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Posted by AWN on November 15, 2007, 12:02 am
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Good day all,
I am in the throws of deciding between a Mig Master 173 and a Millermatic
180. Although the ESAB is a few more bucks, the price difference is less
important to me than the quality trade-offs and performance. At a glance,
it seems like the ESAB machine has a higher duty cycle rating at full
output. I think the Miller will output 30% at 135A compared to the ESAB
machine at 30% for 139A (but showing 90% duty cyc at 90A). Basically I
would like to know if there's any value going with the ESAB over the Miller?
Some concerns:
Ease at which I can switch between gas/wire and flux core
Quality of short/tip protection
Quality of infinite rheostat or any other fine tuning
Quality of transport system
Avail of parts and ease of dealing with manuf for service, information, etc.
I welcome any and all concerns. I am a shadetree mechanic at best but I
want to buy a welder that I won't need to replace due to it outgrowing my
needs. I would also like to be able to dial the machine down to work with
sheet metal and aluminum welding may be a future concern.
Thanks again and sorry for the mouthful.
Andrew.
Btw I can get the Miller180 for $889 CDN + tx and the ESAB for about $100
more.
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Posted by AWN on November 15, 2007, 11:10 am
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Ernie,
I appreciate the feedback. This is exactly what I was looking for. If
it's as cut and dry as industry pros suggesting that stabbing my eyes out
would be better than buying the ESAB, I will go for the Miller. Is there
any difference in terms of switching between flux and gas on either machine?
If that's a stupid question I'm sorry but I had a tech at Prax tell me that
it's something to consider when looking. Perhaps the tech was also a
paperboy...
Thanks again,
Andrew.
On 11/15/07 1:21 AM, in article
stagesmith-00ED20.22211514112007@earthlink.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net, "Ernie
>
>> Good day all,
>> I am in the throws of deciding between a Mig Master 173 and a Millermatic
>> 180. Although the ESAB is a few more bucks, the price difference is less
>> important to me than the quality trade-offs and performance. At a glance,
>> it seems like the ESAB machine has a higher duty cycle rating at full
>> output. I think the Miller will output 30% at 135A compared to the ESAB
>> machine at 30% for 139A (but showing 90% duty cyc at 90A). Basically I
>> would like to know if there's any value going with the ESAB over the Miller?
>>
>> Some concerns:
>>
>> Ease at which I can switch between gas/wire and flux core
>> Quality of short/tip protection
>> Quality of infinite rheostat or any other fine tuning
>> Quality of transport system
>> Avail of parts and ease of dealing with manuf for service, information, etc.
>>
>> I welcome any and all concerns. I am a shadetree mechanic at best but I
>> want to buy a welder that I won't need to replace due to it outgrowing my
>> needs. I would also like to be able to dial the machine down to work with
>> sheet metal and aluminum welding may be a future concern.
>>
>>
>> Thanks again and sorry for the mouthful.
>> Andrew.
>>
>> Btw I can get the Miller180 for $889 CDN + tx and the ESAB for about $100
>> more.
>
> OK so you are comparing buying a ESAB (akin to stabbing yourself in the
> eye with a sharp stick) or buying a Miller (one of the best supported
> brands on the market.
>
> I am not seeing the problem.
> I really have no love of ESAB machines.
> This comes from extensive experience over many years, and the opinions
> of 2 welder repair techs who I have known for 16 years.
>
> I do love their flux-core wires, but not their machines.
>
> Miller and Lincoln are the 2 top brands for good reason.
> Good engineering, and excellent tech support.
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Posted by Ignoramus2043 on November 15, 2007, 11:26 am
Please log in for more thread options I am not an experienced weldor, but I never heard anything bad about
Miller welding machines, or their support, parts availability, manuals
etc. A welding machine pays itself off after just a few welding jobs,
it is a quick payback situation, so it makes sense to not cut too many
corners.
i
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Posted by Grant Erwin on November 15, 2007, 8:35 pm
Please log in for more thread options AWN wrote:
> Is there
> any difference in terms of switching between flux and gas on either machine?
Most machines have a standard gas connection in the back, and changing wire is
changing wire. I think the guy who told you there is a big difference in
changing from fluxcore to solid wire is either ignorant or working his own
agenda. I wouldn't worry about that.
A good thing to worry about is how good the wire feeding mechanism is. Read
the manual closely to see how to align the drive rolls and adjust them, and
then look closely at the machine to see if it is as described in the manual.
The only thing I was disappointed in about my MM250 was that the manual
describes an adjustment which was no longer available by the time my machine was
made. And those adjustments/alignments are a big big deal.
Personally, I very highly recommend the current Millermatic model, whatever that
is. Or buy any late model MM with one gigantic exception - do NOT under any
circumstances buy a 250X, those were lemons and should have been recalled.
The MM251s were awesome machines and the 252s look even better to me.
Grant
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Posted by AWN on November 15, 2007, 9:08 pm
Please log in for more thread options Grant,
Thanks for the valued insight. I really appreciate it. As stated, I'm
looking at the MM180. I hope this is a decent machine.
Andrew.
On 11/15/07 8:35 PM, in article 13jpsshdjtb8hfc@corp.supernews.com, "Grant
> AWN wrote:
>
>> Is there
>> any difference in terms of switching between flux and gas on either machine?
>
> Most machines have a standard gas connection in the back, and changing wire is
> changing wire. I think the guy who told you there is a big difference in
> changing from fluxcore to solid wire is either ignorant or working his own
> agenda. I wouldn't worry about that.
>
> A good thing to worry about is how good the wire feeding mechanism is. Read
> the manual closely to see how to align the drive rolls and adjust them, and
> then look closely at the machine to see if it is as described in the manual.
> The only thing I was disappointed in about my MM250 was that the manual
> describes an adjustment which was no longer available by the time my machine
> was
> made. And those adjustments/alignments are a big big deal.
>
> Personally, I very highly recommend the current Millermatic model, whatever
> that
> is. Or buy any late model MM with one gigantic exception - do NOT under any
> circumstances buy a 250X, those were lemons and should have been recalled.
>
> The MM251s were awesome machines and the 252s look even better to me.
>
> Grant
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