Experiences w/ XMT welders wanted!

By Sparkeee24 Date 06-20-2005 03:53

Howdy Everyone! My names Brian, and after recently getting my journeymans card (electrician) , I am out looking at fun new toys to add to the shop! I am finding XMT 304 multi-process welders on ebay commonly, and am looking for advice / suggestions / comments on the whole XMT line of welders. I would probably go with a 22A wire feeder, and a roughneck 400 amp 15 ft' gun. I will be getting an air cooled tig kit to go with this too. 90% mild steel work 1/8"-1/2" 5% hard facing farm implements and such, 5% aluminum. All of this for heavy duty hobby work, so production time and labor costs aren't that important. I like the idea of doing just about everything from one machine. The ONLY drawback I see, is the in-ability to do alluminum tig welding. But I have been told a spool gun added to the setup would work out great, and maybee get a pulser thingy later too. Everything in good time! For now, either a tig setup, or mig setup for a used XMT machine is what I'm after. What are your experiences? thoughts? Any and all ideas would be greatly appreaciated!!! Brian Lee, Sparkeee24!

By leon phelps (**)

Date 07-09-2005 04:25

Get separate machines. For the money, a separate mig, stick and tig welder would be cheaper. They would take more space, and save you some cash. My xmt works nice, but is very pricey. I have the 30a spoolpak and it works nice mig on aluminum. It was about a thousand bucks for it, so as I said the price of a regular mig might be better for you. XMT's on ebay are not cheap. I would recommend buying a NEW one for the extra couple hundred. This way you get a warranty.

By supermechanic (**)

Date 07-09-2005 20:51

just got xmt 304- $924.
my second one.
best price at weld store is $2850.
ebay has my vote.

By leon phelps (**)

Date 07-13-2005 02:36

So how much was the mig attachment? Did you get the tig accessories? The accessories do add up.

By mometal77 (*)

Date 07-13-2005 09:43

Well i have seen a few for sale at estate auctions i got mine for 1050 ebay and have two aircooled torches. I bought a new 22a older version right before the new bigger knobs with the flipswitch where you have constant feed of wire came out. Paid 850 for that and 350 for the aircooled tig torch. Its about 1100-1200 if i wanted to do aluminum. Great machines easy to carry around great for working in mud. If you had had to not pack around i would suggest anything with a steel roller set up i have worked with esab and miller box machines. Just be careful. Some rollers suck. I dont care what anyone says. Also with the xmt i have a 300amp gun gets tiring trying to hold when putting on small parts over head working ect. And costs 300. It all ads up but you get what you pay for.
bob

By G.S.Crisi (****)

Date 07-13-2005 15:01

Gentlemen,
English is not my mother language and I feel free to ask you a question:
I've seen several times, here in this site and in other places, the word "journeyman".
The first time I thought that a journeyman was a man that travels a lot, but evidently this isn't so. Would you tell me what journeyman really means?
Thankyou
Giovanni S. Crisi
Sao Paulo - Brazil

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 07-13-2005 16:51

Prof. Crisi

Here in the U.S. The term "Journeyman" *generally* means a person who has completed an apprenticeship and is entitled to status and pay of a full professional.

Here is what a respected dictionary, Merriam Webster, says;

Main Entry: jour·ney·man
Pronunciation: -m&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from journey journey, a day's labor + man
1 : a worker who has learned a trade and works for another person usually by the day
2 : an experienced reliable worker or performer especially as distinguished from one who is brilliant or colorful <a good journeyman trumpeter -- New Yorker> <a journeyman outfielder>

A somewhat negative usage of the word "Journeyman" can be found in sports. An example could be as follows: Rinaldo is a star soccer player, but the players around him are journeymen, they are good but can never attain his greatness, it appears that he carries the team on his shoulders.

PS: My 2 cents on the XMT.
I like the power source for it's versitility, however the 60M wire feeder (which costs more than the power source itself) that gives the XMT it's synergic pulsation capabilities is *several* generations behind the Linclon powerwave MSP2/4 technology and even further behind the STT updates. In fact the new Miller 350P (while limited to a single process) WAY outperforms the XMT in GMAW. The 60M/D64M can also be a maintainence headache. The moral of this story? If you can find a standard wire feeder (99% of fabricators don't need pulsed mig anyhow) the XMT is a solid and versatile power source.

By G.S.Crisi (****)

Date 07-18-2005 20:08

Thank you Lawrence, one learns something new every day.
Giovanni S. Crisi

By tcoyen Date 02-02-2006 02:45

I have a xmt456 with optima card and a 350p and I will say if ya want to pulse weld get the 350p. On the otherhand if you are wanting to go all out even though it looks like a space aged fence charger I would go with the xmt456 with the right attachments it will do anything you want to do even robotics. But for pulse welding aluminum I can't stress enough I think schooling would be your best investment.