Hey Greg, I have owned many welding machines in my life, favourite 2 brands were Lincoln and Miller, probably favoured the Miller brand more. I was then introduced to Fronius about 2 years ago and fell in love. I sold everything, all my TIG and MIG machines and bought a new iWave 230i AC/DC water cooled (was at great introductory sale price from Fronius) and also a USED Froinus TPS 400i MIG, absolutely made the right decision on both, performance is outstanding, they are feature rich and I really enjoy using them both, welding is fun again. The iWave 230 is 120/230V single phase input so you can plug in anywhere. For TIG torches, I run both Fronius as well as CK Superflex with the adaptor, no problems on consumables for either. Both are great torches. The larger TPS MIG machine is 3 phase input only which I run on a used (new to me) 30HP rated Phase Perfect phase converter. BTW you should look into Phase Perfect, new or used if you need 3 phase power in your shop, providing if you only have single phase available. Far superior to any roto phase product. Hope you have may fun hours with your new toy! Look forward to your TIG video. Cheers Joe
Fronius definitely knows what they are doing. Since making the video I spent a lot of time actually welding with the machine (including trail welding) and it stick welds perfect. When you get to a high enough skill level you like a welder to weld a certain way, and the accupocket (with virtually no screwing around with settings) does exactly what I want. I didn’t mention it in the video but my introduction to fronius was from a UA-camr (chuckee2009) years ago, and I made the assumption they were average welders because nobody around where I live sold them. Not to mention a UA-camr was reviewing them (they sent them to him for free). It wasn’t until years later I realized how they are actually high end and well designed machines. I may be making the switch to the same tig machine you have (the 230) over my dynasty. I feel that the dynasty lacks overall polish and I think the fronius would be a step above it. I am glad to hear you like the machine you have, that’s what I heard from everyone that has owned them.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Hey Greg, the 230i AC/DC is really an awesome machine. The TAC feature works so well when fitting up but it is a little unusual at first use, just use it for fit up only, don't weld continuous. And I love the fact you can run 300 feet of extension cord and it still works plus I think it will weld up to 170A on 120V. The Fronius TIG torch is very foreign at first, especially to us in North America, it takes some time to get use to. I do like it and do use it often. One torch feature I really like, with one click I can swap out the head for another type or one that may be set up for a different process. The torch head will rotate 360 degrees as well for repositioning but don't use the release tab to do so like so many unknowledgeable you tubers show on their videos, or it will leak gas and/or water. Torch head will rotate while in locked position as designed. As you know torch quality is second to none, but I also use the CK Superflex with the adaptor as my go to torch when using the Fronius wireless foot pedal. The CK is more like a familiar "home comfort" torch that I am use to. Oh and that wireless foot pedal with hook is fantastic for repositioning, how the hell did we get along without it in the first place! You will love it. But be careful of the battery door, I managed to damage the plastic around the captive crew not understanding how to open the door at first, but a little epoxy fixed it up. Otherwise pedal extremely robust, surprising reliable as any metal pedal, it's actually heavy duty. Cheers Joe
Both of those machines offer a lot of capability for the money. You will see a everlast machine or two sometime soon, I ordered one to show you can do excellent work with very minimal equipment. I am glad it’s possible to get a decent welder for affordable prices 😀.
Bought the HTP Revolution 2500 about a month ago. If you ever have the funds get one. I have used quite a few different machines but HTP is in a league of their own.
I was looking at these when I bought my rogue. It would be perfect for trail repairs. Glad to see what it can do. The price was too much for me to swallow though. Guess I'll stick to 2 batteries in series if I can't limp off the trail back to camp.
I am definitely with you on the price. At some point the machines will come down in price. For the average person the rogue 180 or 200 are awesome machines. When you look at the fact you can get a rogue 200 and $2500-3500 more in other tools/welders over the fronius it’s a no brainer.
Greg I forgot to mention that my Fronius 180 has pulse stick and tig . The 2200 does not have pulse but is a dam fine mig and stick/tig welder . I have had the 2200 for nearly 5 years and have hardly stratched the surface with all the features one can use. I got the 180 in early 2017 and it has never missed a beat, and it is quiet. I got the mig aluminum package with the 2200 and a separate torch and whip used it on a number of alumium projects. I use my HTP 220 for aluminum now because it has pulse. If I wanted pulse from Fronius I would had to go for the 4000 pulse but need 3 phase power for it which I don't have. Any way you have made a great choice you won't be disapointed.
The slightly smaller compact Fronius Transteel 3000C also has pulse but it's also 3 phase only machine. And because the same 3000C, and 4000 Pulse, and 5000 Pulse all have true syncropulse mode (double pulse), they require 3 phase power to cover the headroom demand on the inverter power to do so. The standard 4000 and 5000 are also larger machines in capacity thus 3 phase as well.
Hi, can it weld thin materials like a mm or under? the 2200 is number one on my list just now, 2nd is the Ignis Tig-because I love the portability and price but would lose out on mig.
Greg I have 2 Fronius machines , the Transpocket 180 , one sweet machine and the Transteel 2200 which came with a tig set as well. They are sweet machines , when you use one there is just something I can't describe. I can get all the consumables with a week from Canadian Welding Supplies in Ontario shipped to me in BC , that is like you shipping to Seattle. Now I do like my HTP 220 it is a good machine but not the same feel . The tig torches Fronius have flex heads and quick change heads , but for the torch you have with this machine. One thing some people don't get is that the Fronius welders are silent, no fan noise unless you push them past the duty cycle. My Esab is just plain noisey all the time , the HTP has a two speed fan quiter on not welding and high speed on welding.
