Miller 211 welder

[bobcatdan]

Anybody have one? I'm looking for a different welder for home. I don't fab anything so I'm not looking to go big, just to have a welder for when you need one. I have a POS lincoln 175. It was a nice welder, but it has just gone down hill in the years I've had it. A buddy has a miller 180 and it is sweet. I like the 211 since it can run 110 or 220. To me, this is ideal. Run it on 220 in the garage and if I need to weld eles where I can run a 110. Also if I ever get the itch for a big 250 amp, the 211 will still be a nice portable unit. Just looking for opinions, good or bad. Thanks.

 

[ibedayank]

lots of people have the 211 and love them
just remember on 120 volts you only get about 1/2 the power that you get on 220/240

 

[BD1]

Yes , the 211 is the perfect machine. that should handle almost anything you throw at it. I see you are in wisconsin. I don't know if you got prices yet but welders supply in burlington has great prices. I bought my miller cst 280 from them. same price as lowest on line. I got a little more off when I told them I want a auto darkining hood and will bring all 100 dollar bills, that green stuff.
http://www.weldersupply.com/products.asp?id=36&cat=Welding+Machines|Mig+Welding heres their site. good luck , bob

 

[toolman1967]

Cant go wrong with BLUE. Great welder, great brand.

 

[sk farmer]

love mine. not sure about half power though, the 211 obviously has more than the 140 but if i am correct the 140 has 140 max at 115 volts, the 180 has 180 max at 230 and the 211 has 140 max at 115 and 210 at 230. i don't know the new math but 210 is not twice as much as 140.

 

[ibedayank]

love mine. not sure about half power though, the 211 obviously has more than the 140 but if i am correct the 140 has 140 max at 115 volts, the 180 has 180 max at 230 and the 211 has 140 max at 115 and 210 at 230. i don't know the new math but 210 is not twice as much as 140.

thats 140 MAX... If the circut can suppy 20amps 120 .. most are only 15amp circuts tho

 

[A29]

About all the 110v welders I've seen are rated at 90 amps. Read the data tag not the model number.

 

[frankkl]

I really like the power of this little machine. I use it on 240 but it nice to be able to use it on 110. I don’t regret paying a little more. I was about to buy a Millermatic 140, then decided on the 180. For 100$ more, there’s more power and 2 plugs, makes you wonder why they make the 180.
I think the 211 is probably the best home melding machine. Way to much machine for my needs at this time... damn garagejournal...

 

[SpeedCoach]

Just got a 211 around christmas. I have no basis for comparison as this is my first machine, but it works quite well.....and so far I only use it on 120v. So far so good, but I havent done anything thicker that 3/16. I'm getting bids for running some 240 out to the garage - cant wait to use it when I get that!

 

[sk farmer]

thats 140 MAX... If the circut can suppy 20amps 120 .. most are only 15amp circuts tho

i quoted max and understand it. thes figures also jive with the official miller catalog. the duty cycle specs fot the 140, 180 and 211 are 20% at 90amps for the 140, 30% at 135 for the 180 and 20% at 90 and 30% at 150 for the 211. i still don't see twice the power. all specs pulled from the miller 2011 catalog.

 

[jakeb]

I have a 211 and LOVE it. I really like the auto set.... At first I thought it would be a bit of a gimmick but for what I do the autoset is correct 9 times out of 10. It makes me look like I know what I am doing (most of the time)

 

[gsport]

i too have a 211.... i had a cheap clarke 110 unit that i could never find the sweet spot with.. with the 211 on autoset, it is right on. i've got both 110 and 220 in the shop and i find it works with plenty of power on 110 volt...
a great machine that you couldn't go wrong with IMO.....

 

[ibedayank]

i too have a 211.... i had a cheap clarke 110 unit that i could never find the sweet spot with.. with the 211 on autoset, it is right on. i've got both 110 and 220 in the shop and i find it works with plenty of power on 110 volt...
a great machine that you couldn't go wrong with IMO.....

the thicker the metal the MORE heat/amps needed to made a solid weld

 

[ibedayank]

i quoted max and understand it. thes figures also jive with the official miller catalog. the duty cycle specs fot the 140, 180 and 211 are 20% at 90amps for the 140, 30% at 135 for the 180 and 20% at 90 and 30% at 150 for the 211. i still don't see twice the power. all specs pulled from the miller 2011 catalog.

look up max thickness on 120 then look up for 220/240 volts

DUTY CYCLE only means how long the welder can weld without needing to cool down...
aka 20% is 2 minutes out of ten
30% 3 minutes out of ten
has NOTHING to do with how much INPUT power is transformed to OUTPUT power

 

[ibedayank]

About all the 110v welders I've seen are rated at 90 amps. Read the data tag not the model number.

Power MIG® 140C imput power 120/1/60


Rated Output
Current/Voltage/Duty Cycle
90A/19.5V/20%

Input Current @
Rated Output
20AMPS


READ CAREFULLY THIS PART
Output Range
30-140 Amps DC
50-500 ipm WFS
(1.3-12.7 m/min)
Max. OCV: 33
DC= direct current
WFS= wire speed feed
info taken from
http://assets.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/K2471-1/e723.pdf

DUTY CYCLE only means how long the welder can weld without needing to cool down...
aka 20% is 2 minutes out of ten
30% 3 minutes out of ten
has NOTHING to do with how much INPUT power is transformed to OUTPUT power


does this clear things up for you on why you see 90amp on welders?

