Question on the Millermatic 350P

[wildfire]

Hi everyone. I've been thinking about upgrading from my Millermatic 251 to a Millermatic 350P. There are times in my shop I could use the extra amps of the 350P and some of it's added features. My question is with the gas. On the 251 I'm using Blueshield 8 which I believe is 75-25 mix?

The way I understand it is to use the pulse or spray feature on the 350P you need to use 90-10 gas. Can I get by with just the 75-25 or 90-10 gas? I didn't want to lease another bottle of gas so I'm trying to figure out the best gas to go with if I decide to purchase the 350P. If I do get the 350P I'll be using my spoolgun but will be welding mostly steel with the welder. Any opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[weld illinois88]

75-25 works fine, i've never used 90-10 with mine.

[SundownIII]

You're thinking of buying a $4,000+ machine and you're worried about having more than one bottle of gas available?

C25 (75%Ar/25%CO2) will NOT work in spray mode or pulsed mig mode. C10 will give you more spatter in short arc.

[wildfire]

You're thinking of buying a $4,000+ machine and you're worried about having more than one bottle of gas available?

C25 (75%Ar/25%CO2) will NOT work in spray mode or pulsed mig mode. C10 will give you more spatter in short arc.

No I'm not worried about more bottles . I just don't have the extra space to have bottles around. I got the O&A bottles. One argon bottle and one Blueshield 8 bottle. **** I'll soon have the shop fillered up with bottles

Thanks!

[con_fuse9]

A little OT, but not that much

With all the talk on MIG welding gas mixes, I thought I'd show this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/McDantim-TM200-T...item3c9f9a8bb7

and

http://www.mcdantim.com/catalog.html

So the next time your beer tastes a bit low on nitrogen, now you know why.

[FusionKing]

Well I sorta had that same scenrio myself. I wouldn't sweat it. You can short arc and use straight mig if needed ok with the 90/10. Once you get up and running with the machine you won't miss 75/25 IMO.
If you get some stuff that you really gotta have the 75/25 then you can worry about getting one. Myself I cannot imagine using my 350P and not using the GMAW-P phase of operation.
The 350P does run aswum on straight mig with 75/25 and on aluminum as well....you just find yourself going back to pulse again and again.
I have one little bottle like a size 50 or whatever with 75/25 for those situations, but I have a 300 of 90/10
I feel like the difference between straight mig and GMAW-P is every bit as big as the difference between AC tig with a transformer and an inverter like the Dynasty, but you gotta have the right gas to make the magic happen.

[Desertrider33]

How are you fabricating anything if you don't have room for even one bottle? A bottle only takes up about half a square foot of floor space.

You can use the 90/10 gas for all processes on the 350P. You won't need the 75/25 gas. Use up your 75/25 and have it re filled with 90/10 next time you fill it.

[FusionKing]

How are you fabricating anything if you don't have room for even one bottle? A bottle only takes up about half a square foot of floor space.

You can use the 90/10 gas for all processes on the 350P. You won't need the 75/25 gas. Use up your 75/25 and have it re filled with 90/10 next time you fill it.

That is pretty much what I was driving at. But I have had good success with 75/25 on very thin metal on straight mig whereas the 90/10 was a bit too hot for my taste. I kinda feel like having lot's of different gasses on hand is about as cool as having a bunch of welders

[Desertrider33]

That is pretty much what I was driving at. But I have had good success with 75/25 on very thin metal on straight mig whereas the 90/10 was a bit too hot for my taste. I kinda feel like having lot's of different gasses on hand is about as cool as having a bunch of welders

I agree! I dont use the 350P for short circuit on thin metal though, so no need for the 75/25 there. I use the HTP with 75/25 or the MM175 with 85/15 and they both do a good job on short circuit gauge metal.