I never knew how important a fan on demand was until I welded with a everlast machine that didn’t have it. It was a 275 amp tig machine and its fan for both the cooler and the welder ran anytime it was on. Welding at 50amps in a quiet shop with a stupidly loud fan on was too much for me. So far I really like the fronius I have. Little things like a nice knob that clicks when it turns shows they put thought into it. I will be opening it up soon to see what’s inside, I am unsure as to what can even be seen but I have a feeling the inside is well engineered too.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I have seen the insides of a transpocket, my actual background is Electronics, so had a few welders apart, these are by far the best looking internals, raised PCB's so any ingested liquid cannot touch the boards, fewer PCB's and less wire interconnect than other welders I have seen(more interconnects=more things to go wrong), clever cooling which runs through a sort of tunnel past the heatsink fins, they spent a long time putting that design together, its built to last. I find it a bit strange to be burning rods in silence, like its almost effortless efficiency.
Heh. Never thought id see the question, "does anyone ever double side tig weld" on UA-cam, eg stereo welding. Just worked this out in my production center, (food processing eqpt). Stereo is incredibly efficient, two guys welding two sides at same time, means less cooling time, even distortion, no backing tape, less rework, certain full penetration. If you have two guys and something needs to be welded full pen, do it stereo. Game changer for sheet metal work. Only thing better is seam welder and doing stuff while sheets are flat
How applicable is this to most jobs? Thin sheet metal I can weld full penetration with a clean backside from one side. Thicker metal with an open root/bevel you can do the same. Is the theory with it you weld both sides of a butt joint without a bevel, and because you have an arc/molten pool on both you achieve full penetration/fusion with no bevel, minimal gap? I could see that working since it would save a lot of time on setup. I would imagine it also produces a cleaner internal weld? I never thought anyone would comment that actually has done that, thanks much for chiming in. 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgregyeah happy to share! not exactly sure how applicable it is outside food industry, I'm not a welder, just an industrial engineer. Types of welds we do is 7-14 gauge sheet where welds on inside have to be ground flush and polished, and no pits or scratches allowed. Stereo welding allows very minimal defects in that sense with 2 pools meeting each other. Doing each side sequentially with a backing tape works but you have to back grind to get the full pen high quality welds we're after that have minimal failure potential or necessary rework. Personally think only better options are seam welders with gas backing or robotic welding with the same. Next capabilities we're looking at is hot wire Tig through EWM.
Woah! You have gone waaaaaaay off the reservation with this one. Lol My wheeling days have been over for many moons mostly due to having kids (not complaining mind you --just priorities had to change). I'm also an old fart so if you couldn't bend it around a tree and bolt it back together or duck tape, wire, whatever the chit out of it to get you home, you were screwed on the trail. If it existed this would have been something to think about back in the day. Great and interesting vid.
Trying to think of the use case for this. I can't quite come up with one. I agree with you about the off road / overlanding situation. But that's all I can come up with. Is there any use case for confined space where you'd want to avoid the CO / CO2 production? You're still generating noxious gasses from the welding, like ozone and metal fumes, but not nearly as much as an internal combusion engine would.
So I have used it for a ton of random jobs. I repaired a bunch of a pipe railing on a beach last week. I have a 500a engine drive on the truck, but that was 140’ away from where I was working. I would have needed to run 140’ of leads, and had the big diesel idling for 1 hour while I did the job. Not a big deal but I needed to make numerous amperage changes (paper thin pipe being welded at 36 to 45amps) and that would have required me to make multiple trips back to the truck to adjust. Plus lugging tons of cables, and of course the diesel idling right by people sun tanning and eating lunch 😅. I also welded some fencing sections at random places in a festival ground that I couldn’t get to with the truck easily. When the battery got low I found a random outlet to charge it while I ate lunch. The main benefits is small oddball jobs in the field because very easy to do, and you get a lot of output off battery (with very low current draw to charge). It’s actually a very solid setup and more useful than I planned on it being.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Ok, that actually makes a lot of sense. At first blush it seems like a solution in search of a problem, but in the end it is solutions to a lot of problems.
I ended up selling a bunch of stuff I had to fund it, and the payoff should be worth it in the long run. I am doing a lot more repair work and the time savings combined with the capability should make sense. I really wish they sold for much less money. I know the prices will drop at some point. My favorite welders are the small compact units, and I would like to see more people be able to afford a battery powered welder like the fronius. They are so useful and make you wish every welder could weld without a power cord lol.
That’s a super cool welder, I have never heard of that one or seen it. Being able to run flux core wire is super useful since thin stuff sucks to stick weld. I might have to try to get ahold of one of those 😀
The Brand for Weldingmachines I like the most is Rehm. Following some UA-cam channels it seems, that there are only two major manufacturers for welding machines in the US: miller and Lincoln. And esab as a minor player . That seems some how strange to me because in germany there are several manufacturers available (some german, some "european"): rehm, EWM, fronius, kemppi, jess, Lorch, cloos, migatronic, ... ) and some discouninued brands like jäckle, ess (jess), dalex, Messer Griesheim, ... Which machines are still out there.
I am not sure why but in the U.S. welding machines are arguably far behind other countries like Germany with welders. The tech that has existed in other countries (like LCD screens, touch displays, and super adjustable parameters) for a very long time is just getting here. I looked up Rehm and they are a great example of this, their whole interface is way ahead of American companies. What I thought was the most puzzling, is that miller told me that they don’t write the software for their new lcd machines (like my dynasty). To be able to produce a high end product that is basically a computer, and have the best functionality, you would think everything would be done in house.
