Miiler Machine

[murphy1244]

Sorry I thought no one would be offended if I mentioned a different Miiler Machine

No, you go ahead just wanted to let you know.

 

[mikehaugen]

Machine sold for 575.00$

So did you get it?

Or was it Muddstopper? :laughing:

 

[murphy1244]

So did you get it?

Or was it Muddstopper? :laughing:

Wasn't me I don't know who. I stopped bidding at 150

 

[Arc weld]

You didn't actually think you'd get it for $150 did you?

 

[IslandTractor]

Have a chance to buy a Miller Welder and I need to know what its worth and even if I should buy it as being I never Welded before. Thanks for any and all.

Miller Dialarc HF Tig/Arc Welder

I know that welder is gone but IMO it was not a good deal for a newbie anyways. The older welders were massive and relatively inefficient which meant lots of power needed to run them. No possibility of portable use or even conveniently moving it from one place to another without a truck and lifting device. If you are going to set up a commercial shop then those welders are fine but for non professional use they are overkill. Like buying a surplus Army truck as your first car.

I would suggest taking a welding class before making any decision on equipment if possible. If you cannot do that then buy a used set of oxyacetylene equipment for a few hundred bucks and teach yourself with a book. Advantage of oxyfuel is that the process is much slower so much easier to learn while at the same time it teaches all the basics about puddle control and heat etc. Besides, having an oxyfuel set up available, even after you move on to an electric welder, is very useful for brazing, cutting and welding small items. I honestly like oxyfuel welding best even though other types are far more efficient.

After a real welding class you will know enough to decide whether you want a stick or stick plus tig or a mig machine. Hard to make that decision without experiencing the different welding processes and without knowing what you are going to do with your new skill.

 

[murphy1244]

You didn't actually think you'd get it for $150 did you?

Didn't care. I stopped at scrap value.

 

[mikehaugen]

You didn't actually think you'd get it for $150 did you?

I wouldn't expect it, but would definitely not have been surprised. I see a lot of things go at auction for extreme prices... both high and low.

 

[Arc weld]

Not sure why you even asked about the machine if all you were willing to pay was scrap value? A Dial-Arc 250 HF would be an excellent machine for a newbie to welding and $575 was a great price. It's not a heavy production welder and runs on single phase. It's not as efficient to run as an inverter but unless you're doing some heavy welding, the power shouldn't be a big problem. Most of the shops here charge over $100 an hour. If you looked after it and weren't burning a lot of big rods at the top end, it would last a few lifetimes. Look at the 76 yr. old machine Shield Arc just bought. Looks like it welds as good now as it did when new.

I've seen some good welding equipment sell for peanuts at a Ritchie Bros. auction and I f I would have had somewhere to put it, would have bought it. Tilting, rotating welding positioners for $100 to $350 that would be well over $10,000 new. Miller SRH 444 3 phase welders for $20 a piece. Dimension 452's for $300. Gullco 10lb rod ovens for $10 a piece.

 

[murphy1244]

Well Thanks any way. I don't even know if the dam things works let alone if its all there. Its a coulda woulda shoulda. My friends here said to bow out at 200.00$

 

[Arc weld]

What do your friends weld with?

 

[murphy1244]

What do your friends weld with?

Only guy I know Welds bought his from HF and his welds are Bad. I would not trust my life on it. Why you ask?

 

[Arc weld]

Are these the same guys telling you not to spend over $200? I hate to say it but you might have missed out on a really great deal by listening to someone who has no knowledge of what they're looking at. What do you get for $200 at HF?

 

[murphy1244]

Are these the same guys telling you not to spend over $200? I hate to say it but you might have missed out on a really great deal by listening to someone who has no knowledge of what they're looking at. What do you get for $200 at HF?

Read the thread, Posters on here said 200.00 is about it.

 

[IslandTractor]

Are these the same guys telling you not to spend over $200? I hate to say it but you might have missed out on a really great deal by listening to someone who has no knowledge of what they're looking at. What do you get for $200 at HF?

I would be very happy to have the little 110v 5-80amp inverter stick machine for $149 from HF. It is literally the size of a small lunch box and weighs about as much. Not good for building bridges but could do a decent job with most stuff under 3/16" and would certainly be a handy device to have for tacking and making small repairs. And, whatever welding experience one gets with it is directly transferable to a more serious stick machine if the need arises.

 

[Arc weld]

Shield Arc posted what people were asking for similar machines. I thought $900 was a little high and without even seeing the picture I suggested about $750. After seeing that it is a 1984 and appears in excellent condition, it's for sure worth more than a few hundred dollars. Dial-Arcs are generally trouble free machines. The only time I ever saw a problem with one was when I could smell it but couldn't blame the machine. I worked in a tank shop and one of the welders was using a Dial-Arc burning 3/16" 7024 one after the other welding the inside seams on a 10' diameter tank. That's a heck of a lot over the duty cycle.

 

[murphy1244]

I'll be asking you and others on the next one. it seemed 200$ was the place to stop but its gone now.

 

[Willie B]

I finally tried mine tonight. No telling what the frequency is, it sounds hi, a very smooth arc, welds aluminum well. To me at least, with experience with now 2 tig machines neither having arc balance adjustment, this having "High Frequency" whatever that means, The other being 60 HZ? Not too sure about that. This seemed a great welder, No torch heating problems, and it never runs short of heat. I think I could weld all day.
I've not yet tried the stick welder, I can think of no reason it wouldn't be wonderful for stick.I paid considerably more than the auction, but I know the history, and felt confident it was in good condition. The seller used it to TIG 1" stainless.
Do these things work better with balled tungsten?

 

[mikehaugen]

You should always ball the tungsten with ac tig.

 

[Arc weld]

TIG aluminum welding has been around for a long, long time, way before inverters, square wave and balance control. You don't hear of too many aircraft falling out of the sky because of bad welds. If it works don't worry about the frequency or AC balance. You should use pure or Zirconiated tungstens on your machine. Zirconium can handle more heat than pure tungsten. The tungsten should pretty much ball on it's own. If it gets contaminated, take 2 pairs of pliers and break it off. If it's only slightly contaminated, you can switch the HF off, put it on reverse polarity and strike an arc on a piece of copper for about 2 seconds at the most. The extra heat will burn the contamination off. Learned this trick from a very experienced aircraft welder.

 

[Willie B]

Actually aircraft do fall out of the sky with alarming frequency, it isn't fair to blame the welds. Thank you. Somewhere I've seen how to ball it. It didn't seem to do it on its own.