Beginner welder...hobart 135?

[a***nc83]

Ok so i take the lukewarm response to the Lincoln 180 as it not being that great of a machine...

Soo i just bit the bullet and bought a Miller 200...completely shot the budget out of the water...hope i get better and can actually use it to its fullest potential... and not one of those guys whom buy top level gear as soon as they get interested in a hobby...i hate posers...

Thanks for all the advice...hopefully this was the right choice...

 

[zkling]

Soo i just bit the bullet and bought a Miller 200

Nice, congrats. But what "Miller 200" did you purchase? New or used? Millermatic, Multimatic, Dynasty, Syncrowave, Maxstar?

 

[a***nc83]

Lol sorry i forgot that bit...Millermatic ... .... used

 

[zkling]

Hold on seriously? Are you sure it is a Millermatic 200? What did you pay for it?

 

[a***nc83]

$800, i bought off the university i studied at, University of Toronto. I have a great friend whom works for their MARS project, an engineer, he said its quite possibly the best machine miller ever made...i did a quick lookup...saw nothing but great comments and reviews...even a few selling on ebay for $1000+...so i stopped at the MARS lab as soon as i got off work.

He said it was recently serviced by a miller dealer, and it works great...any issues just call him.

Wait...did i make a mistake with this?

 

[SeattleKent]

Oh, you ****.

The Millermatic 200 is a great machine. It is no longer made but people again and again say it was the best MIG Miller ever made. You will be very happy with it.

 

[zkling]

Wait...did i make a mistake with this?

No, not at all, that is just quite a bit more welder than I thought you intended to purchase. Great purchase in the end though. Last mig you should ever need. Does it have the spot and stitch panel in it?

Yes it is considered by many to be the best mig machine miller ever made. They are very smooth running units. Underrated in name as they are really a 250+ amp power source. Enjoy it. You may want to give it a little tune up and PM before heavy use.

Heads up, you are going to need a ~40 or 50amp breaker @ 230 to really run that machine. You can download the manual from miller. Of what vintage is your machine?

 

[a***nc83]

Alright great, thats a relief...lol for a second there i thought this was a mistake.

Yup thats what i was told, i will need to run a designated line to the garage, running it off the same line that powers my compressor isn't going to work (my friend has helped me extensively in my garage...so he knows the layout).

It certainly is more welder than i envisaged starting out on...and cost more than i intended to spend on it...but the impression i got was, go as big and powerful as possible...if i am serious about welding and learning to weld... after there wasn't much response to the lincoln, i just decided to hell with it...just go all out.

I got the manuals and everything with it. It wasn't used much, especially since they used a robot for most of the welding..this was kept as a back up.

He said it was recently tuned up, what do you suggest?

 

[rixtrix1]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. I've had a Lincoln SP-175 for many years and just love it; no problems at all, but it does have automatic constant current control. The miller 200 is an excellent step-up. Get a bottle of gas, some different size contact tips and corresponding wire and start practicing. I use ER70S6 wire for most everything I weld except non-structural sheetmetal, then I like some "easy-grind" wire. Have fun.

 

[sberry]

I would like to hear more about the automatic constant current control.