This is going to be interesting 🤔.. very excited to hear what you have to say about this particular topic. I definitely have an opinion on “welder brands”, hmm 😁
@@makingmistakeswithgreg , don’t you dare threaten me with a good time Mr Greg Sir… 😁. I thought the Lorde Almighty “Ave” and myself were the only ones who tear down perfectly working tools 🛠️ and stuff hahaha !
Actually, DeWalt has chargers that charge four batteries at once. Four of those batteries put out about eight times the power of this one. And you can get DeWalt batteries anywhere along with the chargers. Yes, it’s heavier, but it’s designed to do more work than this one can. So the customer for each of these welders are different. I wouldn’t say that this is better engineered, it’s just different and more limited. Oh, congrats on hitting 20k.
@@joeg7755 nah. It’s pretty good. I won’t argue that. But all manufacturers have their own thing. And they play catchup with each other. Fronius and ESAB are the two most reliable welders I’m familiar with. As far as features go, a lot of the little things are nice, but are we really making better welds because of them? With some, but not all. And a number of these little extra features require that you be a pretty good welder to make use of them and then, the effects are minor. A lot of it is just different ways to do the same thing. These battery models are aimed at different audiences. The /fronius is aimed at the kind of work Greg needs it for. The ESAB is intended for heavier, longer cycles.
We use the Mulitquip whisper weld 400 machines at work. These things are diesel powered 400 amp machines that are damn near bulletproof. They don’t have any features they are just basic welding machines. They seem to be the go to machines in construction, personally I think they weld nicer then my bobcat 250 does and they certainly use a hell of a lot less fuel then that little pig does. They have a pretty decent AC output of 14kw and it doesn’t seem to be effected by welding or gouging. Two guys can weld off one basically non stop while it’s still powering stuff I’d be interested in your opinion on these machines compared to other engine driven welders.
I never knew they made a welder combo, I just looked at their specs/models. I have used their straight generators and some of their other equipment before, they are pretty popular around here. From a construction point of view i could see their combo unit being popular. You’re not likely to see one on a pipeline soon, but for general use I bet they would work great. I am not surprised it welds better than the bobcat 250. I have ran a bunch of bigger engine drives (my repair truck is outfitted with a miller big blue 500) and when you start getting into 400+ amp diesels they just weld effortlessly. Don’t get me wrong, I like the bobcats and smaller engine drives, but running air arc or laying a ton of rods down I much rather have a bigger unit. Even cooler with that multiquip being able to run dual outputs, definately could get more stuff done. Edit: I am not sold with all the controls a lot of the newer engine drives have. Either it welds the way I like or it doesn’t. I have been burning rods on a miller xmt350 lately and it welds exactly like I like, and it only has adjustable amperage and arc force. 😀
Hey Greg, great review as usual, I was wondering if you have tried the Premier Power Welder. Granted it is tied to a vehicle, but they seem to work great for us wheelers.
A long time ago I wheeled with a guy that had one. I never saw it used, or got to use it, it’s quite the idea. Believe it or not that type of setup (basically an alternator with a control box) was actually used in a few micro engine drive welders. I am sure they weld great. I have used the car battery powered spool guns (like the ready welder 2) and they work ok. To me stick is far more useful, trying to get clean welds on 1/4in or thicker steel with flux core is tough since .030 and .035 flux core has issues with internal porosity on thick steel. If I had a choice I much rather have an alternator drive welder setup over a car battery powered spool gun. Also, I didn’t mention it in the video, but I ended up using the fronius for a trail repair last weekend. I ended up welding a tire spoon bar to a tie rod that was toasted, in the middle of a stupidly hard trail wind rock off road (Tennessee). Literally 10min of work and it was fixed, the fronius welded perfect. I wish they were cheaper, it works as good a normal stick machine.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg That’s awesome. I am intrigued by the Fronius but yea the cost is up there. I am seriously considering getting the Premier welder for my TJ. I haven’t seen one in use myself but have watched Rory at Trail mater use one and they seem to work great. Keep up the great content!
I own a Fronius iwave 230i with a watercooler and a foot petal, switched the torch to a CK and wow its amazing i love it soo much! AC arc is next level and the DC arc is buttery smooth from as low as 3amps all the way to 230! also I happen to have a large fronius dealer locally in Irvine so no issues with parts or repairs
That fronius machine is likely what I will switch too soon. They are unbelievable machines and they really don’t overlook the small details. The little battery unit in the video has been doing such a great job for me I am definitely sold on their products. I don’t doubt you are happy with that machine, I am jealous lol.
Nice Kit. How heavy is it? can you get gas lens for the cups? I think reliability and lifespan could become a problem for battery welders , we want our investment to last- but battery's don't last forever. Anyhow you are the only Man in town that can hike up and weld a weather station , so name your price 😀 I might add the Frounius started out as a Austrian battery charging company , so for a battery powered welder , this company might have the best pedigree to deliver at reliable product.
It’s 24 lbs for the main unit, easily portable, especially with the shoulder strap. The battery longevity will be good from what I have found, and it is replaceable. I believe (don’t quote me on it) that they use standard samsung type cells in the pack. It’s not a custom cell made from sheets. I will be doing a video soon where I open it up and look at whatever I can see. I am also going to contact fronius to get a battery replacement cost. Realistically they are the only company in the us that offers a battery powered welder that makes sense. The esab volt at 45+ lbs and the size of a mini fridge is not portable, and I doubt it’s nearly as efficient as the fronius. The fronius clearly was designed as a ground up package for functionality and efficiency, the fact they have history making similar things is more proof that it will be reliable.
But was you using the 6010 compatible Fronius models?, they are: Transpocket, Ignis, Artis, Transteel models above 2700, TPS, magicwave, iWave, other models as far as I am aware do not do 6010-think its something to do with the programming rather than OCV-for which all fronius models have high OCV.
