MillerMatic DVI question from new member

[toolmaker]

Have visited here a couple of times in the last week researching the DVI. Decided to go ahead and register- quite a bit of good infomation shared on here.

My question is has there been anymore feedback generated from anybody that has been using the DVI? I have searched the forum and have read good results about it but just wanted to know more. I am looking at purchasing one because I like the ability of it to switch between 115/230v. This would help if I ever need to take it down to the farm with me for a temporary repair.( the house is over 100 yrs old so you can figure out the wiring is not that up to date. The place is basically used as a hunting/fishing getaway year round.) Right now it's a toss up between this and the MM210.( the 210 wouldn't be able to travel)

As far as experience with welding I use a Syncrowave 250, and a MM210 at work. We also have a Hobart Ironman210 but it hardly gets touched with the other 2 being around. Not an expert, but not a rookie with them either.

Any new info would be appreciated. Thanks, and also like to say this is a pretty nice site.

Toolmaker

[HAWK]

toolmaker,

WELCOME ABOARD!

If you did a search, then you probably found and read my review. I tested the 175 DVI for several months prior to it being released to the public market. It is a nice machine and has an arc similar to the MM210.

The DVI 175 is not an easy machine for one man to transport. This would be a drawback for me if I were in your situation. Also if the farm wiring is old, chances are you will see a low output on any welder you plug in. An inverter with "Auto-Line" circuitry may overcome the possible low voltage input.

There is a big difference between the DVI 175 amp top end and the 210 amps of the MM210. For me it would mean the difference between being able to spray arc 1/4" material or not. The DVI will break in and out of the spray mode with 92% Ar/8% CO2. I did not test this machine with any Argon/Oxygen mixtures. It may or may not spray better with a 98 Ar/2% O2 or even a 95% Ar/5% O2 mix. It runs a great short arc with C25. I do think 3/16" is the maximum steel thickness this machine will safely weld. Let me clarify by saying I do not want the DVI 175 for fabricating trailer hitches from 1/4" mild steel. I would have no problem using the MM210 for this task.

The MM210 is spoolgun ready and that is a plus. Given its extra amperage, duty cycle, and ability to spray it has my vote. The biggest reason for the DVI is if 120 VAC is an important factor in your decision.

MONKEY WRENCH IN THE WORKS****************

Take a long hard look at the PASSPORT. It has similar capabilites to the MM210 as far as welding 3/8" steel in a single pass. Of course the duty cycle is greatly reduced. It is more than portable at 65 lbs including a full 12 ounce internal CO2 cylinder, 10lb wire spool, torch, power cord, ground clamp, and side bag. The CO2 cylinder will get you about 30 feet of weld using .030" wire on 3/16" mild steel. Now that is portable!

It will push 140 amps on 120 VAC and 180 amps on 240 VAC (or 110 and 220 VAC as your situation dictates). These amps are produced by an inverter engine. What this means in basic terms is a great arc with more power than the same output amperage from a transformer machine. It will do anything you want form 25 gauge sheet steel to 3/8" steel plate. I forgot to mention the "Auto-Line " circuitry.

It has a 2 position inductance push button control for mild steel and harder stainless wires. The plugs are the same as the DVI. It has a slow run in and some other fine tunings that create a fantastic arc on mixed gas as well as CO2 with little to no spatter. However, these wonderful arc attributes preclude it from running aluminum very well at all. It does not do well pushing through the M10 torch or spooling with the SGA controller /spoolgun hook up.

The PASSPORT seems like it meets your needs for the home and farm unless a high duty cycle at the upper end and or aluminum welding is a great concern for your application. Since you are considering the DVI and the MM210 check out the PASSPORT. It offers the best of both worlds and is made for the MRO on the go.

[toolmaker]

Hawk,
Thanks for the welcome. And yes I did find and read your review. That is one of the reasons why I am considering the DVI. As far as portability goes when I regularly load up gear and the 4-wheeler, well a 170lb unit(minus tank) really isnt that much more. Besides I'm used to thowing chunks of tool steel around, and small die sets are the norm to move sometimes by myself.

I did look at the passport but it's duty cycle(even though it's 110 cycle is better than the DVI,but limited gas quantity) was kind of what put it on the edge as another choice. But do like it for it's portability. Ohh the decisions we put ourselves in a pickle over. First it was the MM210 no holds barred, now the DVI is in the fray. Well I got plenty of time to decide, as the money isn't burning a hole in my pocket yet . One question though on the Passport, can you hook up and external tank to it, like and 80 size?Thanks for the info.

[toolmaker]

Never mind on the last question. Looked again and found the answer.

[Scott V]

Never mind on the last question. Looked again and found the answer.

I bet you will find the passport has a really good duty-cycle on 230 volts if not pushed to it's upper limits. It's the same about as DVI at 140 amps. ON 120 volt power the Passport kicks it's butt!!!! It will turn into the machine you grab for two or three reasons. It welds nice and is handy is all get out, plus it's very quiet.

I had a MM 185 and a MM130 XP and I would not trade the passport for both of them. Although both of them had there good points too. I figure the passport is about the same in power as the MM185. Even though the voltage of the passport says it's shy. In the real world it's about the same.

I feel it's a better value then the DVI (IMO) even at $300.00 more.
I think it is the only machine out that really welds on 120 volts with solid wire. If you used as many 120 volt welders as me then you would know why I say that.

[HAWK]

toolmaker,

If you get the chance demo a PASSPORT. It is really more machine than what the specs show. You can weld and weld and though the fan kicks on pretty quick it also stops running almost as quick. You can feel the warm air blowing through the front vent and then it's off again.

