welder purchase questions

linx310 said:

I have a Millermatic 211 and love it because of its flexibility, runs on either 120 or 240.

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the 110/220 is what I love about my millermatic 211, I kept a cheap harbor freight welder on hand before incase I needed to weld something where I didnt have access to the big 50 amp 220 plug, now thats gone

and I paid about 1350 for the 211 machine, the spool gun and a cart, just look around


edit:

other thing about miller its made in America , I was willing to pay the extra just for that. hobarts I dont remember and lincolns were hit and miss, seemed like the newer model lines were made over seas

Hobart is owned by Miller. As has already been said, Hobart is basically just the older Miller model. If you don't require all the new features you can save quite a few bucks by going with Hobart.

I've got a Millermatic 251, a Miller Syncrowave 250 tig machine, a Miller thunderbolt XL buzz box, a Miller Maxstar 200 stick/tig, a old Lincoln pipeliner, and a old Lincoln 300/300 tig (it's for sale since I got the Syncrowave). I guess I'm a sucker for welders but each one has it's place.

I just got the Maxstar and I can't believe how such a little welder can be so powerful. It will out-do my Thunderbolt in a package small enough you can carry it around with the supplied shoulder strap. It will also work on any power from 110v to 480v.

I actually received the welder yesterday. This afternoon I unboxed it, watched the miller instructional videos, set it up, and used it to practice on on some scrap 1/8" wall 3"x3" tubing. I also decided to try out the clintogf fire extinguisher bracket bolted to a cart setup and am pleased with it

I bought the Hobart 180, which is a great little MIG machine. However, I shure wish I'd bought the next size bigger. Yes, even though the next.size.bigger is 240 VAC. Amybody near me in NC that wants to trade?

paulfarber said:

MiG sucks for thin and tick metal.

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MIG sucks for thick metal? Really? Maybe your welder isn't rated for what you are trying to do.

We have the Panasonic 261 Gunslinger at the farm. Works very well for thin and thick metals and was priced very well. Was priced ~$2100 when we bought it several years ago.
http://www.panasonicfa.com/pdfs/Gunslinger%20261.pdf

I would buy the Miller 211MVP if I were to buy one to use at home.

I own a fab shop. I run my whole shop with one machine: Lincoln v300 pro. I do tig, mig, arc, and alum spoolgun on this thing and it takes minimal time to switch between methods. I love it. Plus it can be wired to run on single phase 240 (shows you how to do it inside the cover). You can pick these machines up at state auctions from trade schools for cheeeeaaap. I spent 400 bucks on mine and they were sold brand new years ago for 4000! I also have a miller dimension 302 that I got at auction for cheap. I also own a Hobart 187 that I bought to do my first project and soon realized that it is strictly a light duty hobbyist machine. Also, in my opinion, it's always good to have a stick and a mig on hand. I started my shop with a cheap Lincoln crackerbox and the Hobart 187.