If you do alot aluminum you could even go bigger so you have a higher duty cycle. I was on 1/8 inch aluminum at 175 amps and I needed more

 

Too big for aluminum? Hell no

Just feed it a lot of power and you're all set :waving:

How many amps do you have available to feed it?

 

i am not even sure - I will need to check. I am hoping I can run a 50A circuit. i had planned on an inverter machine thus no real power supplly issues but for this one...

 

50 amps is not very much for a big transformer based machine.

I run my Airco on 60 amps and it'll tig up to 230 amps AC just fine - not sure what the square wave would do.

I have not tested my Airco to see how far it'll run on the 60 amp circuit, but I'd bet it's not much higher than what I've run so far.

 

I believe that SW 275 goes up to 340amps.
Your gonna want a 100amp breaker for it.

 

Here is a table from one of the manuals:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...HBVJ19wbPIBK6_gJAJ&usg=AFQjCNFDYM-6eXxkKplocSEoSrJDh5e19g&bvm=bv.83829542,d.aWw

 

don't forget about the 400 pounds... i also think that having ability to port around your welder has some distinct value.

i think the initial cost would be half of the inverter machines.

 

If you want portability, then your decision is made for you.

 

yeah but it's hard to walk past a good deal, you know what I mean? If anyone's interested I can supply info.

 

I would go with the 275, if I didn't have to move it around much and if i had the power available that it needed to weld the aluminum I wanted.

 

315 amps is kind of hard to argue with when welding aluminum. That's a 50% increase in output over any of the inverters you mentioned. Yes, you won't have frequency control, but I am not sure that frequency control can make up for a 100 amp power difference.

 

I think people get to hung up the whole "portability" of welders. a big welder will roll around a shop just as good as any inverter.

 

yup. sure will. even with the falling apart wheels, out machines at work roll well enough over rough concrete.(heavy machines with feeders and a bottle or two on the back)

 

That 275 square wave is a hell of a stick welder also.

 

OK price came down so low i grabbed it. Well, sort of. at close to 400 lb it really grabbed me.

 

What did u pay? Have fun with it

 

500... has pedal, long power cord... need remaining stuff