Ok, so some may know that I bought a Vantage 300 about a month or so ago. After 5 years with the SA250 I was concerned and listening to others with the downhill obstacle I was more concerned. With the need to run a suitcase for some jobs I figured this was the best option. Tig, Mig, Stick, foot control for tig also an option. Plenty of juice to run a Hypertherm 65 which has already been tested.
The first month was all out 7018 and 8018's. After running 7018's for 2 weeks I had her dialed in and was loving it. The 8018 I ran for another 2 weeks or more, around 100 pounds. After all of these years I finally noticed the difference between the 80's and the 70's. The 80's not near as smooth as the 70's. Never noticed a difference on the old SA. Didn't take long to get dialed in on those, vert's took a little playing but not a big problem really.
After returning home from another Midwest misery tour I was contacted about lots of downhill work. I tried a little downhill when I first picked it up, simple fillet welds putting on fittings on some existing stations. I tried out the "Downhill" mode but quickly went back the regular stick setting. When I got home I decided that I needed to work on this downhill mode to get it figured out. Two days of welding 6" gas pipe and I began to get it dialed in where my caps were coming back into how I like them. Stacking beads, wow! I ran the machine with the arc force dialed back around -2 and had the fill just below flush on the pipe. After laying in the cap pass I was shocked at how high it was. Sides tied in completely but taller than I like.
Welding in downhill mode and it is so different than what I am used to. It somehow feels smoother. The spatter is not nearly as violent as with the old machine. The arc, just sounds so different, can't explain how but it is. It actually feels cold, while running a bead but once you remove the slag everything is perfect. The puddle flows smoothly while welding and I would think of how it just seems cold but watching the puddle and how it acts, flows out I've realized that it's not, nature of the beast as it were.
I bought two new shirts and used one the two days I welded. Not a single burn in the elbow area or anywhere else for that matter. Not spatter burns on my neck, down my shirt. Two days welding with the Miller CST280 and the trailblazer and I've burned the shirt sleeve pretty bad, got some deep burns on my arm in the crook of my elbow and several burns where spatter bugs jumped on the back of my neck.
I have heard the bad about the machine and talked to one guy who said they were not very good at higher elevations. To me that's not surprising as it is a naturally aspirated machine without heavy electronics for fuel and air control or for that matter mass airflow sensors and such like a car to regulate thinner air at the higher elevations and make adjustments as needed.
All and all though, so far I love this machine. I don't know what Lincoln does with the downhill side of it but I do believe that Lincoln is the leading in this field. The fuel costs. I was putting $20/day in the old SA on a good days worth of welding. This last month I was out doing the same type of work and I wouldn't fill up for three days. I could've run a fourth day I believe as it had a quarter tank left but didn't want to run out in the middle of nowhere Kansas or North Carolina somewhere. It cost me around $30 to fill it back up which saved me $30. Over the period of a month I've saved enough to make the payment on the machine and have some left over in my pocket!!
Just wanted to throw this out there in case anybody was looking and considering a Vantage. I know the old school folks are set in their ways with the SA machines and "Classic" but if your work varies as mine does I highly recommend test driving one of these beasts!!
Shawn
Hello everybody, I need some help, I want to buy this Vantage from this rental company and its 2010 vantage 300 with 6400 hours for 3500$.
What do you guys think abiut the hours? They say that they kept the maintenance up to date, 6400 hours may be too much for a machine like this?
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