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Thread: New Mig

  1. #16
    I do tig and stick, but not mig. However, if it is a high priced inverter unit, my experience with Miller was that the cost structure made no sense for home shops. Their deal is good units to commercial shops that need lots of service and where the machine pays for itself quickly. I have heard of horror stories where someone buys a machine that cost them 4K and they get some glitch down the road a few years, and the repair bill is out of the world. For the commercial shop, they would have run by that road marker, a few weeks into the use, but for the guy who loves his hobby and makes a few bikes a year, his machine is comparatively sitting around. The reason it would have suited him to have the high end machine was that he does hobby stuff which is not running the same weld every second, and he likes the feature set on the Miller which is like a Ferrari.

    This kind of issue was not a big deal back before inverters, because those machines were tanks. But with complex computer processing, you may get a machine that lasts you for ever (nobody is complaining about quality), but the price to insurance (warrantee, service help) just isn't reasonable. I bought a Chinese machine. I did sell my Maxstar for a lot of money, because you could just look at it and tell it was basically new.

    If I didn't weld bicycles, I would be perfectly happy with my HF169 dollar inverter stick welder. I can make anything I need for the shop or house. takes up very little space, and turns out nice work. No argon which is a pain to get around here). I bought a back up for it for 98 Canadian. It is crazy how good these little boxes are. The duty cycle is fine for me, where it would be pathetic for a business. My TIG machine looks like the console in a fighter jet, and one could do amazing things with it in stick also. But the little box is so easy to use, I reach for it almost all the time I am not welding thin tube 4130.

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roderick Gentry View Post
    I do tig and stick, but not mig. However, if it is a high priced inverter unit, my experience with Miller was that the cost structure made no sense for home shops. Their deal is good units to commercial shops that need lots of service and where the machine pays for itself quickly. I have heard of horror stories where someone buys a machine that cost them 4K and they get some glitch down the road a few years, and the repair bill is out of the world. For the commercial shop, they would have run by that road marker, a few weeks into the use, but for the guy who loves his hobby and makes a few bikes a year, his machine is comparatively sitting around. The reason it would have suited him to have the high end machine was that he does hobby stuff which is not running the same weld every second, and he likes the feature set on the Miller which is like a Ferrari.

    This kind of issue was not a big deal back before inverters, because those machines were tanks. But with complex computer processing, you may get a machine that lasts you for ever (nobody is complaining about quality), but the price to insurance (warrantee, service help) just isn't reasonable. I bought a Chinese machine. I did sell my Maxstar for a lot of money, because you could just look at it and tell it was basically new.

    If I didn't weld bicycles, I would be perfectly happy with my HF169 dollar inverter stick welder. I can make anything I need for the shop or house. takes up very little space, and turns out nice work. No argon which is a pain to get around here). I bought a back up for it for 98 Canadian. It is crazy how good these little boxes are. The duty cycle is fine for me, where it would be pathetic for a business. My TIG machine looks like the console in a fighter jet, and one could do amazing things with it in stick also. But the little box is so easy to use, I reach for it almost all the time I am not welding thin tube 4130.
    I disagree, to some extent. The reasons that I won't by a cheaper chinese inverter is first that it is a throwaway machine. Something goes wrong and you just have to buy a new one. Also if you want accessories, you are pretty much out of luck. Finding consumables? Good luck having a steady supply of those. Yes, one of these little units may be perfectly adequate, there is no miracle magic when it comes to making a functional arc, but having a machine that is reliable and doesn't become obsolete quickly is worth the extra cost. To me anyhow. Blue, red or yellow, pick your favorite features and color (these three are all capable) and enjoy for a long time.

    I pick the blue ones because I have an excellent Miller dealer network here. The red Lincolns are fine, but the dealer here is not as accessible. Yellow ESAB is the relative newcomer, and my Miller dealer sells them but for the same price and features I'm sticking with Miller. ESAB did have a bad batch of multiprocess AC/DC tig/mig/arc machines that they quickly dealt with, when the AC/DC tig machines first came out. I'm not aware of any Miller or Lincoln problems.

    I am not a fabrication shop now but I have been, however I still use my machine for pretty large projects. Duty cycle definitely is important to me. I had a Miller 250 traded for a Lincoln Mig, then a Miller 252, and a huge old Miller Dynaweld for Tig/Arc. Switched careers, got a Miller 211 and a little suitcase Miller TIG for a little welding job, and within the last year got this current Miller Multi 220. No complaints about any of them, however each trade is an improvement. Welding tech is just leaping forward. I expect this current machine will outlast me unless I want to trade up for some unknown new tech.

  3. #18
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    I unplug mine when I'm not using it. My old 251 board developed a defect after probably 20 years of use. I have a Scientist friend that helped me fix it. It needed a $2.42 transistor. I gave him that machine after it was fixed, and bought the new one. Schematics are online for all of the different machines. That old one didn't owe me anything.
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    Last edited by Tom M King; 04-23-2022 at 1:41 PM.

  4. #19
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    I'm really curious why this thread continues to draw about 50+ views a day.

    I'm loving the 255. I have never had to change the setting past whatever it selects for the thickness of metal, and have used it from thin stuff, up to 1/2" steel. It's a smooth welding thing.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    I'm really curious why this thread continues to draw about 50+ views a day.

