first welder

[zachary kling]

I am going to buy my first welder ,I know that i need to get a mig
any suggestions on which one to buy, I was looking at ether the millermatic 175 or the millermatic 210,I plan on welding buggy ,go kart ,sand rails ,and later on small car frames, and even maby get into racing.wondering which will get the job done for the price the 175 or the 210 ? any advice is great , thanks
Zach k

[cope]

I would recommend the 210. It gives you all the power you will need and has taps rather than infinite adjustment.

[zachary kling]

few ?s, first can you put a trailer hitch on with
the 210, second I have heard that welders that have taps are not good for joining sheat metal,I will be putting body panles and floor pans together,others say that taps are either to hot or
not hot enough to join sheat metal, is this true,and second,does anyone that replies have a millermatic 210 if so I would like to know if you like it,what you use it for, and do you think that that the 210 is worth the money? thanks,
advice is great

[home05]

175-210

I have a mm135 that welds 1/8 fine. i can repair frames and other things, the mm135 dosen't have taps and is exactly like the 175, besides the 175 is 175 amps. The mm135 welds sheet metal great and the power dial is nice for fine adjustments. I have only heard good about the mm210 and know that they are used alot on race cars, both will probably work fine another point is how thick sheet metal you are welding, I am considering buying one. Your choice, Thanks Patrick

[zachary kling]

Thanks for the info,a few other ?s when you bought your 1st welder did you consider lincoln eletric? why did you choose miller? in reply to patrick's info, I was looking at the lincoln 135,175 plus (sorry miller) seemed that small lincoln's got good reviews but the 200,I have never heard a review, on the other hand I haver never heard a bad review on the millermatic 210,and I have talked to race car mfg,bisness people, and homeowners/do it yourselfers and have heard a lot of good reviews.What I am trying to decide is that if the miller 210 is worth the price, everybody says that I need at least a 175 welder like the miller 175 or the lincoln 175.this will be my first welder (and hope it is my last,at least for a good # of years)and I don't want to buy some that won't suit my needs just to save a few dollars (ok,a few 100).by the way I probally will be welding up th 1/4" thick sheat metal and
and tubing that has about 1/8" on thick walls and that is 1"-2" in dia( tubing for chassies ,trailers. Thanks for any info!!!

zach k.

[cope]

Originally posted by zachary kling
few ?s, first can you put a trailer hitch on with
the 210, second I have heard that welders that have taps are not good for joining sheat metal,I will be putting body panles and floor pans together,others say that taps are either to hot or
not hot enough to join sheat metal, is this true,and second,does anyone that replies have a millermatic 210 if so I would like to know if you like it,what you use it for, and do you think that that the 210 is worth the money? thanks,
advice is great

No offense, but how much welding experience do you have? Welding a trailer hitch is not a beginner project. Check with Miller's site, but I believe the 210 will weld 3/8" in one pass. I have never heard that taps are not good for sheet metal. The first project I welded with my first Mig(w/taps) was a drain plug in the pan on a Chevy transmission. Check out the Hobart site for more on the 210. There are several owners who hang out there.

http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/

[ROCK]

HI ZACKERY.......... EVEN THOUGH I WORK FOR MILLER ELECTRIC I AND MY BROTHERS OWN A MILLERMATIC 210 WITH THE SPOOL GUN....... DON'T BE PUT OFF (WE) OWN OTHER EQUIPMENT AS WELL......... HOWEVER WE ARE DOING A TRAILER REBUILD ON A TRI AXLE DUMP TRAILER.......... THE LINER WERE PUTTING IN IS STEEL 3/16"......... WE HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH THE 210 DOING THIS................ROCK..............
[email protected]

[Miller Kevin]

Hello Zackery,
The Millermatic 210 welds sheet metal very well. Many NASCAR teams currently use the 210 for the bulk of their MIG welding. If you want a testament to the MM210's performance do as Cope suggested and check out the Hobart welding talk board, a number of people have posted about the MM210 there. As for whether the MM210 is worth the extra $$ my personal feeling is that it is a great value, alot of "bang for the buck" as the saying goes. If you any other questions please fire away.

Kevin

[email protected]

[home05]

Hi Zachary,
At first I was looking at a lincoln since I saw them on tv and other places, then I heard some horror stories about lincoln, besides you will have a difficult time finding parts and repairing them. Don't buy a lincon, Get the mm210 since I heard the other good reviews and that you are welding 1/4 sheet metal. I would buy a Miller over a lincoln any day. Thanks, Patrick

[zachary kling]

THANKS,ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE REPLIED, IT IS ALWAWS,ALWAYS NICE/A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE ALOT OF PEOPLES INPUTS/THOUGHTS ON THANGS,ESPICALLY BIG ,COSTLY THINGS (WELDER) PLEASE KEEP WRITING, THE MORE THE BETTER!
THANKS,
Zachary K

[Danny]

I own a MM 210 , and consider my welding skill level adequate enough to use the machine to build a trailer hitch for pulling my wife's three horse trailer. Now to build this with this machine I would either use a self shielded fluxcore, gas shielded fluxcore, or spray transfer. I wouldn t attempt this job in the short circuit transfer mode.

The MM 210 does a very good job on sheetmetal. I ve welded butt joints on 22 ga with the machine using an .030 solid wire and never burned thru. I was very impressed by this. On most machines you have to go down to an .023 wire for such a thin ga. of sheetmetal.

The quality of the arc in the short circuit transfer mode on 1/8" steel with an .030 or .035 wire is awesome.

For your viewing pleasure here are a few picture of welds that I have ran using my machine

This first one is a fillet on 3/16" mild steel

[Danny]

This next picture is a vertical up on 3/16" mild steel

[Danny]

Here is another fillet on 3/16" mild steel. I don t have a picture of a weld on 1/8". However, a fillet looks exactly like this on 1/8" too.

[Danny]

This next one is a butt joint on 14 ga sheet metal.

[Danny]

This final picture is a butt joint on 1/4" in the spray transfer mode