Cordless Welder Exceeds Expectations

Cordless Welder Exceeds Expectations FARM SHOP Welders/Torches 64 The introduction of the Renegade VOLT ES 200i cordless welder got FARM SHOW’s attention this past fall Vol 47 No 6 When ESAB offered to lend us one to try out we jumped at it Determined to get an expert opinion we handed the welder and four 12Ah DeWalt batteries to Aaron Denstad and his dad Gary They’re professional fabricators with at least 80 years of welding experience between them They know what it takes to make a good weld “I was a little skeptical of a battery-powered welder when I first heard about it ” says Aaron “After using it I have to say it’s a pretty impressive little power unit ” Aaron recognized the welding industry reputation behind the ESAB name as well as DeWalt’s history in cordless tools “The fact that they had teamed up impressed me right away ” he says “Before you even turn it on sit down and study the book ” says Gary “Get familiar with it or you’ll likely be unhappy We found the electronics much more sophisticated than any of our big welders ” “The user interface is a little complicated but the manual walks you through how to set it up ” says Aaron “It’s more complicated than a typical arc welder The Renegade lets you pick out the electrode you want to use and select from a range of settings on the welder ” He suggests this feature would be especially beneficial for less experienced welders “If you’re trying to figure out the process and get more confidence it would be helpful ” says Aaron “Once you get started with the Renegade you can fine-tune it Getting the puddle right and not too active while still getting penetration is knowledge you have to glean from using it ” Aaron and Gary worked with a variety of electrodes including 7018s “They’re user-friendly and commonly found ” says Aaron “We got tuned to the welder and the 7018s laid a pretty nice bead It didn’t penetrate through the backside of 1/4-in steel but the pieces were not going to come apart when we finished the bead ” Gary and Aaron spent about an hour welding various pieces of scrap and firming up their opinions of the welder “After about 20 min of actual welding the batteries still had a 25 percent charge ” says Aaron “If you were broken down in the field this welder could get you out of trouble and back to the shop ” He suggests that it could handle pieces thicker than a 1/4-in with the aid of a cordless grinder to open up a V “You’ll likely need a grinder anyway depending on the type of repair just to clean out the edges ” he says “Once you have the V opened up you could lay a root patch and then build it up ” Field repairs are one reason Gary and Aaron recommend having a second set of batteries for the welder They note that all four batteries must be at the same level of charge to operate the welder Substituting one charged battery when the others have run down is not an option “If you’re remote and making a repair the question will be ‘Do I have enough battery power?” says Aaron “Maybe getting halfway done will be enough to limp home but an extra set of batteries is a nice backup ” An attractive feature of the welder is the ability to plug its power cord into a wall outlet While the Denstads approved of the feature they had a recommendation for ESAB “They need to make it possible to disconnect the cable ” says Aaron “When using the battery power the cable is just in the way ” Both the Denstads were impressed with the welder and feel it fits in farm shops in particular “The concept is good and it definitely has a place for some folks ” says Gary “The welds we did were structurally sound if not as pretty as with a wire feed ” “If you’re looking to replace an older stick welder or simply want a dual-purpose welder the Renegade would be fine ” says Aaron “Plug it into the wall in the shop or pop in the batteries and go remote ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup ESAB Corporation 909 Rose Ave North Bethesda Md 20852 ph 301-323-9099; ESABCorpInfo@esab com; www esab com

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