Getting a New Mig Am I on the RIGHT TRACK

admin

Hello everyone, post number 1 for me... I am a part of many forums concerning different topics and this forum seems top-notch.Anyways, I've stick welded for probably 7yrs and really appreciate its uses. However for the amount of shop fabrication im doing now I think I would like to get a Mig.My biggest concern is getting a high quality mig that I won't burn up and will last.I weld pretty much all positions vertical, flat, etc.  I range anywhere from 16ga. all the way to 1/2in on occasions.  The majority of my welding is 1/4 and 3/8in.  I want a unit that can handle welding 3/8" and a lot of it, including some fairly long runs, not just spot welding here and there.What would you say I should look at.  Im thinking a Millermatic 350p maybe, but im not sure on what it can handle in the real world besides just what the "chart" says.  Is the 350p going to be comfortable handling what im doing. I need options on Miller and Lincoln.  What do you think.  By the way I don't necessarily need all the bells and whistles, I don't weld aluminum for example, however I do understand when I get a larger model it will come with these options.Thanks everyone
Reply:Hi, welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are looking at setting up a serious shop.I have never personally used the MM 350P but the MM210's and MM250's I have used have all been great machines. Have you considered getting a CC/CV power source like an XMT and getting a wire feeder for it? This might be a better choice in the long run for a shop. Gives you stick and wire feed in the same machine with the option for DC TIG at a later date. The price will most likely be higher new but I see XMT's used from time to time. I have used CC/CV XMT 304's and XMT 350's for stick mig and tig and they are nice machines. If you don't need alum capacity I would think hard about one of these setups.Never used any of the bigger Lincoln machines but they seem to be good also from what I have heard.
Reply:The Miller MM350P is a true industrial rated mig welder, the P model is capable of pulse mig, is upgradeable to spool guns and push-pull mig guns. A great machine, but compared to other Miller mig machines it is very expensive, it list for about $4400, while the M252 is about $2400. I own one and have yet to find the upper limits of the duty cycle, it will keep on running well after I ready to quit. Lincoln also makes excellent mig welders, in the MM252 range, they also make the MP350P, which is a mig/tig/stick machine, also capable of pulse mig, the last quote I had was over $5000. I would suggest going to the LWS and start looking at machines, get some literature. There is also the used market, which can be hard sometimes to find what you want.Jack
Reply:check this link. http://www.powertoolstore.com/Qstore/p002756.htmLincoln powermig 350MP at $3600. Looks like all I need is the bottle and wire probably.  I must be missing something on cost, where do you come to $5000.  Maybe i need to go back and look.
Reply:By the way, by all means im not saying i need that big of a machine I'm just guessing. in the first post i listed what I would like the welder to be able to handle. If the 350 is more than enough machine i'd gladly step down. I just want one to be able to consistantly handle the welding I do.  Im just looking for suggestions on what size I might need, the 350's might be on the upper end of what I need but I though I'd get some FIRST HAND info besides reading manufactures charts.
Reply:The base machine list for about $4500 and with the push-pull gun, I wanted it pushed it over $5000 my cost, sorry I forgot about the extras.Jackhttp://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...t.aspx?p=18685
Reply:My high school kids ABUSE several Millermatic 251's and Lincoln PowerMIG 255's all day long. Both are working well with no problems to date except for a few trigger switches on the Millers, a couple of kinked liners, half a dozen nozzles, a couple of diffusers and about 30 or so contact tubes a year due to burn backs.  We run -6 .045 and .035 with CO2 and C25.We also run .035 FCAW GS wire once in a while and mostly with adult students.We have one of the Millers set up for 308/316 SS with Airgas Stainmix.  It does well, but I'm sold on GTAW for SS and Al if possible and practical.Our Lincoln 140C runs right along with .035 GS wire.  I'm always worried about exceeding the duty cycle on the whip.  Mostly hobbiest running the 140C in night class.We have a Lincoln 350MP on loan from Lincoln.  I haven't run it much.  One of my adult students did a lot of aluminum repair work with it and it all looked really good.  I want to run it SMAW and GTAW before I have to give it back.  GMAW-PP set up is real easy and Al welds nice.  During our summer business tour last year we visited Lifetime Metal's new dumpster manufacturing.  A bunch of Millermatic 251's.  The weldors liked them.  We also visited a vehicle up-amourer and they had Millermatic 251's welding .180/ .250 ballistic steel and sheet metal.  New structural steel prefab shop in town is rumored to have a bunch of Lincoln 355's running FCAW-G.Looking at Millermatic 252 as a future purchase.  We also have spool guns for the 140C and 251's they work well.  I would not use anything less then the 252(251) or 255 for production work.  One of my student is considering a 350MP for his job shop fixing ranch/farm equipment because of the GMAW, GTAW, SMAW and FCAW capability.  I don't know if a would want to deal with the set up time if I had to earn a living at it.  I think in a repair shop I would go with a dedicated GMAW/FCAW machine and a dedicated SMAW/GTAW machine.An aside... the consumables in our Hypertherm 30 last soooooo long we no longer use our Lincoln PC machines.We just got a new Bernard whip for our Miller wire feeder, pretty heavy duty, but it will outlast me!Last edited by Jim Riley; 05-24-2008 at 12:54 AM.
Reply:at work all we use is miller deltaweld 600 and 800 with wirefeeders on trolleys hooked up to them. it might be more expensive to start with but then the machine wont be working as hard to deliver the power. but it has its disadvantages because that way you have a lot of cable dragging across the ground to the wirefeeder. but its all up to you in the endhttp://datingsidorsingel.com/
Reply:A 250A class or higher machine will do your jobs.  It's up to you if you can splurge for the 300A and higher machines.
Reply:First off, thanks for all the replies. They are a big help.I guess a 250-300A machine is my option.  Its to bad lincoln or miller doesn't make the 300a machines just for Mig.  I bet the cost would be a little nicer.Either way, now I just have to make my mind up on one more thing.Lincoln or Miller?I hate to even ask that, its like Ford or Chevy etc.
Reply:I would give miller a try... been helpful to me... that's count.....I had a question on PWHT and they send a CD in 3 days(USA-Indonesia) to my office and service and aftersale really count as downtime would be a real killer.I am not saying Lincoln is not friendly but they are more serious lots, tis like IBM and Apple... which is the organization culture and style you prefer?Last edited by Mandau; 05-24-2008 at 11:49 AM.Unit in my fab shop dept:my good hand and team that trust me...A lone welder make art... a village full of welder make Miracles...
Reply:Yeah just a quick search on this site is leaning me to the Miller for Customer service reasons.  Not that either machine is going to be breaking down hopefully but miller sure does seem to take care of people.
Reply:All of my dealings with both Miller and Lincoln (add Thermal Arc to the list too) from a customer service standpoint have been excellent. I've gone to using multi-process machines simply because that way I don't have a bunch of dedicated machines that aren't running because I don't need that particular process. A little more cost, a lot more versatility, and more open shop space.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.