Miller 175 VS. Esab 173

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Hello- first off, great forum!I am a experienced welder, having owned a couple Licoln welders over the past few years, and I also own a Syncwave Miller TIG unit.Both of my MIGs were 115 volt machines, and I used them primarily for sheetmetal work and very light fabrication in my custom-bike shop.I am wanting to move into a little better setup, and have the ability to weld heavier gauge materials if need.I've narrowed my choices down to the Esab 173, and the Miller 175. Both seem to have roughly the same specs, but I am leaning towards the Esab for a few reasons. One, I like the fact it has chassis mounted wheels on it vs having to buy a cart with the Miller. Secondly, I like the fact the Esab has a built in spot timer and a couple other little things that the Miller doesn't have.Thirdly, I have been offered a really sweet deal on a new "demo" model that wasn't even used at an open house. It basically was uncrated and had the knobs turned by a few tire-kickers. Its priced under 800 bucks.Big problem is, I don't have any experience with Esab, and although I can't find anything negative on the unit, I also can't find much positive.Any help?
Reply:ESAB    !!!!!! nuf said
Reply:Originally Posted by blackberryESAB    !!!!!! nuf said
Reply:The Esab really is a nice welding unit.It is more powerful because it will spray-arc with .030 wire and 90/10 gas.The Miller 175 and Lincoln SP175 plus will not even get close to that. It is morepowerful then the Miller passport I owned.The downside to the Esab is that itis a little hot on the very low endwhen using .023 solid wire. It'sworks but you need to move pretty quick on very light bodywork typemetal. It has a nice crisp arc andI think might be the sleeper.I used the 203 too.I just picked up a SP175 plus for theexact opposite reason. No room for acart. The Lincoln is a very nice weldingunit also. Attached Images
Reply:if you use the right gas you can spray arc with the sp135p so why cant the 175?ChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Originally Posted by Scott VThe Esab really is a nice welding unit.It is more powerful because it will spray-arc with .030 wire and 90/10 gas.The Miller 175 and Lincoln SP175 plus will not even get close to that. It is morepowerful then the Miller passport I owned.The downside to the Esab is that itis a little hot on the very low endwhen using .023 solid wire. It'sworks but you need to move pretty quick on very light bodywork typemetal. It has a nice crisp arc andI think might be the sleeper.I used the 203 too.I just picked up a SP175 plus for theexact opposite reason. No room for acart. The Lincoln is a very nice weldingunit also.
Reply:Dan,the manual that came with the 173 showed the voltage at 15.5? or so at thelowest setting. I was using both the 173/203 at the time. It did wet the puddleout nice down low and I guess it was a volt/ amp curve thing more then anythingelse. It's not harsh down low but not that really soft arc either. I am going tohook it up again some day and run it through it's paces. All the guys at the welding store really liked it and they vary between Miller/Hobart/ Lincoln in what they generally like best. Chopper you can spray with a 175 Miller or Lincoln if you use .023 wire.They just do not have the volts to spray with .030 wire.It's kind of how I tell it one unit has more guts then another. If I had the Esab in a spray, I would feel better aboutit's weld, then pushing a Miller or Lincoln 175 on .250 steel (solid wire) The Esab really does not have a lot of reserveat the spray but it was 90/10 gas and that tells me ithas a better volt/amp curve on the top, then the othermachines. I could never get a MM-185 to get into asolid spray at the same gas and wire as the Esab.Maybe the 173 is just underated or something elsewas happening? Fluke?????Dan,you have to remember it's a migmaster and it just does not Know it's own strength.One last thing about the 173/203/253 machines, The gun is made by Binzel and it has a funny angle on the swan-neckIt's a lot straighter then your normal guns out. It takes time to get use to it . Esab made it that way to feed better, butit's kinda weird. I would not let that stop me because I would put a Binzel Alpha 1 euro on it anyway.Last edited by Scott V; 02-04-2006 at 09:56 PM.
Reply:Thanks for the replies.I have also been pointed towards the HTP line, speciffically the 160 and the 1600.Both of these have spot and stitch standard, and seem to have top quality drive roll systems.I should add that I will be doing some replacement quarter panel/replacement panel sheetmetal work on my 69 Camaro in the future. I hope the Esab lets me work with sheetmetal that thin.
Reply:Originally Posted by DanOne thing I did notice about the 173, is that they only offer .023. .030 ,and .040 drive rolls. Oh yeah, like Scott, I too am an ESAB owner. I own an ESAB Migmaster 250. I most definitely pleased with the performance of my Migmaster.
Reply:Originally Posted by TP121This is from Esabs web site:Migmaster® 173     Mains voltage (208)230 vac, 1 ph., 50/60 Hz.     Input current @ 20% rated load 28A     Rated Load:           @ 20% duty cycle 170 A         @ 30% duty cycle 139 A         @ 60% duty cycle 98 A     Open circuit voltage, v 19.5 to 35.5 V     Setting range 30-170 DC     Power factor at maximum current 0.9     Efficiency at maximum current 60 %     Wire Feed Speed 39-670 ipm, 1.0-17 m/min.     Wire Diameter:           Fe, Ss .023-.030 in., 0.6-0.8 mm         C .030 in., 0.8 mm         Al .040 in., 1.0 mm     Burnback time, sec. (adj. on PCB) 0.02-0.25 sec.     Spot Welding, sec. 0.2-2.5 sec.     Voltage steps 8     Dimensions:           length 34 in., 860 mm         Width 17 in., 420 mm         Height 29 in., 730 mm     Weight 130 lbs., 59 kg     Operating temperature 14-104 °F, -10-40 °C     Enclosure class IP 23     Application classification SIt looks like 1 roll covers .023-.030.
Reply:Originally Posted by DanThat's very possible, considering my Migmaster 250 uses a single drive roll for .023 and .030. It has two grooves on it, one for .023 and the other for .030.  I 'll have to down load the manual off of ESAB website to check the 173 out better.
Reply:I have no on the HTP but the owners seem to like them and theowner of HTP posts on the Hobart forum. He seem like a goodguy from all the feedback. The drive is better but it reallydoes not matter on that class of machine if you are notrunning a 15 ft gun. I looked at the specs of the 173 today and the one I spottedwas 30 amps output/ 15.5 volts and 170 amps/ 18.5Most other machines run in the 12 volt range at 30 amps.
Reply:Originally Posted by Scott VI have no on the HTP but the owners seem to like them and theowner of HTP posts on the Hobart forum. He seem like a goodguy from all the feedback. The drive is better but it reallydoes not matter on that class of machine if you are notrunning a 15 ft gun. I looked at the specs of the 173 today and the one I spottedwas 30 amps output/ 15.5 volts and 170 amps/ 18.5Most other machines run in the 12 volt range at 30 amps.
Reply:Yes,everybody liked it, because it wet out very nice, but I could see whenusing on very thin metal it could be a slight problem. I did not run itvery long with .023 wire so I not sure how big of a issue it is. Themachine itself has a very sweet type arc to it. It's the little ballon the end of the wire type arc. Lots of machines have a defusedtype arc with 75/25 when they are in the lower ranges but thisone is nice and crisp. I prefer a crisp arc to a very soft one anyday of the week. Not everybody does though. I like crisp andsoft all at the same time. That one is really hard to find. TheEsab 350 mpi fills that bill for me.I would buy the 173 for $800.00 in a heartbeat.