    I'm loving the 255. I have never had to change the setting past whatever it selects for the thickness of metal, and have used it from thin stuff, up to 1/2" steel. It's a smooth welding thing.
    I keep looking because I've signed up for my first welding class at Marc Adams this fall and am thinking that with enough knowledge to be dangerous I'm going to want a welder to practice with.

  6. #21
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    Once you have all your protective gear comfortable, the most important thing about being able to lay a pretty weld is being able to see what you are doing. Field of view is not as important as a clear view of where you are laying the bead. I'm not going to suggest to spend the most money on a helmet, but spend enough to get a good one. A new model Miller helmet came with the deal on the 255, and it's as good as anyone needs to start with.

    I know old guys that can lay a good weld with their eyes closed, but those of us without that many hours of experience need to be able to see what we're doing. I bought a 50 buck automatic helmet from Northern Tool some years ago, and it was better than what you might expect, but it's a poor performer next to the Miller one. I'm sure other manufacturers make good ones now too. The Miller worried me to start with that it was even working, since everything was so clear, but it was.

    I once sunburned my neck using the little flux core welder on a small job, so I take time to wrap up now.

  7. #22
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    I am lost without the magnifier that fits in my helmet.

    IMG_0566.jpg
    Last edited by Maurice Mcmurry; 05-27-2022 at 7:37 PM.
    Best Regards, Maurice

  8. #23
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    Lol, I'm one of the 50 probably. Always roll through the places I've posted before to see if anyone posted something new. We need a new thread!

    Anyone else use the Lincoln/Viking helmet? I was going to buy a new Miller last year, the shop was out, so I bought the Viking instead. Happy I did! Bigger glass, super comfortable, fully adjustable, I don't remember how many sensors, but enough to work flawlessly, good stuff! About the same price. The Miller Infinity helmet is good to, but don't be worried if you get stuck with the Lincoln Viking.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    I'm really curious why this thread continues to draw about 50+ views a day.

    I'm loving the 255. I have never had to change the setting past whatever it selects for the thickness of metal, and have used it from thin stuff, up to 1/2" steel. It's a smooth welding thing.
    The auto set is pretty cool. I do like to tweak my settings some, generally like more heat, slower wire speed but the autoset will definitely make a good weld on most stuff without fooling with settings. On my 220 AC/DC machine, it is really nice to just trigger whatever process I'm doing and the machine remembers the settings I last used for that process. Can't remember what I had for breakfast usually, so having the computer help out with the settings to begin with sure is nice.

  10. #25
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    Steve, a couple of years ago I wanted a new helmet and did a lot of research at the time. The Lincoln Viking always seemed to come out on top or near it so that's what I bought. Been very happy with it and even bought a 1.5 cheater lens to help my old eyes.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Ziebron View Post
    Steve, a couple of years ago I wanted a new helmet and did a lot of research at the time. The Lincoln Viking always seemed to come out on top or near it so that's what I bought. Been very happy with it and even bought a 1.5 cheater lens to help my old eyes.

    John, mine came with a cheater lens for some reason that I've not used. As I'm sitting here squinting at the screen to read your post it became obvious that I should try it out! Don't know why it took so long for that lightbulb to come on.

  12. #27
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    [QUOTE=Tom M King;3196396]Once you have all your protective gear comfortable, the most important thing about being able to lay a pretty weld is being able to see what you are doing. Field of view is not as important as a clear view of where you are laying the bead. I'm not going to suggest to spend the most money on a helmet, but spend enough to get a good one. A new model Miller helmet came with the deal on the 255, and it's as good as anyone needs to start with.

    I would respectfully disagree on the field of view part Tom. Only because a lot of the repair jobs I was involved in were tight spaces and a hood with a small window just wasn't workable at times because of limited ability to position ones head to view the weld area. A hood with a large window wasn't much more and it helped me immensely. This was doing stick welding because that worked best for most jobs. It seemed that most things that broke were in hard to access areas. Don't go cheap on an auto shade hood. I am convinced you do get what you pay for. If you are welding on a bench top where everything is ideal then it isn't a big deal. As you say you only become good welding with lots of practice. When I went to welding class in the beginning we welded for hours just running beads. Learning to start and stop and make it difficult to tell where the rod change occurred. As I got older it became more difficult to see and "read" the puddle. That's where an adjustable auto shade helmet is great as well. Being able to adjust the shade was beneficial for me. We always had Lincolns on our service trucks. I can't remember the model of the last one but 325D seems like what it was. 300 amp maximum output and voltage sensing too. It would regulate engine RPM based on demand. Air arcing was always done at 250 amps.

  13. #28
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    I agree about a large window, which I consider the Miller has. I was just thinking that it wouldn't be worth the cost of a high end Optrel for occasional use.

  14. #29
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    I purchased the 3M adjustable shade automatic one that is made or used to be made in Sweden. Had for a couple of years and love it, crystal clear wide viewing area and I used magnifying safety glasses for my cheater and just leave them on for grinding also.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  15. #30
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    I bought one of the Antra auto darkening brands. Carbon fibre it appears to be. Adjustment strap suits me well.

    Used the 211 yesterday to weld a jack to the hitch of my wood splitter for connecting to the 4 wheeler. Was a government built type that's heavy. And I mean heavy.

    But, its never been fed a block of wood it doesn't like.

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