 

[great white tj]

I have a Miller 211 that I use with just Gas, and I use a HH 140 with just flux wire. Hobart now has a HH 210 MVP like the Miller 211 for less money, it might be something to look in to.

 

[sk farmer]

look up max thickness on 120 then look up for 220/240 volts

DUTY CYCLE only means how long the welder can weld without needing to cool down...
aka 20% is 2 minutes out of ten
30% 3 minutes out of ten
has NOTHING to do with how much INPUT power is transformed to OUTPUT power

yes, i understand duty cycle. if you are trying to say that you have the capability to weld steel up to twice as thick i agree with you but you stated that the compact 240 models have twice the power as the 120 models and the specs don't say that. if you only have the machine on a 15 amp circiut it is not the machines fault or it's lack of capability, it is the fault of the owner. obviously most full size machines that run and 240 and up voltages have more power and longer duty cycles but that is not the story at hand.

 

[sberry]

I wonder what the issue is with the Linc 175,,, I haven't ever seen one worn right out. I have one and its seen wayyyyy more use than any auto/hobby shop could ever give it.

 

[kc-steve]

I wonder what the issue is with the Linc 175,,, I haven't ever seen one worn right out. I have one and its seen wayyyyy more use than any auto/hobby shop could ever give it.

This is just a wild guess . . . but a lot of people are buying Lincolns from Home Depot and they aren't the same quality as you get from a welding supplier.

That's why I ended up buying a Miller. Lincoln has too many "models" to try and decide which are the better ones, professional designs.

Steve

 

[bobcatdan]

I bought the lincoln from praxair on some sort of closeout deal, over all got it pretty cheap. Its 5 or 6 years old now. The wire feed sometimes won't feed, but it hasn't done that in a while. Now when I go to weld, there is a lot of dicking around to get ground. Clamp and cable look good. Then once it starts a bead, I don't know how to explain this well, but it has no power. It's just spitting away and not generating the heat needed. I try it another piece of metal, works great, go back to what I was tring to weld and it finally takes off. My welds just look like **** now. The more I see of lincolns, I don't like them. My buddy's 125 lincoln drive crapped out in 4 years. Work has a 250 amp and that damn thing, you have to literally have to drag the gun across the work, or it can't arc. That one has been like that since new and has been "serviced" several time for the complaint and has never been fixed.

 

[ibedayank]

I bought the lincoln from praxair on some sort of closeout deal, over all got it pretty cheap. Its 5 or 6 years old now. The wire feed sometimes won't feed, but it hasn't done that in a while. Now when I go to weld, there is a lot of dicking around to get ground. Clamp and cable look good. Then once it starts a bead, I don't know how to explain this well, but it has no power. It's just spitting away and not generating the heat needed. I try it another piece of metal, works great, go back to what I was tring to weld and it finally takes off. My welds just look like **** now. The more I see of lincolns, I don't like them. My buddy's 125 lincoln drive crapped out in 4 years. Work has a 250 amp and that damn thing, you have to literally have to drag the gun across the work, or it can't arc. That one has been like that since new and has been "serviced" several time for the complaint and has never been fixed.

quit buying the ones from homedepot and lowes... the tapped transformers are NOT the same machine as the varible ones from you LWS
they are CHEAPER at lowes/hopme depot for a reason

 

[ibedayank]

ok on this welder at 140 amps lincon only reomends a max of 10 gauge steel using SOLID wire
http://assets.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/K2471-1/e723.pdf

3/16 thick using FLUXCORE

 

[bobcatdan]

Mine is a 175 amp. 220 volt, if it can't do at least 1/4", if not 5/16", whats the point of a 220 welder. It should be a higher grade model. It was a floor model and a new model had just come out, why I got it cheap. Praxair is a pretty big welding supply company here in WI. My dealership gets our gas from them and got a POS 250 amp welder for the shop.

 

[sberry]

The HD Lincs are good, they do play with the model numbers as they have old agreements with dealers, there is some conflict. The confusion is good for Miller and Hobart though, a marketing glitch they should really be exploiting but as for using the thing it don't make a pinch of **** difference. 99% of the problems with feeders are operator problems in a sense, one type or another. I liked the tapped versions better and most users especially new ones would find taps way easier. The 175 Linc with the 5 speed is tuned almost perfect for use with 030 wire even though at first glance one might think it needs more taps. My Hobart 210 is 7 speed, is acceptable but they didn't hit the spacing quite as good as Linc did, could use a couple more in the midrange.
I suspect with liner change and a little cleaning the 175 would come back up to speed. There isn't much in the real internals that makes them work wonky, most problems are liners, guns, connections and settings.
A brand new unit certainly solves most of these but it wont work much better than a tuned older one.

 

[RCman]

I'm very happy with my Millermatic 180 (before the autoset days). The only thing I'd ever swap it for would be another bigger Millermatic. My buddy has a 211 with autoset and I'm not sure on the feature, but he likes it.

As others have said if your going to get a welder, get one from a welding shop, it is worth the extra little coin.

 

[JayL]

I purchased a Millermatic 180 Autoset which would arrive to me in about 30 days time. I'm really banking on the Miller name that hopefully I made a better choice for a welder within that class.