High Freq for an XMT 304

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I'm looking for a high frequency box for my XMT 304 if anyone has one for sale.Thanks-DoogieMiller 350PMiller Trailblazer 325 EFI w/ Excel PowerLincoln LN25 suitcase welderXMT 304/22a feederMiller Syncrowave 350LXMiller EconotigHobart Handler 140(2) Uni-Hydro 42-14Hypertherm 65 plasmaWEBB Gap bed lathe
Reply:XMT is a DC machine.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironrailXMT is a DC machine.
Reply:Mine isnt for sale, but I have had a hi-freq on my XMT for over ten years now, and I love it. I bought mine new, cost a lot. Earned it all back doing tig on stainless.
Reply:XMTs have lift start built in so no need to scratch start if you don't want to.  Does a hi-freq box allow you to do alum with a DC machine like an XMT?  Or is it really only for arc starting?-DaveXMT304 with: 22A Feeder, or HF251 Hi Freq DC TIG air cooled
Reply:The addition of an automatic gas valve is a nice feature of the hf units.
Reply:I see no use for a HF box on a XMT 304 at all.The 304 has lift start and scratch start options for dc tig welding. Why would you want HF start?If you want to weld aluminum with a XMT 304, it pretty much has to be done with MIG.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Originally Posted by snoeproeI see no use for a HF box on a XMT 304 at all.The 304 has lift start and scratch start options for dc tig welding. Why would you want HF start?If you want to weld aluminum with a XMT 304, it pretty much has to be done with MIG.
Reply:I weld a lot of stainless- when I have a big project, we may be running two tig machines all day for months on end.And lift start is fine, for once in a while use, but if you do it for more than a few starts on SS, the tungsten invariably gets crudded up. And then you have to stop and switch out, and sharpen, the tungsten. Scratch start is even worse on stainless- two or three scratch starts, and you gotta sharpen. We were doing projects with dozens of tacks an hour, mostly 3/8" round to 3/8" round, not nice long runs. So the number of starts in a day could be hundreds.I invested in the HF unit, and found we could often run the same tungsten for hours on end that way- so, in terms of money, for ME, it was worth it, as it saved a lot of time, which really added up.These were paying jobs, I was paying my guys a decent wage, plus my share of their taxes, and even though new, the HF box was well over a grand, I made that back in a few months, and that was over ten years ago.Also, as mentioned, there is a gas solenoid in the HF box. Manually turning on and off the valve on a torch handle does work- if you are doing a couple of welds. For these projects, where we were doing a few hundred starts a day, the pure hassle of turning on and off the valve would be crazy, plus the argon wastage would add up pretty quick too. I have done a ton of site welding with an air cooled tig torch with a manual valve, and its inevitable that you forget to turn of the gas flow pretty often, and send a fair amount of expensive argon back into the atmosphere. So for extensive tig welding, a foot pedal, HF, and built in solenoid is really worth it to me. But for home shop use, or occasional Tig, lift start might be just fine. Only you can decide that.Last edited by Ries; 07-27-2012 at 11:06 AM.
Reply:We weld a lot of stainless pipe at work with scratch and lift start tig with torches with gas valves. We use red thorium tungsten exclusively and don't have these dulling or balling tungsten issues from starting the arc. If your forgetting to turn the valve off when done, your not much of a welder. You can always hear the argon hissing.To each their own I guess.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:When I am welding 90 feet up in a manlift, at 2 in the morning, with the gas drive Trailblazer in the back of the pickup right below me, yeah, sometimes I cant hear the argon.When I am outside on a breezy day, with a cardboard and duct tape windshield, and the contractor 50 feet away is running a trailer mount air compressor and a jackhammer, yeah, sometimes I cant hear the argon. or the backup beepers on the concrete truck and backhoe on the jobsite are both so loud you can hear them over the machines themselves...those are the kinds of jobsite situations where I use a DC scratch start tig torch with a manual gas valve. to each his own, I guess.
Reply:Originally Posted by snoeproeWe weld a lot of stainless pipe at work with scratch and lift start tig with torches with gas valves. We use red thorium tungsten exclusively and don't have these dulling or balling tungsten issues from starting the arc. If your forgetting to turn the valve off when done, your not much of a welder. You can always hear the argon hissing.To each their own I guess.
Reply:Originally Posted by derekpfeifferI'm looking for a high frequency box for my XMT 304 if anyone has one for sale.Thanks
Reply:When I had the manual gas valve turning it off wasn't the problem, I sometimes forgot to turn it on!