I didn’t like the way the fronius machines ran 6010 until I realized how their arc force works is different. Miller tends to do the soft and stiff setup, and it seems to function closer to a say a 10amp boost with a tight arc. The fronius machines I have run don’t seem to do a fixed amp boost but a percentage of the base amps. I wound up running it higher like every other machine and found the arc performed poorly. When I dropped the arc force down to 3-4 out of 10 it performed far better. It seems to increase amperage far too much at higher settings. If you drop the base amperage and run higher arc force it operates closer to soft arc on a miller running 6010. No doubt the fronius accupocket doesn’t run 6010 as smooth as my dynasty or the 350xmt I run at work, but compared to other portable machines I have or have used it runs as good or better.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Interesting, I went back to the cheap Deko welder today and ran 7018...very badly, I don't know if its the machine, or the Fronius TS2200 that makes a bad welder look good. But the Deko on 140A felt the same as the Fronius on 70A!
I live a few hours from fronius’s American headquarters apparently (I just found out lol). I am not sure if employees get them for testing and then sell them, but the stick only version sells on marketplace for 2-2300$ in basically new shape, and there are multiple people selling them. To me for around 2k I think that would be an extremely useful price. I can’t count how many repair jobs I have done that took 10-12 3/32 rods or 6, 1/8th rods, which the machine will handle on battery. My buddy and I were even doing a bunch of welding with it when it was charging. I was cranking out a bunch (over 30) 1/8th 7018s and it had no problem doing that while pulling under 15a from the wall while charging. I love my little esab rogue 200, but even that can’t get more than 120a on 120v. To be able to run 130a plus hot start on a 1/8th 7018 off battery power is huge, and to do it for 10+ rods while on a simple 120 outlet is great.
Having had many welders of different brands, l wouldn't say no to a Fronius. However, it would need to offer something l need that another quality brand could not at the same budget.
If you want to see an interesting Miller welder in action, take a look at the latest video Greg at On Fire Welding just posted with his 800AMP Miller, a real beast! ua-cam.com/video/02d4L373K2o/v-deo.html
When you have 800 amps a lot of things become an electrode lol. That welder/generator is basically a power plant in the bed of the truck. I would like to arc gouge with that at 800a with a 1/2in carbon rod. Basically a mini foundry in your hands lol.
Definitely high class around here 😀. I only have to impress my welds and am I am never good enough for them so clean cuffs is the least of my worries 😅
It’s probably either a second alternator setup or a mini spool gun setup that runs on 2 batteries. Both of them work well for their intended use. I will be doing a video on shtf welding with two batteries and a stick electrode, it will be interesting to see how well that works.
I am not sure that’s the case, I just used it to weld up a trailer and I ran a bunch of rods back to back, and it never seemed to stop charging. I ran more rods than it’s capable of running off battery power and it was still at 2 bars.
That’s an interesting thought and I didn’t even think of that. A inverter could definitely output that much power and the charger wouldn’t have an issue running on an inverter. I am going to open the welder up in a future video, and I will test its efficiency (aka power draw of the charger). I will know for sure how big of an inverter would be needed. I might just pick one up, thanks for the idea.
Hey UA-cam superstar that’s always buying new high dollar shit. Let me know if you wanna sell me one of them nicer hoods you bought for your 3 month demo period, once that’s up, let me know if ya wanna sell me one ya don’t care for
Yea I had never heard of this brand so as you wud say, it’s interesting. And yes I just recently seen a guy demo the esab battery machine and it laid a wicked clean bead and like flawless slag peel I cudnt believe it actually
I’ve been patiently waiting for this video. After using my transpocket 180 I can attest to the superb quality of the brand. Like you mentioned about everything being proprietary, I have to second that. I bought my machine used and the insulator on the stinger was missing. I was not able to track one down, and I went through an insane amount of hoops to even find the oem replacement stinger. I usually always use tweco 200 amp stingers but I wanted to keep this all intact and original. I ended up having to buy the whole 400amp whip and stinger. I don’t think there is even a comparison between the fronius and the esab battery operated welders. It’s pretty wild how small of a generator is needed for the accupocket . Hopefully you get much enjoyment and use out of this machine and keep the content rollin!
