well im a fairly novice welder but i want to buy a good welder. ive noticed in the past that if i use really nice welders i weld really nice. if i used ok welders my welds are just ok. so based on my past welding experience i truely believe that if someone is set up with a good welder that its a hell of alot easier to use the welder to its potential.
now heres my question. since the good welders i have used have been millers im biased towards miller products. basically all im goin to be using it for is home projects such as tach welding my cage together b4 i head down to the local shop to have it tigged properly. im torn between the miller 210 and the miller 251. both are prolly great and would suit my uses just fine. can u guys help me decide which one to get?? the priced difference is about $500. useful info would be appreciated.

 

you got enough amps from a home circut to run that unit? the choice is easy, how thick is the metal that u are going to weld? contact miller or look at the spec sheet from miller for the recommended weldable metal thickness.
if you want my thoughts id get the lincoln 255 mig and call it a day for 250 less than the miller 251. either one will do though.

 

most of the welding will be project stuff. really thin, but i want something that can handle that one time project that is thick. ive looked into lincoln welders too locally but they are the same price (actually more expensive) than the millers of close to equal amperage.
the 210 welds up to 3/8ths the 251 will do 1/2

 

^

 

http://www.weldingsupply.com

 

the 251...it has infinate amperage control. If I remember correctly, the 210 is limited

 

After 18 years welding for a living, building parts for submarines, spacecraft, aircraft carriers, nuclear plants and more.....I'd pay $250 more to get the Miller.

From my experiences, the Lincoln guys will often kiss your *** to get you to buy...but afterwards, they aren't around to help out at all. Just about 2 weeks ago, I had a Lincoln guy come look at a machine where I work. He tried to convince me that the problem with arc fluctuation was that the rollers were too tight....even though you could see the wire spool spin consistently. He just didn't want to work on the machine, or admit that it had a serious problem. Well, he then said he'd send out another guy, but I've still not seen anything happen. Keep in mind that this plant is the #1 manufacturer for tanker trucks in the world, and this is the service they get from Lincoln!!

However, we called the Miller guys and asked for a demo machine. Two days later, a brand new 350P pulse mig machine showed up with a new Python water-cooled torch showed up. Not only that, but it arrived with sample bottles of gas for us to use.

I have a Syncrowave 350 that I use here at home. It's probably 6 years old, and I'd pick it over a brand new Lincoln machine... cause in 10 years, the Miller will still be working and have readily available consumables and parts...but the Lincoln will be lucky to be running. I think Lincoln makes some good power sources, but the more bells and whistles on them, the less reliable they become.

There's a reason that Miller is #1 and it's not because they're the cheapest or because people just like the color of them...it's because after considering all the factors, they are the best. Argue features all you want, but you're talking to a guy that bought a Lincoln over a Miller due to features. I sold a 2yo Lincoln that I bought new, and bought a used 6yo Miller...HAPPILY!!!

 

Miller machines i had a high freq board give up on my maxstar once. we gave miller a call, the technician drove to the shop, picked up my machine and had it back to us with in a couple of days.....and it was all under warranty=$0.00 they even let us use a dynasty until my machine was fixed. Miller has great customer service.

 

That Dynasty probably made you wish they'd not come back with the Maxstar.

The Dynasty 300DX is the nicest machine I've ever used.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by paul vang &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the 251...it has infinate amperage control. If I remember correctly, the 210 is limited</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats exactly what i thought.

thanx for the help guys, even though u guys basically made me decide to spend more money. i do appreciate it though