the meter (possible upgrade would net me 62 but would cost more than the welder)


Greetings,
David


Edit: The machine will be used 95% for 1 or 1.5mm sheetmetal.

[James(Western Canada)]

Plug your units serial # into the link below, it should then let you see a .pdf version of the manual............

http://www.millerwelds.com/service/ownersmanuals.php

.....or as an option, below the window for serial #, you can search the dropdown list for a description (in case you do not have serial #)
... here is link to "Synchrowave 300"
http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o350p_mil.pdf

James

[Jinx]

I don't have the serial i'm affraid.
The website does have a download for the general syn 300 manual. And seeing that pretty much scared me off... 230 single phase would require a 120 amp breaker for it to run at full oomph.

I'll never run it that high, but i'm reading some reactions about this beast and it's not encouraging. My 25 amp breaker will probably trip on startup, even before i get to welding...

Paying for the upgrade to 32 amps would land me in the price zone of a proper O/A setup with much less hassle and much more mobility. And less chances of it breaking

[Joefish]

I had a Miller Dial arc 300 that I sold because I only had 40 amps to run it and that worked for sheetmetal but dial it up to do anything else pop goes the braker. It wanted 100 amps to be happy at max power.

[jlrussell4]

With only 25 amps at the outlet, I think you should be looking for an inverter type welder.
I run my Syncrowave 250 on a 50amp outlet and don't have any problems welding the thinner materials.

[Dawai]

I am a health-retired electrician Living here in the land of excess..

In THE US, I have not seen a 25 amp electrical service since the 70s.. it came in a meterbase, two small wires, there was a single copper screw in fuse on the back, the wire tied into it and the bus bar, there was a open brass knife switch there on the meter to turn off the service.. and you'd better had a light on to see how "not to get shocked". The tip of the handle was insulated, this ran upstairs into the crawl space with two Naked wires, all the lights & outlets were tied to the wires. (called knob and tube wiring) I estimated the house was one of the first with power in the TVA district.

I made it into a lamp after bolting it onto a finished-shellaced hardwood board. I was going to run the power through the meter.. but with all the open copper bus I was afraid someone would get shocked.. today's people are not as smart or careful around electricity as they used to be evidently..

Brother, all the welders I have installed here required a 50 amp service #6 wire in cord, the 7 1/2hp compressor of mine required a 50 amp service, (#4 wire on contactor) and it blinks the lights inside the house (200 amp service 2/0 wire) My Lincoln 185 mig requires a 30 amp service, it has (#10 wire in the cord) My synchrowave 200 has #6 in the cord, is on a 50 amp breaker.

Sure you don't mean you have a 25 amp breaker "left open"???

if your house runs on 25 amps.. gee.. you are green and everyone should live more like you.. but if it is? Buy a gas welder.. or a spark welder.. be happy.. go on with your life. (or a generator)

My 30 foot travel trailer had a 50 amp 220 service. Most have a 30.

[Rick Mullin]

I have a Miller 300 Syncrowave. I had it at my house for years. The house was 200 amp and 100 amp split off to the garage. I had a 50 amp buss fuse for the welder and blew it only once in the years that I was using it. I was welding heavy aluminum for over an hour. The cables that I ran were very heavy to the point of over kill (don't recall the gauge).

I have since brought the machine to the shop where power supply is not a concern. I have it set up to 480 now and it performs a bit smoother.

Perhaps you might consider one of the smaller inverter machines. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have bought this machine. I do a lot of fine, low amp welding and it does not have the low end control of some other brands.
Rick

[AndersK]

if your house runs on 25 amps.. gee.. you are green and everyone should live more like you..

Most houses here have 16A 400V 3ph, 230 on the single lines.
I've upgraded to 25A, needed for electric back-up for the heating in winter.

Jinx, on 230V and 16A you can run an inverter welder up to 180A, maybe more depending on arc voltage and intermittence.
For sheetmetal work 10A is enough, I used that before I put in 16A in the garage.

/Anders

[Dawai]

Living here in the land of excess.. Living in the USA, most "people over here" forget how good we got it.. cheap gasoline, cheap electricity, good paying jobs and too much good food. My Finn wife, the first thing she said when we went to buy groceries.."who does all this food for??" when I explained to her that she could buy it all if she wanted? she went crazy. Her butt got two axe handles wide. (not why we divorced)

I was interested, I looked up the power over there, never been there. The " Euro c" type plugs are good for 25 amps.. Yes, it's a whole other world.. different.. some things better, some things worse. I dislike the 15 amp 120 volt plugs here, lots of needless housefires are when the plug "partially" slips from the outlet and still carries power to a space heater.. it overheats and causes a fire.

at 400 volts the welder current would be much less.

(see I learned new things today) I thought it all was 200-220 over there.

My synchrowave 200 is as big as a truck engine.. and as heavy.. Only good thing I can say about that is it is harder to steal. A smaller inverter welder is better in lots of ways.

[welderboy]

I have owned a sycrowave 350 and now have a Dynasty 350. I couldn't run my friends sycrowave 250 on 200 feet of # 8 at a vineyard where I am welding 100's of feet of aluminum railings together. With the Dynasty I have put out over 375 feet of cord and have never popped a breaker. They are way more effecient than the 600 LB. transformer.