Bad Buy MM Vintage $500 not so good

[tedster]

i made a bad buy Wednesday afternoon, thought i made a good buy till i told my buddy this thing don't seem to have the ump of a 250 amp welder that it should after another member saying it had a high and low range i got to looking the pdf manual over i discovered the Millermatic Vintage has a high and low range which i did not know none of the MM's had well low and behold the high low selector is fried its wired to low range hopefully the guy will return my money or agree to pay for part of the fix not a good first day of spring at least i am still breathing....lol

[MMW]

Have you checked on the cost of the part? If you have a part # go to Miller4less.com & check price. It may not be to bad.

[tedster]

i am gonna try to find out today how much it is thanks for the tip, i will take all the help i can get

[cope]

tedster

Please don't post the same issue in two different threads! I posted the Miller PN for the switch and dust cover, and here is the switch.

http://miller4less.com/advanced_sear...18&search.y=13

Dust Cover
http://miller4less.com/advanced_sear...10&search.y=12

See if he'll help with the cost of the parts. If not, at $600 you're still in pretty cheap.

[MMW]

If your confident in your abilities I would try bypassing the switch to put it in high range & try it first to make sure it works before buying any new parts. You should be able to do this simply.

[tedster]

thats a good idea but i am gonna look it over a little i am almost possitive its not on high right now maybe tomorrow nite or sat, i did talk to the guy and he said he won't give me any money back because it worked good for him but he did say he would sell me a full bottle of C 25 the 3ft tall one for $75 and its a bought tank so i told him i would take it.
i will put a pic up maybe someone nows what side its on

[Autobodytec]

A vintage for $500 is to cheep he knew some thing was wrong with it . A 250 amp welder for $500 would have me wondering if some thing was up .

[tedster]

A vintage for $500 is to cheep he knew some thing was wrong with it . A 250 amp welder for $500 would have me wondering if some thing was up .

i talked to him after i found out about the switch i believe him when he said he didn't know anything about it,he did not have it listed for sale he responded to a want ad i had on Craigslist he originally wanted $700 for the welder and tank he was gonna put it on CL for $800 i had him at $500 on the welder he is a decent guy self employed and he had another 100 Amp wirefeed he had no need for it really he felt bad when i called him back he said he would give me a 3ft tall full C 25 bottle thats a bought bottle so i am gonna take it.
it still welds good

[cayager]

still a great price

i have a miller vintage. bought it new in the early 90's i had to replace the 6 position switch on the front of the machine. i think it was $60-$80. other than that ive put about a million pounds of wire through it without a problem. if i could buy another for $500 and put a switch in it i would in a heartbeat. you still see them go for $1200-$1500.great old machines cant kill them. good luck

[tedster]

this one welds nice i just used the last of my C 25 gas the welder is on the low side now tomorrow i am gonna put a bottle of CO2 on it my buddy let me borrow and wire it on the high side and see how it welds,the new switch and cover and liner is a $100 bill seems like a nice welder for a total of $600 with the parts i can live with that.
But if i do 3/8 or 1/2 in with it i need the high side working for proper penetration

[cope]

this one welds nice i just used the last of my C 25 gas the welder is on the low side now tomorrow i am gonna put a bottle of CO2 on it my buddy let me borrow and wire it on the high side and see how it welds,the new switch and cover and liner is a $100 bill seems like a nice welder for a total of $600 with the parts i can live with that.
But if i do 3/8 or 1/2 in with it i need the high side working for proper penetration

Hope it works out for you.

[tedster]

Hope it works out for you.

this one welds nice i just used the last of my C 25 gas the welder is on the low side now tomorrow i am gonna put a bottle of CO2 on it my buddy let me borrow and wire it on the high side and see how it welds,the new switch and cover and liner is a $100 bill seems like a nice welder for a total of $600 with the parts i can live with that.
But if i do 3/8 or 1/2 in with it i need the high side working for proper penetration

cope


the high side works good this thing really sings on high range i do not care for the CO2 much now i now it works ok i will order a new switch, I get that fixed and liner and new everything on the end of the mig gun this thing will be a nice welder, this thing is way nicer then the MM250 at work difference of night and day even with a bad liner

[cope]

cope


the high side works good this thing really sings on high range i do not care for the CO2 much now i now it works ok i will order a new switch, I get that fixed and liner and new everything on the end of the mig gun this thing will be a nice welder, this thing is way nicer then the MM250 at work difference of night and day even with a bad liner

This makes me regret even more that I didn't pursue the NOS Vintage I found when I bought my MM210.

[tedster]

i have not got nothing bad to say about MM 210 i used one for 18 months in a fab shop it was a great welder in fact they had a MM 252 and i would use the 210 over it any day, i do not like the continuous voltage on the millers they are really touchy i will take the tap over it any day

[ctinberg]

i talked to him after i found out about the switch i believe him when he said he didn't know anything about it,he did not have it listed for sale he responded to a want ad i had on Craigslist he originally wanted $700 for the welder and tank he was gonna put it on CL for $800 i had him at $500 on the welder he is a decent guy self employed and he had another 100 Amp wirefeed he had no need for it really he felt bad when i called him back he said he would give me a 3ft tall full C 25 bottle thats a bought bottle so i am gonna take it.
it still welds good

I am all for buying used but that is always a "beating down point " i like to make with a guy selling something , if i get this thing home and something is wrong your price isn't such a good price and i am stuck with a $500 POS . it doesn't seem like you did bad $600 in a $12-1500.00 machine your not hurt ! i just bought a oxy/acetylene rig with all victor stuff on it for $100 bottles and all i just had the regulators and torch rebuilt and will buy new hose and haven't got the bottles filled yet i told the guy who is a friend that i am taking a risk i don't know anything about this other than it's quality stuff and what i might have to go through if i can't get the bottles filled and he understood that's what you deal with buying used . sometimes you hit a home run and sometimes you strike out . Chris