Trying to decide between 211 or 212 for home use

[SPE]

I'm beating myself to death over which. Any advice. It'll be for fab work on chassis and 16-20 gauge sheetmetal at home. I already have a Sync 200. Mainly I want the Mig to Box in the frames faster.

[MMW]

The plus I see with the 212 is it has a much higher duty cycle but the negative is it is 230v only & heavier, larger. My opinion is that unless you are going to be running this machine a lot & think you would have duty cycle issues I would get the 211 for portability & it being able to run on either 120v or 230v.

[ja baudin]

with the 212 you can add a spool gun for aluminum and not have to change out liners and drive rolls to mig back and forth from Al and Steel.

[rustyanchor]

You can add a spool gun to a 211. Unplug MIG, plug in SG, swap reg to Argon, flip switch, and off you go. The 211 is SG ready as it comes.

[WI_Dave]

I dont know which spoolgun the 212 uses but if its the $800 one then the 211's spoolgun is cheaper at $200. It may very well use the same one IDK. 211 is direct plug in as rustyanchor stated

[fjk]

Power supply -- since you have the Sync, you have the power.
But being able to go to 120VAC can be nice around the house.
It makes it easier to bring the welder to the problem, rather than
the other way around.

Size -- the 211 is somewhat smaller and somewhat more portable
than the 212. (74# vs 178# per the Miller web site specs).

Cost -- about $800 difference in the MSRP between the two
machines.

Output -- the 212 claims a slightly higher output at about
2x the duty cycle (150A/30% vs 160A/60% -- per the web
site specs). The 10A difference in output is probably not
worth discussing -- especially as they both top out at 210A.
So do you feel you need the extra 30% duty cycle?
And how much do you really need it (lots of folks
do body work with MM140/MM180 class machines,
which is what the 211 pretty much is)?

If it was me, I'd probably opt for the 211. I do home hobby
handyman hackjob kinds of things (no cars or the like)
and the duty cycle limitation would not be an issue for me
(I have an MM140 and it's never tripped...).

There might be differences in arc/weld quality between the two
machines; I can't help there.

Otoh, generally, you can't go wrong buying tools that have
better specs/performance/etc than you need.... :-)

Frank

[SPE]

Power supply -- since you have the Sync, you have the power.
But being able to go to 120VAC can be nice around the house.
It makes it easier to bring the welder to the problem, rather than
the other way around.

Size -- the 211 is somewhat smaller and somewhat more portable
than the 212. (74# vs 178# per the Miller web site specs).

Cost -- about $800 difference in the MSRP between the two
machines.

Output -- the 212 claims a slightly higher output at about
2x the duty cycle (150A/30% vs 160A/60% -- per the web
site specs). The 10A difference in output is probably not
worth discussing -- especially as they both top out at 210A.
So do you feel you need the extra 30% duty cycle?
And how much do you really need it (lots of folks
do body work with MM140/MM180 class machines,
which is what the 211 pretty much is)?

If it was me, I'd probably opt for the 211. I do home hobby
handyman hackjob kinds of things (no cars or the like)
and the duty cycle limitation would not be an issue for me
(I have an MM140 and it's never tripped...).

There might be differences in arc/weld quality between the two
machines; I can't help there.

Otoh, generally, you can't go wrong buying tools that have
better specs/performance/etc than you need.... :-)

Frank

Thank you for your response. Good advice.

[ja baudin]

I'll agree with frank, I settled for a mm212 autoset last year to mig steel and aluminum. I just sold it and picking up my 350p tomorrow at NWS. Spend the money now or spend it later. Its best to buy what you want, or more than you need now, and be finished with it.

[Diverdude]

I debated those 2 machines a year and a half ago, I went with the 211 because of space limitation and the fact I could get the 211 with spool gun for the price of the 212. As for duty cycle, I have welded mostly 14 gauge and thicker with mine and have never had a problem with duty cycle.

[Rizz01]

I just sold my Hobart and got the 211.
I wrestled with the same debate.
My LWD suggested the 211 because the two machines are very similar, but the 212 is not portable and 230 only.
BTW, the 212 requires the $800 spool gun.
If you get the 211 YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY!
The machine is VERY under rated by Miller.
I may have gotten that freakish odd-ball machine but mine seems to run harder and hotter than the specs. I NEVER use the auto set and it is SO easy (for me) to lay down beads that look like they may have been tigged.
Duty Cycle? What duty cycle?!!! This is all on 115V.
Miller states that the machines single pass max is 3/8".....
In 230V mode, the machine isn't set anywhere near max and does 3/8" like it's a "cake walk". Penetration is SO effortless as well. The 211 as very nice on all gauges.
In my opinion, this unit would be more than capable to handle ANYTHING you tackle considering what it is you need it for.
Drop the money, you won't be sorry.

Good luck!

P.S. If / when you do pick it up, don't forget to also get the optional knurled roller for flux core and .045 wire, just in case you decide to run that stuff at some point. It's about 18 bucks or so.

[jbmprods]

i wrangled with the debate on the 211 or 212 for about a yr as i was wanting to get a bigger unit than my mm175. i got tired of beating my head against the wall and took my girl friends advice that bigger is better. so i got the 252 with 30a spool gun.

[gsport]

i'm another very satisfied customer of the miller 211..

[tizzy]

211 is a great little machine!

Having the larger 212 would have some advantages, but dont think the 211 will fall short. I have had my 211 for almost a year and I love it. I have run about 70-75lbs or wire through it and its has performed great. I have already built a skid steer wood splitter, a roundbale mover skid steer attachment for my neighbor and a few other smaller projects. Just keep arc time in mind when you're using it. I havent used the 110vac side yet or tried anything thinner than 18 ga., but everything else works awesome. The only thing they could improve on would be the ground clamp...even though its better than the one on the 180, it could be heavier.