The PASSPORT inside panel settings are right on for mixed gas and CO2. I have to say this machines arc is incredible on C25 and even better on CO2. Around that's a pleasant surprise with CO2 running $7 per 20lb cylinder for external and quarter an ounce at the local sporting goods store to fill the "paintball" cylinder. That amounts to $3 for the 12 ounce cylinder supplied with the unit.

MAYBE OF INTEREST TO YOU Scott V:

If you use the little internal cylinder a lot, then a fill station may be in order. They can be found on the internet and some sporting goods stores sell them. However, for $9 I found the screw on cap with a side inlet for the gas bottle top. Now all one needs is a ball valve manifold set up and a set of scales to fill. I

[Scott V]

Thanks Hawk,
I watched them fill them at the sporting goods store with that setup.
I probably will get a larger bottle of CO2 (for fill too) because my esab really runs nice in it's CO2 slope setting. I really like the way the passport runs CO2 also.I have a 80 75/25 just for the passport but I never plug it in. I do need to dig up a extra 12 OZ bottle because that will handle most jobs I would do portable.

[HAWK]

12 ounce bottles for PASSPORT

ScottV,

Walmart sells the 12 oz bottles in their sporting goods department for less than $22. I am not sure what Miller gets for theirs.

I did the same on the fill demo at the sporting goods store. I plan to make a fill kit this evening.

[Scott V]

I have heard it was real high, because Miller did not want to get into the bottle business.

Let me know how your system works.

[cope]

Thanks Hawk,
I watched them fill them at the sporting goods store with that setup.
I probably will get a larger bottle of CO2 (for fill too) because my esab really runs nice in it's CO2 slope setting. I really like the way the passport runs CO2 also.I have a 80 75/25 just for the passport but I never plug it in. I do need to dig up a extra 12 OZ bottle because that will handle most jobs I would do portable.

Scott, for a spare cylinder why not step up to the 20 oz.? It won't fit in the case but it would give you nearly 25% more gas.

[Scott V]

Scott, for a spare cylinder why not step up to the 20 oz.? It won't fit in the case but it would give you nearly 25% more gas.

I am pretty sure you would need to lengthen the gas hose to make the cylinder lay on it's side. I think for the most part, two cylinders would do it for me. If I am welding 1/8 that is a pretty long weld bead!! The extra 12 will fit in the bag pretty easy too.

[Danny]

Curse you Hawk and Scott , I thought I had finally convinced myself that i wanted to save up for the MM 350, however, since reading all your feedback on the Passport 180 in this thread, Im back to wanting/needing the Passport 180. Like the two of you, to me there is no contest between the Passport 180 and The MM DVI. There is no dought in my mind that the Passport 180 is the far superior unit. When my Econotig comes back from the repair shop, I'm going to see if Airgas will sell it for me. I should be able to get $600 to $700 for it since it is in mint condition- don't use it much since i have the Maxstar 150 STH . Also, since I have purchased the MM 251, the old MM 210 is starting to become more of a dust collector similar to the Econotig. So, there is a possibility that it might become the other part of my Passport 180 fund. Yeah, i think i could live with just a MM 251, Passport 180, MM 175, and a Maxstar 150 STH.

You know Scott, I think i liked it better when the machines that you liked were beyond my price range. Scott, your blood use to be pretty yellow, now though, it seems to be turn a shade of green.

BTW Scott, now that you guys have me all fired up again , do you have anymore sample weld pics from the Passport to show off.

[Scott V]

Curse you Hawk and Scott , I thought I had finally convinced myself that i wanted to save up for the MM 350, however, since reading all your feedback on the Passport 180 in this thread, Im back to wanting/needing the Passport 180. Like the two of you, to me there is no contest between the Passport 180 and The MM DVI. There is no dought in my mind that the Passport 180 is the far superior unit. When my Econotig comes back from the repair shop, I'm going to see if Airgas will sell it for me. I should be able to get $600 to $700 for it since it is in mint condition- don't use it much since i have the Maxstar 150 STH . Also, since I have purchased the MM 251, the old MM 210 is starting to become more of a dust collector similar to the Econotig. So, there is a possibility that it might become the other part of my Passport 180 fund. Yeah, i think i could live with just a MM 251, Passport 180, MM 175, and a Maxstar 150 STH.

You know Scott, I think i liked it better when the machines that you liked were beyond my price range. Scott, your blood use to be pretty yellow, now though, it seems to be turn a shade of green.

BTW Scott, now that you guys have me all fired up again , do you have anymore sample weld pics from the Passport to show off.

Not today, but I am still looking for some 20/22 ga. stuff to try to weld up for the other guy on the fence. (Sundown)

I did buy some bigger tips to try out aluminum with the standard M10 gun.
Not that I need to weld aluminum with it.

[toolmaker]

Alrighty then, after doing some more searches here on the Passport, I think I will probably drop the DVI out of the top 2. So now it's down to the MM210 and the Passport. You guys are really not helping when the wife see's the change in plans now . It's hard enough since I have a garage full of full size metalworking machines and constantly buying stuff for them.
One thing I was really impresed with was the quality with CO2. Especially when you consider the refill prices.

One quick question. Now aluminum ability is not really a factor, but has any body tried to change liners and push it through this machine(Passport) for a quickie fix? I have the Sync250 at work, so taking something in to do it after hours is no big deal. I have heard of some people doing this occasionally but would like to know more.

Thanks.

[cope]

If you need portability the Passport is obviously a winner. if not, there is no contsest; go for the MM210 w/spool gun for about what the Passport costs. You know from experience what the MM210 can do.