Hey Greg, I have owned many welding machines in my life, favourite 2 brands were Lincoln and Miller, probably favoured the Miller brand more. I was then introduced to Fronius about 2 years ago and fell in love. I sold everything, all my TIG and MIG machines and bought a new iWave 230i AC/DC water cooled (was at great introductory sale price from Fronius) and also a USED Froinus TPS 400i MIG, absolutely made the right decision on both, performance is outstanding, they are feature rich and I really enjoy using them both, welding is fun again. The iWave 230 is 120/230V single phase input so you can plug in anywhere. For TIG torches, I run both Fronius as well as CK Superflex with the adaptor, no problems on consumables for either. Both are great torches. The larger TPS MIG machine is 3 phase input only which I run on a used (new to me) 30HP rated Phase Perfect phase converter. BTW you should look into Phase Perfect, new or used if you need 3 phase power in your shop, providing if you only have single phase available. Far superior to any roto phase product. Hope you have may fun hours with your new toy! Look forward to your TIG video. Cheers Joe
Fronius definitely knows what they are doing. Since making the video I spent a lot of time actually welding with the machine (including trail welding) and it stick welds perfect. When you get to a high enough skill level you like a welder to weld a certain way, and the accupocket (with virtually no screwing around with settings) does exactly what I want. I didn’t mention it in the video but my introduction to fronius was from a UA-camr (chuckee2009) years ago, and I made the assumption they were average welders because nobody around where I live sold them. Not to mention a UA-camr was reviewing them (they sent them to him for free). It wasn’t until years later I realized how they are actually high end and well designed machines. I may be making the switch to the same tig machine you have (the 230) over my dynasty. I feel that the dynasty lacks overall polish and I think the fronius would be a step above it. I am glad to hear you like the machine you have, that’s what I heard from everyone that has owned them.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Hey Greg, the 230i AC/DC is really an awesome machine. The TAC feature works so well when fitting up but it is a little unusual at first use, just use it for fit up only, don't weld continuous. And I love the fact you can run 300 feet of extension cord and it still works plus I think it will weld up to 170A on 120V. The Fronius TIG torch is very foreign at first, especially to us in North America, it takes some time to get use to. I do like it and do use it often. One torch feature I really like, with one click I can swap out the head for another type or one that may be set up for a different process. The torch head will rotate 360 degrees as well for repositioning but don't use the release tab to do so like so many unknowledgeable you tubers show on their videos, or it will leak gas and/or water. Torch head will rotate while in locked position as designed. As you know torch quality is second to none, but I also use the CK Superflex with the adaptor as my go to torch when using the Fronius wireless foot pedal. The CK is more like a familiar "home comfort" torch that I am use to. Oh and that wireless foot pedal with hook is fantastic for repositioning, how the hell did we get along without it in the first place! You will love it. But be careful of the battery door, I managed to damage the plastic around the captive crew not understanding how to open the door at first, but a little epoxy fixed it up. Otherwise pedal extremely robust, surprising reliable as any metal pedal, it's actually heavy duty. Cheers Joe
Hi, has the iWave 230 got all the stick features we see in this video? Its a pricey machine!, have to sell a Kidney.
@@engjds Yes it does except for battery powered.
Fronius and HTP are what i wanted. Everlast and Primeweld fit my budget.
I got an htp last summer but the primeweld sure looks darn nice for the money.
Both of those machines offer a lot of capability for the money. You will see a everlast machine or two sometime soon, I ordered one to show you can do excellent work with very minimal equipment. I am glad it’s possible to get a decent welder for affordable prices 😀.
Bought the HTP Revolution 2500 about a month ago. If you ever have the funds get one. I have used quite a few different machines but HTP is in a league of their own.
@@Proto.Fabrication All the reviews point to HTP being a cut above. I'm sure they are worth the money.
I started my business with an Everlast machine. Decent for the money. Machine didn't last long though.
I was looking at these when I bought my rogue. It would be perfect for trail repairs. Glad to see what it can do. The price was too much for me to swallow though. Guess I'll stick to 2 batteries in series if I can't limp off the trail back to camp.
I am definitely with you on the price. At some point the machines will come down in price. For the average person the rogue 180 or 200 are awesome machines. When you look at the fact you can get a rogue 200 and $2500-3500 more in other tools/welders over the fronius it’s a no brainer.
Greg I forgot to mention that my Fronius 180 has pulse stick and tig . The 2200 does not have pulse but is a dam fine mig and stick/tig welder . I have had the 2200 for nearly 5 years and have hardly stratched the surface with all the features one can use. I got the 180 in early 2017 and it has never missed a beat, and it is quiet. I got the mig aluminum package with the 2200 and a separate torch and whip used it on a number of alumium projects. I use my HTP 220 for aluminum now because it has pulse. If I wanted pulse from Fronius I would had to go for the 4000 pulse but need 3 phase power for it which I don't have. Any way you have made a great choice you won't be disapointed.
The slightly smaller compact Fronius Transteel 3000C also has pulse but it's also 3 phase only machine. And because the same 3000C, and 4000 Pulse, and 5000 Pulse all have true syncropulse mode (double pulse), they require 3 phase power to cover the headroom demand on the inverter power to do so. The standard 4000 and 5000 are also larger machines in capacity thus 3 phase as well.
Hi, can it weld thin materials like a mm or under? the 2200 is number one on my list just now, 2nd is the Ignis Tig-because I love the portability and price but would lose out on mig.
@@engjds both can weld very thin material. A lot depends on the welder as well.
@@engjdsThat is only 0.40 thou (19 gauge), it should be able to weld much thinner then that.
@@joeg7755 No good with the imperial system, see some can weld coke cans with tig, think thats something it could do with the right skill?
Greg I have 2 Fronius machines , the Transpocket 180 , one sweet machine and the Transteel 2200 which came with a tig set as well.
They are sweet machines , when you use one there is just something I can't describe. I can get all the consumables with a week from Canadian Welding Supplies in Ontario shipped to me in BC , that is like you shipping to Seattle. Now I do like my HTP 220 it is a good machine but not the same feel . The tig torches Fronius have flex heads and quick change heads , but for the torch you have with this machine. One thing some people don't get is that the Fronius welders are silent, no fan noise unless you push them past the duty cycle. My Esab is just plain noisey all the time , the HTP has a two speed fan quiter on not welding and high speed on welding.
I never knew how important a fan on demand was until I welded with a everlast machine that didn’t have it. It was a 275 amp tig machine and its fan for both the cooler and the welder ran anytime it was on. Welding at 50amps in a quiet shop with a stupidly loud fan on was too much for me. So far I really like the fronius I have. Little things like a nice knob that clicks when it turns shows they put thought into it. I will be opening it up soon to see what’s inside, I am unsure as to what can even be seen but I have a feeling the inside is well engineered too.
