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Sorry that it has taken me so long to get to this, but, better late than never, i say.... i recieved my arcmate 205 and spoolgun 2 weeks ago. upon unpacking, i made sure that all was well, and it sat in my living room corner for about 2 weeks before i got a chance to tote it out to the shop. i hooked it up, plugged it in and made the SOP changes to the machine to get it compatible with the rest of my machines (shield gas and electrical hook ups)...
the first thing i tried was 7018 overhead (since this machine is CC/ CV power source, i used all functions) it is very smooth running the 7018 rods. i then switched out to 5p and ran a 6g bead around some 10 inch pipe open root. i had to toy with the arc force adjustments to find the "sweet spot" but once i did....WOW! is all i gotta say about it... i dont have much room for smaw use in shop, so this will be more a dedicated MIG machine anyway, just sayin.
it says on the site that this machine is only capable of a 10lb roll of wire, but that is incorrect, i put a 44lb roll of .035 er70s-6 wire in it for some serious welding. once i got the amperage curve figured out, i started melting metal....lottsa metal.... the machine welds wonderfully! albeit, i burned a few tips up on burnback, common tweeco style tips are a direct replacement. the mig gun is a little short and small for my likes, but that is just me (to each his own)
i spun the dials WOT (wide open throttle for you non-gear heads) to see what she was made of, and i was surprisingly impressed. once the settings were figured and dialed in, myself and a buddy built a utility bed for a welding truck with it (pics to come later)
my impressions of the arc and arc control... the machine produces a very dry arc, subtle and smooth, which is in direct opposition to the miller machine of the same size which has a very crisp and wet arc, turbulent and crisp puddle.
as with the rest of the longevity line-up, the fan moves massive amounts of air, so we had to constantly turn the machine away from the work for blowing the shield gas out (how about that thermostatic fan controls?)
all in all, after using miller machines for the better part of my life (and earning a living off from them for several years) i will soon be replacing my miller mig machines with longevity machines (with the exception of my engine driven and suitcase feeder, stand alone feeder, and the 50 ft push pull feeders)
at a price that is almost half the cost of the same sized miller, i would easily and happily recommend the arcmate 205 to anyone looking for a 200 amp mig machine...
for those that would be hesitant because of mig gun upgrades, the machines use a euro style quick connect on the mig gun, so just about everyone makes a replacement gun (ie... bernard, tweeco, binzel, cobra, and tregaskiss) so, you can still get your favorite gun and hook it right up.... just sayin...
the one thing that i didnt like was it didnt have wheels.... but at the price, a person could afford to buy/ build a cart and still be money ahead...
):
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Originally Posted by SICFabrications
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