Maxstar STL - MIG capable?

[Voi]

There is a STL for sale locally. Here is the ad copied and pasted below:

nice small welder, over the shoulder unit, arc and tig, is mig capable with briefcase, works great

I've been reading everything I can on this welder and can't find anything about being able to MIG weld with it. I've sent a text but no response.

Any idea what the seller is trying to say?

 

[Bar Ditch]

It needs a suitcase wire feeder which plugs into this unit for power.

 

[Bar Ditch]

I forgot to ask what the price was? If its new and they are almost asking full price I would go with the ThermalArc 181I Fabricator. It has the Mig, Tig, and Stick all in one machine. It is d/c only but unless your planning on doing aluminum, no big deal. Just my .02.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/product.php?model=M00152

I'm not 100% certian but I dont think the Maxstar series can MIG at all.. I've got the Maxstar 150S....beautiful little rig.

 

[Voi]

I forgot to ask what the price was? If its new and they are almost asking full price I would go with the ThermalArc 181I Fabricator. It has the Mig, Tig, and Stick all in one machine. It is d/c only but unless your planning on doing aluminum, no big deal. Just my .02.

Thanks for the response. Found a thread on welding web where they started to discuss the suitcase wire feeder.

Price is $650 but I'm not sure if it's one of the new ones with the MVP or the older style. Also not sure what all it comes with yet.

I'm not too worried about aluminum but do think I'd prefer to learn TIG with HF/pulsed start and a pedal. Is the 181i lift start only?

Any particular reason why you recommend the 181i over the 211i?

 

[Bar Ditch]

Just costs less. If you can afford 211i do it. I bought the 181i and found it to be more than capable as an all around machine. It has a pedal you can order for the Tig. I was told by my supplier that the 211i was going to be manufactured in the U.S., so ya can't beat that.

 

[Voi]

Dual voltage is a must at the moment. Wife (and I) are waffling about adding onto the house which would go on top of our garage. I just don't want to start with a subpanel until we know what we're doing. I do have a dedicated 20 amp circuit I can use now.

 

[CWP1616L]

If you want to know if the machine will run MIG, all you have to do is look at the specs and see if it says CC/CV. The power supply needs to have a constant voltage output to run MIG.

 

[sberry]

Max is not a mig machine. I also own a MaxS

 

[Bar Ditch]

sberry, is that Max a CV machine? Could you hook a suitcase up to it?

 

[Tig Master]

Nope cc machine in dc stick and tig only no mig.

T

 

[sberry]

I didn't buy the case. n For giggles I bought one of those little Forney inverters for 100$ out of curiosity. It will burn a 3/32 6011 but thats it, anything more it trips a 20A breaker. I have tripped a 20 on the Max on a 200 ft circuit but using it where it should be never an issue, 1/8 6011 and 3/32 lo hi nice and toasty as many as you want. I even ran 1/8 7018 on 120 but its marginal, if a guy could change a breaker to 30 probably would work limited but smaller electrodes its really revolutionary.

I heard some of the thermals and maybe esab are even better, do not remember all the details though. The Max has nearly put my engine drives out of business. So nice to use fixed power.

As for wire feeders,, if I absolutely was in a spcific industry a portable feeder would be one thing to consider but for gweneral work I use stick in the field but,,,, I am a career welder too. Even my big service truck, all stick and torch cutting. Dont want the extra stuff. Shop different matter, if there is any way to wire feed it thats the first option.

When I got my Max got the S version, wanting to tig anything is way down on my list.