My ESAB 205 gas fan in demand.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I have seen the insides of a transpocket, my actual background is Electronics, so had a few welders apart, these are by far the best looking internals, raised PCB's so any ingested liquid cannot touch the boards, fewer PCB's and less wire interconnect than other welders I have seen(more interconnects=more things to go wrong), clever cooling which runs through a sort of tunnel past the heatsink fins, they spent a long time putting that design together, its built to last. I find it a bit strange to be burning rods in silence, like its almost effortless efficiency.
Heh. Never thought id see the question, "does anyone ever double side tig weld" on UA-cam, eg stereo welding. Just worked this out in my production center, (food processing eqpt). Stereo is incredibly efficient, two guys welding two sides at same time, means less cooling time, even distortion, no backing tape, less rework, certain full penetration. If you have two guys and something needs to be welded full pen, do it stereo. Game changer for sheet metal work. Only thing better is seam welder and doing stuff while sheets are flat
How applicable is this to most jobs? Thin sheet metal I can weld full penetration with a clean backside from one side. Thicker metal with an open root/bevel you can do the same. Is the theory with it you weld both sides of a butt joint without a bevel, and because you have an arc/molten pool on both you achieve full penetration/fusion with no bevel, minimal gap? I could see that working since it would save a lot of time on setup. I would imagine it also produces a cleaner internal weld? I never thought anyone would comment that actually has done that, thanks much for chiming in. 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgregyeah happy to share! not exactly sure how applicable it is outside food industry, I'm not a welder, just an industrial engineer. Types of welds we do is 7-14 gauge sheet where welds on inside have to be ground flush and polished, and no pits or scratches allowed. Stereo welding allows very minimal defects in that sense with 2 pools meeting each other. Doing each side sequentially with a backing tape works but you have to back grind to get the full pen high quality welds we're after that have minimal failure potential or necessary rework. Personally think only better options are seam welders with gas backing or robotic welding with the same. Next capabilities we're looking at is hot wire Tig through EWM.
Fronius also has cool cold wire feed TIG called dynamic wire, which is dead easy and quick too
Woah! You have gone waaaaaaay off the reservation with this one. Lol My wheeling days have been over for many moons mostly due to having kids (not complaining mind you --just priorities had to change). I'm also an old fart so if you couldn't bend it around a tree and bolt it back together or duck tape, wire, whatever the chit out of it to get you home, you were screwed on the trail. If it existed this would have been something to think about back in the day. Great and interesting vid.
Trying to think of the use case for this. I can't quite come up with one. I agree with you about the off road / overlanding situation. But that's all I can come up with. Is there any use case for confined space where you'd want to avoid the CO / CO2 production? You're still generating noxious gasses from the welding, like ozone and metal fumes, but not nearly as much as an internal combusion engine would.
So I have used it for a ton of random jobs. I repaired a bunch of a pipe railing on a beach last week. I have a 500a engine drive on the truck, but that was 140’ away from where I was working. I would have needed to run 140’ of leads, and had the big diesel idling for 1 hour while I did the job. Not a big deal but I needed to make numerous amperage changes (paper thin pipe being welded at 36 to 45amps) and that would have required me to make multiple trips back to the truck to adjust. Plus lugging tons of cables, and of course the diesel idling right by people sun tanning and eating lunch 😅. I also welded some fencing sections at random places in a festival ground that I couldn’t get to with the truck easily. When the battery got low I found a random outlet to charge it while I ate lunch.
The main benefits is small oddball jobs in the field because very easy to do, and you get a lot of output off battery (with very low current draw to charge). It’s actually a very solid setup and more useful than I planned on it being.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Ok, that actually makes a lot of sense. At first blush it seems like a solution in search of a problem, but in the end it is solutions to a lot of problems.
Can you feel my envy? I would love one of these, but not in my budget for any time soon.
I ended up selling a bunch of stuff I had to fund it, and the payoff should be worth it in the long run. I am doing a lot more repair work and the time savings combined with the capability should make sense. I really wish they sold for much less money. I know the prices will drop at some point. My favorite welders are the small compact units, and I would like to see more people be able to afford a battery powered welder like the fronius. They are so useful and make you wish every welder could weld without a power cord lol.
The Karnage Welder can also weld on battery power. I have seen that Fronius is working on entering the market here in Mexico.
That’s a super cool welder, I have never heard of that one or seen it. Being able to run flux core wire is super useful since thin stuff sucks to stick weld. I might have to try to get ahold of one of those 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg It would be great to see a review on your channel.
The Brand for Weldingmachines I like the most is Rehm.
Following some UA-cam channels it seems, that there are only two major manufacturers for welding machines in the US: miller and Lincoln. And esab as a minor player . That seems some how strange to me because in germany there are several manufacturers available (some german, some "european"): rehm, EWM, fronius, kemppi, jess, Lorch, cloos, migatronic, ... ) and some discouninued brands like jäckle, ess (jess), dalex, Messer Griesheim, ... Which machines are still out there.
I am not sure why but in the U.S. welding machines are arguably far behind other countries like Germany with welders. The tech that has existed in other countries (like LCD screens, touch displays, and super adjustable parameters) for a very long time is just getting here. I looked up Rehm and they are a great example of this, their whole interface is way ahead of American companies. What I thought was the most puzzling, is that miller told me that they don’t write the software for their new lcd machines (like my dynasty). To be able to produce a high end product that is basically a computer, and have the best functionality, you would think everything would be done in house.
This is going to be interesting 🤔.. very excited to hear what you have to say about this particular topic. I definitely have an opinion on “welder brands”, hmm 😁
I will be opening it up soon on video to see what’s inside 😀.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg , don’t you dare threaten me with a good time Mr Greg Sir… 😁. I thought the Lorde Almighty “Ave” and myself were the only ones who tear down perfectly working tools 🛠️ and stuff hahaha !
