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I now have a xmt 304, xr feeder with T handle PP gun and a 22a feeder with standard miller gun.  I'm still getting things set up (tightening caps and boards in the 304 that get loose during use and shipment) and making a separate cart for the 22A (has a long extension cable so I'll roll it around instead of the whole welder - for now).  I have a problem of still trying to learn a little more about what's out there and it can't be more confusing with so many choices with almost none being completely wrong.  I looked at an axcess system early on which most folks said would be too much welder because it's for industrial, but it would have been fine and the price was attractive (I missed it).  On the other hand welders like the powcon had pulsing systems quite a while ago and are pretty cheap.  Would these welders compare favorably with an XMT or powerwave?  I'm a little familiar with color wars since we have red, green, silver, other red tractors that folks will pull knives to defend, but certainly there is more to it than just color or "I'm just tired of that old welder" (like it's a pair of shoes).  I have a longevity welder that was my first pulsing welder and it works pretty well, but it's just not built heavy enough for my use.  I liked the pulse feature and thought it was something brand new, but it sounds like powcon and maybe others had the same capability.  Anyone have a brief history of P-GMAW?Another thing are welders that I thought were tig only (like a sychrowave) set up with a wire feeder.  Could have been just a crazy ebay listing, but it looked like was all set up like that.  Maybe to some extent a power source is a power source.  Lots of questions, maybe ignorance really is bliss,thanks
Reply:Pulse has been around for quite a while. You can add pulse to your XMT304 if you want, simply by buying the pulser unit for that machine. Powcon was bought up by ITW who also owns Miller and Hobart. I believe Miller began using the Powcon technology after the company was bought up by ITW. Older Millers look almost the same as the Powcons other than the color.As far as using a wire feeder off machines like a Syncrowave, it's possible, but has some serious issues. Tig machines like the Syncrowave are CC only. Your XMT is CC or CV. You run wire typically in CV mode. To run wire off a CC machine, you need a voltage sensing feeder. The feeder mimics CV when running off a CC machine by constantly varying the wire speed. In CV like you have, you set a constant wire speed. Problem is that in short arc ( what most people think of when they think of mig) the machine really can't change the speed fast enough to run well. This changes when you apply enough power  to the system to get up into spray mode. There are some problems with this. Spray is typically a hot process, poorly suited for thin material most think of when ding mig. Also because of how hot it is, the puddle is very fluid, so out of position welds are a PITA to do.VS feeders running off CC are usually used when they want to lay down a lot of material in a hurry on heavy stock, usually running large FC wire sizes..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks, that all makes sense.  I have the pulse pendant and it's a little warmer today so I hope to get out in the shop and do a little more work on the cart I'm making and hopefully fire up the miller and see how it does.  So, would a good used powcon like the one in the picture for 1/2 of what I paid for the miller be 99% of what I have?  I'm not sure what powcon used for a push pull system that would be close to the xr I have.
Reply:While I plan to keep the miller set up indefinitely, things change and farming and occasionally there has to be a down sizing to free up cash.  The miller would tend to hold it's value, but it would be nice to know there are lower cost options that work nearly as well.  I'm also trying to not kick myself for not following my normal pattern of buying unpopular but fully functional stuff rather than buying what the crowd does.
Reply:I forget who here is the resident expert on Powcon stuff. Biggest issue will be service and parts availability. IIRC Arc Products used to do that, but stopped last year. They may be nice machines, but if it has any issues, you may be out of luck.As far as the XMT, they pretty much set the standard in industry today for multi purpose inverters. The older XMT 300's had some issues, but the XMT 304's are really solid. Used I've seen the power sources as low as about $1000-1100 and with feeder, $1500-1800 is fairly common. You are going to be hard pressed to find a machine that has as much capability in so many areas. It's going to be tough to find a good 250 amp stand alone mig in that price range, let alone a machine that can also do stick and DC tig.If I needed a 250 amp mig, I wouldn't bat an eye at stepping up to an XMT 304 with feeder. I'd get more mig output, plus the ability to do stick and tig, even if I already have 2 really nice tig/stick machines..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Older pulse MIG systems like the Pow-con in your picture are primitive and difficult to adjust. The Optima pulser on the XMT is much easier to use because it is "synergic", meaning that it automatically adjusts the pulse parameters as you vary the wire speed. Newer systems like the Miller Pipeworx and Lincoln Power Wave are even more advanced and have built-in programs for a wide variety of wire and gas combinations.I don't know of any "history" of GMAW-P, but Lincoln, Miller, and Fronius have a lot of info on their sites.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:Airco had pulse MIG eons ago but it's come a long way since then.