The Home Machinist!

I have a Miller Dynasty and love it. A friend of mine has a China made tig and I hate to say, but it works well at a whole lot less in cost. Both mine and his are a/c units for welding aluminum and they are both 200 amp machines.

The problem with most of the import machines is service and parts when they break. Getting parts such as circuit boards etc.

What is the life expectency....who knows. Some last for years others last minutes. Most of the import machines do not handle overloading well at all.

I agree with the above post: Pre-heat works wonders. I've welded 3/8" aluminum with no trouble.

Good luck,
Andy

My old, and I mean OLD, "premier" 200 amp buzzbox (which I believe was built by Miller) is like a rock! I don't weld a lot, like in a "business", but I can always count on the old machine.
I've discussed rod maintenance with others and can't understand why so many people have to to treat their rods with kid gloves and heaters etc.. My rods lie in the box they came in until I use them , the last in the box arcs and flows just like the first one out. NO Way will I pay big bucks to buy some new fangled overpriced device.
I did buy a low price Asian mig machine and by the time I got half way through the first roll pretty well got the hang of it. I was pleased with the fact that I could handle much thinner material with it but I just don't do enough.
I guess it's all in what you need and what works for you.

stevec wrote:

Michael_Moore wrote: I had the main board go out in my 250 -- after the warranty period. I don't weld much so it had maybe 20-30 hours on it. If that had gone out during the warranty period it would have saved me a good portion of $1400 (I had onsite service done plus the replacement board). The board itself was nearly $1000.
cheers,
Michael

That would scare me away from paying the extra bucks for a Miller right there, thanks for the heads up!

Everyone have their lemons. Miller is not immune just like lincoln or anyother brand out there.

stevec wrote:I've discussed rod maintenance with others and can't understand why so many people have to to treat their rods with kid gloves and heaters etc.. My rods lie in the box they came in until I use them , the last in the box arcs and flows just like the first one out. NO Way will I pay big bucks to buy some new fangled overpriced device.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't treat all rod that way and achieve success. The low hydrogen rods are required to be kept heated once opened, and can't be out of the warm environment for more than four hours, assuming one is attempting certified work. It's not that it won't run---it will. It's that it tends to include hydrogen (porosity), which defeats the purpose of the rod.

Harold

I use only 7014 rod so far be it for me to correct anyone. I have never been told that 7014 is immune to moisture, although it may be, so I wondered if some machines performed better with "moist" rod than others?

None are immune to moisture, but mild steel rods like 7014.....moisture doesn't bother so much.
The low hydrogen rods do not work well after becoming moist, like Harold said, water in the flux will cause porosity. 7018 and other low-hy rods have a propensity to suck humidity out of the air like a sponge.

I have plastic 5 pound containers, with a seal, that I store all my low-hy electrodes in. Open the metal box, and in they go. I use regular old plastic boxes for the mild steel rods I have....no fancy o-ring.
Helps to live in a dry area too.

Bill

redneckalbertan wrote:Everyone have their lemons. Miller is not immune just like lincoln or anyother brand out there.

I'm happy with the 250DX, my post was to illustrate how expensive it can be if one of the new "computerized" welders breaks down (and the 250DX is still a transformer machine and has less electronics than a Dynasty).

cheers,
Michael

Main board is over $1000 in a syncro 250, so can't get away from electronics in any new unit. Lincoln's transformer machine runs even more.. They do fail once, and a while too.

My Miller 200DX has served me very well. I use it for TIG in my shop but have put on most of its use hours outside, stick welding Snowmaking pipes. The outside of the unit looks like it was run over by a snowcat but that is because we have to put it into the back of a tracked truck along with a generator, plasma cutter, compressor, etc. They get tied in but it s rough ride in the back of a dump truck with no springs, up and down very rough mountainous terrain. To date the various electronic parts are holding up perfectly.

Tom

Just came accross this thought it may be helpful if a person is concidering lincoln:

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/co ... vents.aspx