Actually, DeWalt has chargers that charge four batteries at once. Four of those batteries put out about eight times the power of this one. And you can get DeWalt batteries anywhere along with the chargers. Yes, it’s heavier, but it’s designed to do more work than this one can. So the customer for each of these welders are different. I wouldn’t say that this is better engineered, it’s just different and more limited. Oh, congrats on hitting 20k.
No, Fronius IS way better engineered. You have to try it! But be careful, you be wanting one.
@@joeg7755 nah. It’s pretty good. I won’t argue that. But all manufacturers have their own thing. And they play catchup with each other. Fronius and ESAB are the two most reliable welders I’m familiar with. As far as features go, a lot of the little things are nice, but are we really making better welds because of them? With some, but not all. And a number of these little extra features require that you be a pretty good welder to make use of them and then, the effects are minor. A lot of it is just different ways to do the same thing. These battery models are aimed at different audiences. The /fronius is aimed at the kind of work Greg needs it for. The ESAB is intended for heavier, longer cycles.
@@melgross Hi Mel, you raised good points! Cheers Joe
@@melgross ESAB seem to have a bad reputation in the UK for failing, but Fronius-rock solid. The Fronius arc just purrs like a cat.
@@engjds I’d like to see some evidence for that. Otherwise, you’re just trolling.9
We use the Mulitquip whisper weld 400 machines at work. These things are diesel powered 400 amp machines that are damn near bulletproof. They don’t have any features they are just basic welding machines. They seem to be the go to machines in construction, personally I think they weld nicer then my bobcat 250 does and they certainly use a hell of a lot less fuel then that little pig does. They have a pretty decent AC output of 14kw and it doesn’t seem to be effected by welding or gouging. Two guys can weld off one basically non stop while it’s still powering stuff I’d be interested in your opinion on these machines compared to other engine driven welders.
I never knew they made a welder combo, I just looked at their specs/models. I have used their straight generators and some of their other equipment before, they are pretty popular around here. From a construction point of view i could see their combo unit being popular. You’re not likely to see one on a pipeline soon, but for general use I bet they would work great. I am not surprised it welds better than the bobcat 250. I have ran a bunch of bigger engine drives (my repair truck is outfitted with a miller big blue 500) and when you start getting into 400+ amp diesels they just weld effortlessly. Don’t get me wrong, I like the bobcats and smaller engine drives, but running air arc or laying a ton of rods down I much rather have a bigger unit. Even cooler with that multiquip being able to run dual outputs, definately could get more stuff done.
Edit: I am not sold with all the controls a lot of the newer engine drives have. Either it welds the way I like or it doesn’t. I have been burning rods on a miller xmt350 lately and it welds exactly like I like, and it only has adjustable amperage and arc force. 😀
Thanks for you input, I’ve never had the opportunity to try on of those bigger millers it would be interesting to compare the two side by side.
Hey Greg, great review as usual, I was wondering if you have tried the Premier Power Welder. Granted it is tied to a vehicle, but they seem to work great for us wheelers.
A long time ago I wheeled with a guy that had one. I never saw it used, or got to use it, it’s quite the idea. Believe it or not that type of setup (basically an alternator with a control box) was actually used in a few micro engine drive welders. I am sure they weld great. I have used the car battery powered spool guns (like the ready welder 2) and they work ok. To me stick is far more useful, trying to get clean welds on 1/4in or thicker steel with flux core is tough since .030 and .035 flux core has issues with internal porosity on thick steel. If I had a choice I much rather have an alternator drive welder setup over a car battery powered spool gun.
Also, I didn’t mention it in the video, but I ended up using the fronius for a trail repair last weekend. I ended up welding a tire spoon bar to a tie rod that was toasted, in the middle of a stupidly hard trail wind rock off road (Tennessee). Literally 10min of work and it was fixed, the fronius welded perfect. I wish they were cheaper, it works as good a normal stick machine.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg That’s awesome. I am intrigued by the Fronius but yea the cost is up there. I am seriously considering getting the Premier welder for my TJ. I haven’t seen one in use myself but have watched Rory at Trail mater use one and they seem to work great. Keep up the great content!
I own a Fronius iwave 230i with a watercooler and a foot petal, switched the torch to a CK and wow its amazing i love it soo much! AC arc is next level and the DC arc is buttery smooth from as low as 3amps all the way to 230! also I happen to have a large fronius dealer locally in Irvine so no issues with parts or repairs
That fronius machine is likely what I will switch too soon. They are unbelievable machines and they really don’t overlook the small details. The little battery unit in the video has been doing such a great job for me I am definitely sold on their products. I don’t doubt you are happy with that machine, I am jealous lol.
Ohhhhh mmeeeeee wants one!!!!
I guess companies have to start somewhere when they break into a new market. Parts availability is HUGE!
Good review.
Very interesting
Nice Kit. How heavy is it? can you get gas lens for the cups? I think reliability and lifespan could become a problem for battery welders , we want our investment to last- but battery's don't last forever. Anyhow you are the only Man in town that can hike up and weld a weather station , so name your price 😀
I might add the Frounius started out as a Austrian battery charging company , so for a battery powered welder , this company might have the best pedigree to deliver at reliable product.
It’s 24 lbs for the main unit, easily portable, especially with the shoulder strap. The battery longevity will be good from what I have found, and it is replaceable. I believe (don’t quote me on it) that they use standard samsung type cells in the pack. It’s not a custom cell made from sheets. I will be doing a video soon where I open it up and look at whatever I can see. I am also going to contact fronius to get a battery replacement cost. Realistically they are the only company in the us that offers a battery powered welder that makes sense. The esab volt at 45+ lbs and the size of a mini fridge is not portable, and I doubt it’s nearly as efficient as the fronius. The fronius clearly was designed as a ground up package for functionality and efficiency, the fact they have history making similar things is more proof that it will be reliable.
