Miiler Machine

[murphy1244]

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

 

[Shield Arc]

One way to check the going rate is Ebay. I know I've used them before, just can't remember anything about them. I know they're tougher than nails.

Miller- Dialarc HF Tig/Arc Welder w/ Footpedal -Nice | eBay

 

[CNC Dan]

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

What is the output amperage? I think dialarcs were made in a few sizes. But they are tough machines.
I would check that the polarty switch works, and that it welds.

 

[Arc weld]

For a first and probably last welder, it is an excellent choice if the price is right! The last Dialarc 250 HF's were on sale for $1699.00 up here. It was around 1993. The first 2 letters in the serial number will tell you the year. H is 70's, J is 80's and K is 90's. Then A is 0, B is 01, C is 02, etc. If it works properly it could be worth around $750 if it has cables, foot pedal and TIG torch, etc.

It is based on a Dialarc 250 AC/DC but has a high frequency added for TIG welding. It is a very basic TIG machine and a decent stick welder. The school I went to had one to replace a Lincoln Idealarc TIG 300. There was something wrong with the Lincoln and no one could figure it out. The teacher was a very experienced TIG welder and I think his budget on a new machine was limited. He wasn't very impressed with the Dialarc HF for TIG. For stick it was decent but not as good as a Lincoln Idealarc 250. Miller discontinued the Dialarc 250 HF in the early/mid 90's when the Syncrowave 250 came out. It is a better machine but now it looks like the Syncrowave 250 is being replaced by a new inverter based machine. I saw some literature on the new machine and it is listed it as a possible replacement for the S/W 250.

 

[Arc weld]

Wow! Those prices on E-Bay are outrageous! They must be basing their price on the cost of a new machine but there is no new machine to compare them too. At best they are 20 year old machines and don't have square wave AC! They weren't legendary like a 50 year old SA200 to command the prices people are asking.

 

[murphy1244]

Here it is ARC WELDER UNIT - GovDeals.com

 

[mikehaugen]

If you could get it for a few hundred I would say it's worth that just as a good stick machine. Much more robust than anything you could buy today for that price.

Do you definitely want the tig capability?

 

[murphy1244]

Mike, I never welded in my life. This one came up in a location search.

 

[Shield Arc]

I never welded in my life.

Well you could pick a lot worse machine to learn on. It would be nice to have a water cooler for it when you get into Tig welding.

 

[murphy1244]

Well you could pick a lot worse machine to learn on. It would be nice to have a water cooler for it when you get into Tig welding.

Said it was missing a hose, was that for what your talking about? How high should I go?

 

[Shield Arc]

I'm sure they mean a gas hose, I didn't see a regulator / flow meter either. Being as it's at an auction where you can't take it for a test drive first. I wouldn't go over a few hundred. But don't listen to me, I don't need any more welders. Only you know what it's worth to you.

 

[mikehaugen]

I don't need any more welders. .

This statement can never be true!

 

[CNC Dan]

http://www.millerwelds.com/service/...product_name=DIALARC+HF&serial=&submit=Search

Looks like a good unit. I'd offer $200. If its broke good, scrap it.

 

[Shield Arc]

This statement can never be true!

I have one welder for each hand.

I'd offer $200.

That's probably a good idea. I didn't see a Tig torch, flow meter. No water cooler, all added expenses. I sold this one for $450.00.

 

[DXN1EL]

I love welding machines that pull a ton of juice, specially the ones over 600lb.

 

[Shield Arc]

I love welding machines that pull a ton of juice, specially the ones over 600lb.

That Miller I sold weighed 800-pounds, and I had it hard wired to a 95-amp breaker.
This Lincoln is a 425-amp welder, and I have it on a 65-amp breaker. And it weighs 80-pounds. It will weld circles around that old Miller, well except the Lincoln doesn't have AC.

 

[DXN1EL]

The Lincoln V 350 PRO. Can be compared to something like this 1,000 hp VOLAR-e (Rimac Concept One) All Wheel Drive Electric Supercar - YouTube

The old school Miller is something like this 1936 Fairbanks Morse Model 32D - YouTube
I love it

As we can see both have their strong points,

 

[Shield Arc]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up! :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::thumbsup:

 

[Arc weld]

The Gov't. doesn't even know the year of the machine they're selling.:confused3: The black face plate tells you right away it is a lot newer than 1976. JE is a 1984 machine. It's worth more than a couple hundred. In all likelihood there's probably nothing wrong with it so if you got it for around $500 would still be a good deal and it has the foot pedal. That's worth a couple hundred or more to replace. The only thing that could really affect it is burning 3/16" rods one after the other. The HF points may need to be adjusted but it would be a good machine to have. I saw on that link to other Gov't. machines someone was offering $400+ for an AC225/DC125 Lincoln which isn't even close to being as good of a machine as the Dialarc HF.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

The older units had a lot higher duty cycle than the newer units. A new dial arcs are down to 35% duty cycle. I've used a good many older ones, and they welded really well. Probably an easy fix, even if something is wrong...but then, you can never tell. Looks decent for its age.