My first welder, a couple questions

[ryanjones2150]

That is my primary clamp. Love it. It's very heavy and you can just lay it across a lot of things. The down side is it wears much faster on the end of the lead because of its heft. But, just cut off an inch and put her back to work!

[miller_130xp]

What is wrong with the Miller factory bent sheet metal clamp?

[MAC702]

What is wrong with the Miller factory bent sheet metal clamp?

For most of what this small machine does, not much, actually.

I had one that did finally need to be replaced, in fact I think it was an old 130XP, and I used a steel hand clamp like this:

Obviously, I removed the plastic on the tips. As it turned out, it was the best clamp I've ever used for welding square tubing, which was pretty much what that machine did 96% of the time.

[aametalmaster]

What is wrong with the Miller factory bent sheet metal clamp?

Mine has been on my MM185 since 1999 and still fine. Some heat up and then won't grip the metal...Bob

[aametalmaster]

Hello!

The issue I have is the diffusers look identical, the part number I purchased is 169716, but the threads on the gun are slightly larger than what is on the diffuser. Is there anything I can get that will work for this gun?

I had the same problem with my M-15 gun which is like yours. I ended up running a fine thread die on the neck. I don't know if the heat expanded the copper neck over the last years but they wouldn't fit. I called the company that I bought the parts from and he checked his parts on a new gun and they were fine. Since I rethreaded the neck all the others that I have tried will fit now. My guess is yours is the same...Bob