Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys I am looking at a getting a new welder and I was looking for some input..... Right now I have a miller matic 251 really like the welder buy if you guys where to get a bigger welder what would you get?

Right now I am looking at the 350 P from Miller also wondering what you guys thing of the bigger units such as a 450 or so?

Miller vs Lincoln?

Thanks,
Jason

Jason,
To help answer your question I have a few I my own. Why do you want to upgrade to a bigger machine? Will you really need 350+ amps? What features do you need/want most? Pulse? Aluminum? Believe it or not, your 251 will hand most jobs that a hobbiest/light fabricator will encounter.
-Jonathan

about the thinnest I weld is 1/4" and push upwards I normal end up running hot on my welds too. Ill be going to town welding up some frames or something and the welder will trip out with help codes telling me it is overheated. And I will weld up to 1" plate normal on dual shield wire.

Jason,
That's interesting as I have a Miller 252 that I have welded 3/4"-1" with both ER70S-6 and metal core with and never had a problem.

With that said I would go with either brand. To me it is really a Chevy vs Ford deal. Both brands have their strengths. If you are looking at the 350P I would also consider the Lincoln 350MP. I have the 350MP and have used the 350P and both are capable machines. If you don't need the multi process on the Lincoln the Miler will give you a higher amperage range.

If you want to step into the "professional" machines the field is wide open. There are many configurations from blue and red so it would be hard to recommend specific products. I have a little experience with Lincoln's S350/S500 and was highly impressed. If I were purchasing at this price point I would go with Lincoln, but that is based off personal experience and opinion. What other machines or packages were you looking at?
-Jonathan

Thats kinda what I was wondering if there 3 phase 100% units are much different as far as the arc or if they are better or not?

whats really the difference beside they are build heavy?

Jason_alex wrote:Thats kinda what I was wondering if there 3 phase 100% units are much different as far as the arc or if they are better or not?

whats really the difference beside they are build heavy?

If you already have 3-phase, you will use less power (money) and have slightly higher repeatabity in your settings.

If you do not have 3-phase available, it is expensive to connect, and the price goes up proportional to your distance from existing wire.

I doubt you'll notice a difference below around 300 Amps.

Steve S

as far as the electric its all based of kwh so they are the same to run I was mainly wondering if it is smoother?

The electric isnt to bad to add to run our big old hobart mega mig it take 35.5 amps at 480 volts 3 phase 70 amps at 240 3 phase but to run it we pay the same because its based on kwh... mainly we get to add one more hot and drop some of the amp load.... as far as electric to it.... its all cheap and if it can be 480v it will drop amps required by half letting us run smaller wire. Right now I run our mm 251 the most because its newer.... and i dont quite trust the 450 yet and im not sure why maybe because its old...

If there's no reason "not" to go 3-phase, by all means, do it.

It's slightly more efficient at 480 3-phase than 240 single-phase, with the efficiency increasing at higher currents.

The start is a bit smoother, because there's less surge when the circuit is loaded.

Steve S

Sounds like Miller it is!!! HAHA.... to me they seam to run smoother... maybe its just me....