Garage Welder Question

[kidder17]

Looking to purchase a welder for the garage. Just for small projects. I am looking at a Millermatic 211. Does anyone have one that could comment on it? Should I be looking at just going to the bigger unit and be done with it?

 

[the_real_wild1]

Get the biggest welder you can afford. The best bet is a 220v. Miller is a great brand. I have a 110v lincoln 140 but now that I can go with a 220v welder I will be as soon as possible...............................I started writing this then figured I better google the welder you described. That is the smaller brother of the mig we have a work. It would be ok for home stuff but I would go a little bigger if you can afford to do so.

 

[the_real_wild1]

The one we have is the 212.

 

[the_real_wild1]

Millermatic 252 MIG Welder with Spoolmatic 30A <<<<----the one I would buy if I could afford to.

http://store.cyberweld.com/mil251witspo.html

 

[tex78]

I've got a lincon mig pack 15 at work. Works awsome for just about everything. It's 220 and I have never been able to get it to duty cycle itself.

So I found a mig pack for at home that wasn't used much. Don't have gas for it at home but still seems to weld good.


sent from my htc

 

[boots]

It all depends on what you plan on welding. I use a little Lincoln 100 for thin stuff and I have a stick machine for anything over 3/16.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[goodngrubby]

I bought a Miller 210 a few years ago....nice little welder for the shop. It's 220v, but super simple to use, it has clunky old-school dials...not a digital display. I have a spoolmate on it for welding aluminum....not the sexiest welds, but I've put at least 100 1lb rolls through it, and still going strong. I got it on sale at Acklands, I think it was around $1800 with the spoolmate.

 

[Stompin Tom]

Looking to purchase a welder for the garage. Just for small projects. I am looking at a Millermatic 211. Does anyone have one that could comment on it? Should I be looking at just going to the bigger unit and be done with it?

Millermatic's are a nice lineup, I currently have a Millermatic 251 with a 30A spoolgun, the advantage of the 251 is you can weld pretty much anythickness of metal you want, I run an .045 E71T shielded wire with a 75/25 mix for he heavy stuff, and .030 ER70S6 hardcore for the smaller stuff. A nice little trick is I leave the .030 hardwire in the spool gun most of the time, that way I dont have to chance everything whenever I want to weld something small. I might run aluminimum once a year.

The 211 is a nice machine, but I would consider a 212 if I was use, it uses the bigger spools so its allot less costly to purchase wire and you get a much wider variety of available consumables. Also if your looking into a spool gun in the future the 212 is "spool gun ready" while the 211 is "spool gun compatible" which means you have to buy an adapter.

The most important thing to make sure you have enough power in your garage to run the welder, if you dont, doesnt really matter what you buy.

 

[Longhorn]

I also vote 212...Western Canadian Welding often has this one on sale with a spool gun...I have 2 and they have been flawless. The 252 is a much better machine, but few will use it to its capability. Also, resale will be far better on a 212 compared to the 211...

 

[tex78]

also the older lincon's have steel gear wire drives , where the new ones are plastic gears ... thats y i found a good used one

 

[the_real_wild1]

I have been starting to shop for a bigger welder now. This is the post I was looking for earlier. Has anyone seen the 212 go any cheaper the KMS has them for? $1899 plus tax. Also looking at the thermal dynamics 252 combo machine. I am looking for what people have paid for these machine and hoping to get a smoking deal somewhere.

 

[Highfly]

I've got an older Miller 130 110v welder. For home use it's don't everything I've needed it to do. And I have build a crap load of projects from furnature, trailers and a complete chassis and tube frame Street legal dune buggy. When I built my shop I put in a 20 amp breaker, the regular 15 amp breakers just aren't strong enough. 220 would be nice.

The welder you are looking at comes with a lot of new features that mine doesn't have. It will be a very nice unit forsure. Go for the gas kit right away and don't waist your time with flux core wire.
I don't think you can go wrong with a Miller. I've been super happy with mine.

 

[the_real_wild1]

I have had a 110v snap on welder, an 220v Ultra Mig machine with mig and stick, and now a Lincoln 140 110v welder. Time to get a big machine that can handle everything. The thermal dynamics is tempting so I can learn to tig, but I can get the miller and a spool gun to do the odd aluminum. Just waiting for the right deal I guess.

 

[Loudpipe]

I have that miller 211 and I love it, I've welded sheet metal all the way up to 1/2 plate with it, for what it is its a very very good welder

 

[the_real_wild1]

I like the 211 but want the extras that the 212 come with. Plus a little more jam.

 

[SlowKrawl]

The 211 is a wicked machine and will do anything you need it to in the garage. Not sure why you'd want anything bigger in a garage really.

 

[the_real_wild1]

And if anyone is looking I will be selling my 140 Lincoln soon too. It might come with my Mac cart depending on which welder I buy.

 

[woody_tobius_jr]

And if anyone is looking I will be selling my 140 Lincoln soon too. It might come with my Mac cart depending on which welder I buy.

I just sold my 140 Lincoln a few weeks ago and bought a Miller 252, I was looking at the 211 Autoset and was about to pull the trigger on it, when a friend of mine who had bought it a while ago, told me that he wasn't impressed with the way the Autoset worked, he said that it kept fluctuating on him. Glad I spent the extra doe on the 252 now. I bought mine from Acklands, but got our company discount. It really wasn't that much cheaper than KMS. I shopped around before I got a price from Acklands, and really couldn't find anybody with a better price than KMS. Just have to watch for their sales.

 

[the_real_wild1]

The 211 is a wicked machine and will do anything you need it to in the garage. Not sure why you'd want anything bigger in a garage really.

Sorry didn't see your post until now. Some of my welding is typical garage stuff. Other is not. I like being able to weld what I want and not have to worry if my machine is capable of doing it. Or having to do multiple passes when I shouldn't have to.

 

[the_real_wild1]

I just sold my 140 Lincoln a few weeks ago and bought a Miller 252, I was looking at the 211 Autoset and was about to pull the trigger on it, when a friend of mine who had bought it a while ago, told me that he wasn't impressed with the way the Autoset worked, he said that it kept fluctuating on him. Glad I spent the extra doe on the 252 now. I bought mine from Acklands, but got our company discount. It really wasn't that much cheaper than KMS. I shopped around before I got a price from Acklands, and really couldn't find anybody with a better price than KMS. Just have to watch for their sales.

There is a good deal on a 252 on kijiji right now. Welder, bottle and couple spools of wire for 2250 obo. Welder looks pretty new.