Welder advice

[mortimersnerd]

Finally going to pull the trigger on a new welder tomorrow. I've been saving my pennies and have it narrowed down to 2 units that are within $50 of each other. Both are 210 amp units that will do both 110v and 220v, and both are made in the USA and can weld 3/8ths in a single pass. The first is the Miller 211. It's commonly regarded as a great unit, and is generally recommended as one of the best high end home shop welders. The other is a Thermal Arc 211i which is an inverter based welder (the 211 is a transformer based welder). It's made by Thermal Dynamics, who owns Tweco, Victor etc. The reviews I've read say it's a great unit overall, but, well, it's not one of the big names in MIG welders. The flip side is that it'll do MIG, TIG and stick welding and has a number of features like burn back control, seperate amp and voltage controls, the ability to tune inductance, etc. I'm really torn-do I get the old reliable or the new cool? Any advice?

For those that are interested:

http://victortechnologies.com/Thermal Arc 3in1/Fabricator 211i/product_features.php
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/product.php?model=M00245

 

[pipermike]

I bought The Miller 211 after some research, we use Miller at work and I have a good relationship with the local rep. I think I paid $1050.00 for it with my discount. I didn't even know Thermal D made welders I thought they were just into plasma cutters, that being said if you're saying you can get a multiprocess unit for the same price as a mig and the capabilities are equal I would think it's a no brainer, just having the simplicity of an arc welder availible is huge.

 

[kancox]

I also have the 211 and love it,think i paid in the 1100.00 range with cart and spool of wire,(also had a conection at the local welding supply) I know nothing about the thermal d but i'm leary of anything marketed with the claimed versatiluty of the thermal d.I'ts kind of like one size fits all,well,yeah but does it really fit anybody well? If we're talking about a bronco resto or custom build I think the 211 fits perfectly.But with that said if your wanting to weld on lets say a surface rusted frame without prepping,you won't be happy with anything but an arc.

 

[Explorer]

I've had my MM211 since it first came out. Never a problem, but if anything does go wrong, repair is easy to find.

 

[misterkeebler]

millermatic 211 here too. For what it's worth, mine had a minor issue out of the box-just a pushed back pin to the wire feed motor, but I emailed miller and within 15 minutes had an email back with a local miller certified repair shop. With the good experience I had with their warranty I would definitely buy again. We run nothing but millers at work after some bad experiences with very good luck

 

[rustbucket]

I wouldn't shy away from Thermal Dynamics. They have been around a good while, and you can get them pretty much anywhere now. I see a lot of them in shipyards now. I have a MM175 now, but I wouldn't hesitate on the Thermal Dynamics for an upgrade. Especially if it can also do TIG! Talk to the dealer and see what he recommends.

BTW, I have a inverter stick/TIG I got 15-20 years ago that still works. They are nice in that they are lighter weight and more portable.

 

[dube]

i have been a miller guy guy all my 37 years of welding and i have ran just about every thing out there. this summer i sold my old welder for the miller 211 dual volt 115/220
and its slick as hell. and i think there on sale right now.

 

[jcpetrson]

My advice is to have good friends. My brother's coming over for a 1 month "rental" of his Miller 180. A few beers later, everyone wins.

My other advice is that I don't know anyone with a Miller that is unhappy. Its a solid product. A few friends wish they got just a little more power, but never a complaint about the welder.

 

[stlo]

If u jump over in the plasma cutting world u will find thermal dyn. Is one if not the leader in plasma cutting...they've been around for awhile to. I wouldn't shy away from either one....

 

[bad 68]

My buddy bought the Thermal instead of the Miller to save a few dollars and he is very happy with it. He has burnt half a spool of wire with it and no complaints at all. He's a hydro machinist for the Army Core of Engineers on the Snake River and has burnt literally thousands of pounds of wire doing cavitation repair on turbines.

 

[fordguy]

My advice is to have good friends. My brother's coming over for a 1 month "rental" of his Miller 180. A few beers later, everyone wins.

My other advice is that I don't know anyone with a Miller that is unhappy. Its a solid product. A few friends wish they got just a little more power, but never a complaint about the welder.

i had free rental until the main circuit board went out on my buddy's millermatic 180 %)

 

[patterdale]

Duty cycle is the most important statistic after thickness it will weld. It could be capable of welding inch thick material but if it cuts out every ten minutes it's worthless. Compare the internals of the two, If critical parts (wire feed components, etc.) on one are metal and the other plastic you have your answer.

 

[xcntrk]

I too have the Miller 211 and simply love it! Welds great on 120V, even better on 240V, easy to use automatic mode takes all the guess work out of speed and voltage settings. Replacement parts and consumables are easy to find. I've been welding everything under the sun with this unit. Tiny 14ga sheet metal up to 3/8" thick plate, aluminized and stainless steel too. It does a perfect job every time.

The only problem I've ever had is the feed cable got twisted at a tight angle and ceased the wire up inside the liner. Ruined the whole liner and I had to replace it with a new one from the miller store. Was only down for about 4hrs as I have a miller dealer 10mi from my house! Was sort of my fault as I wasn't paying good attention to when the feed cable is bent at severe angles. Now I pay better attention so it won't happen again.

If you go with the Miller, you can be certain of satisfaction and many long years of happy use. If you go with the other unit however, you may be able to do some neat TIG welding but satisfaction is uncertain.

 

[kancox]

anybody have any input on the spool gun for welding aluminum with the 211?

 

[ky-resto]

I've got one of the little Millers- great welder and very forgiving for someone like me who doesn't use it very often.

 

[mortimersnerd]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. It was helpful. I ended up ordering the Thermal Dynamics welder with the TIG torch. After doing a bunch of reading on Welding Web and talking to several welding suppliers, it looks like most of those who have laid down beads with both think the MIG capabilities are comparable and I've got some projects in mind that will come out quite a bit better if I can TIG them. I'll report back once I've got it and have logged some practice.

 

[dube]

well i hope you like it, it may do tig but it's a scatch start tig, it has no high freak. you will be spending alot of time sharping you tugnston. its a pita.