As a pipefitter/welder, i have never been inpressed with the 6010 performance of fronius welders.
But was you using the 6010 compatible Fronius models?, they are: Transpocket, Ignis, Artis, Transteel models above 2700, TPS, magicwave, iWave, other models as far as I am aware do not do 6010-think its something to do with the programming rather than OCV-for which all fronius models have high OCV.
I didn’t like the way the fronius machines ran 6010 until I realized how their arc force works is different. Miller tends to do the soft and stiff setup, and it seems to function closer to a say a 10amp boost with a tight arc. The fronius machines I have run don’t seem to do a fixed amp boost but a percentage of the base amps. I wound up running it higher like every other machine and found the arc performed poorly. When I dropped the arc force down to 3-4 out of 10 it performed far better. It seems to increase amperage far too much at higher settings. If you drop the base amperage and run higher arc force it operates closer to soft arc on a miller running 6010.
No doubt the fronius accupocket doesn’t run 6010 as smooth as my dynasty or the 350xmt I run at work, but compared to other portable machines I have or have used it runs as good or better.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Interesting, I went back to the cheap Deko welder today and ran 7018...very badly, I don't know if its the machine, or the Fronius TS2200 that makes a bad welder look good. But the Deko on 140A felt the same as the Fronius on 70A!
Dope if this runs around 2000 bucks it would a viable competition to running a super quiet inverter generator and your run of the mill welder.
I live a few hours from fronius’s American headquarters apparently (I just found out lol). I am not sure if employees get them for testing and then sell them, but the stick only version sells on marketplace for 2-2300$ in basically new shape, and there are multiple people selling them. To me for around 2k I think that would be an extremely useful price. I can’t count how many repair jobs I have done that took 10-12 3/32 rods or 6, 1/8th rods, which the machine will handle on battery. My buddy and I were even doing a bunch of welding with it when it was charging. I was cranking out a bunch (over 30) 1/8th 7018s and it had no problem doing that while pulling under 15a from the wall while charging. I love my little esab rogue 200, but even that can’t get more than 120a on 120v. To be able to run 130a plus hot start on a 1/8th 7018 off battery power is huge, and to do it for 10+ rods while on a simple 120 outlet is great.
Having had many welders of different brands, l wouldn't say no to a Fronius. However, it would need to offer something l need that another quality brand could not at the same budget.
If you want to see an interesting Miller welder in action, take a look at the latest video Greg at On Fire Welding just posted with his 800AMP Miller, a real beast!
ua-cam.com/video/02d4L373K2o/v-deo.html
When you have 800 amps a lot of things become an electrode lol. That welder/generator is basically a power plant in the bed of the truck. I would like to arc gouge with that at 800a with a 1/2in carbon rod. Basically a mini foundry in your hands lol.
you wipe your lips on the right cuff of your shirt,as do I good sir! LOL,Cool vid so far-
Definitely high class around here 😀. I only have to impress my welds and am I am never good enough for them so clean cuffs is the least of my worries 😅
I seen a fellow that has a system that runs of the truck he uses for off road recovery , if you want i cold send you a link to a video.
Thanks
Sounds like a "premier power welder" that runs off an alternator. some people also modify a regular alternator to a "weldernator".
@@jake-mv5oi not sure on brand but it does work like that ! Matts off road recovery
It’s probably either a second alternator setup or a mini spool gun setup that runs on 2 batteries. Both of them work well for their intended use. I will be doing a video on shtf welding with two batteries and a stick electrode, it will be interesting to see how well that works.
it stops charging while welding
I am not sure that’s the case, I just used it to weld up a trailer and I ran a bunch of rods back to back, and it never seemed to stop charging. I ran more rods than it’s capable of running off battery power and it was still at 2 bars.
You don't have to use a fronius tig torch. I use whatever torch I have that fits dins 35-70. No problems thus far.
This one uses a special gas through dinse which an adapter does fortunately exist for. Most of their other welders use a more standard hookup. 😀
Get a 2000/2500 watt inverter in your jeep 😮
That’s an interesting thought and I didn’t even think of that. A inverter could definitely output that much power and the charger wouldn’t have an issue running on an inverter. I am going to open the welder up in a future video, and I will test its efficiency (aka power draw of the charger). I will know for sure how big of an inverter would be needed. I might just pick one up, thanks for the idea.
Hey UA-cam superstar that’s always buying new high dollar shit. Let me know if you wanna sell me one of them nicer hoods you bought for your 3 month demo period, once that’s up, let me know if ya wanna sell me one ya don’t care for
Yea I had never heard of this brand so as you wud say, it’s interesting. And yes I just recently seen a guy demo the esab battery machine and it laid a wicked clean bead and like flawless slag peel I cudnt believe it actually
I’ve been patiently waiting for this video. After using my transpocket 180 I can attest to the superb quality of the brand. Like you mentioned about everything being proprietary, I have to second that. I bought my machine used and the insulator on the stinger was missing. I was not able to track one down, and I went through an insane amount of hoops to even find the oem replacement stinger. I usually always use tweco 200 amp stingers but I wanted to keep this all intact and original. I ended up having to buy the whole 400amp whip and stinger. I don’t think there is even a comparison between the fronius and the esab battery operated welders. It’s pretty wild how small of a generator is needed for the accupocket . Hopefully you get much enjoyment and use out of this machine and keep the content rollin!