Millermatic 211 Purchasing Help

[Bladehauler]

Congratulations !!!!

Nothin like the smell of NEW TOOLS!!!!!

 

[beppington]

Where did you end up buying ... & how much $ if you don't mind saying?

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to continually trip the breaker. As long as that's not going to happen, I should be ok. I am going to have to change the location and plug type of the outlet, but that's even easier than the breaker box. The old camper plug isn't the same as the 220 on the welder.

As for the welder itself, I've got a 'cart' ready to be purchased containing:
The 211 itself
Helmet
Gloves
Extension Cord
Jacket
Cover for the welder

Anything else you would recommend I should get or not get? Also, I'm looking to purchase this from 'Cyberweld'. They seem to have the best prices, but has anyone had good/bad experiences with them?

Thanks again

You'll need a good pair of MIG pliers. Not the crap from HF. Spend about $25 on the Japanese made original version. [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Pearson-Welding-Pliers-YS-50-Welper/dp/B005K01F1S/ref=sr_1_8?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1335148280&sr=1-8[/ame]

Lots of clamps. Strong Hand stuff is nice though a bit pricey compared to HF.

How old are you? If over 40 you'll benefit from "cheater" inserts for your welding helmet. Good to get safety glasses too which can be worn with or without the helmet when in the shop. You'll need them whenever you are grinding etc.

I made a pigtail for my generator to welder conversion. As I recall the generator male is available at most big box hardware stores, the Hobart welding receptacle I got on line from Amazon. I don't recall if I used 8/3 or 10/3 but for a short pigtail it won't matter. Works well with my Miller Passport which is essentially the same dual voltage machine as the 211.

 

[Martian]

Thanks guys.

I shopped around. Online as well as a couple local places. Best price I got was from Cyberweld (.com). The 211 itself was $1,075, I did find a couple that were priced at $1,000 but they had no reviews on Google, and I didn't want to take a risk of a scam. Cyberweld was rated very highly. The entire package of everything was a little over $1,600. Considering my original budget was $500 (five hundred), I think I did good:laughing::mur: I did spend more than I wanted, but I'll at least be able to do what I want with it.

 

[Martian]

You'll need a good pair of MIG pliers. Not the crap from HF. Spend about $25 on the Japanese made original version.

Lots of clamps. Strong Hand stuff is nice though a bit pricey compared to HF.

How old are you? If over 40 you'll benefit from "cheater" inserts for your welding helmet. Good to get safety glasses too which can be worn with or without the helmet when in the shop. You'll need them whenever you are grinding etc.

I made a pigtail for my generator to welder conversion. As I recall the generator male is available at most big box hardware stores, the Hobart welding receptacle I got on line from Amazon. I don't recall if I used 8/3 or 10/3 but for a short pigtail it won't matter. Works well with my Miller Passport which is essentially the same dual voltage machine as the 211.

Thanks, I'll be sure to look into them. May I ask the difference between the cheap and expensive pliers? Actually what makes them more expensive.

 

[IslandTractor]

I use Cyberweld quite a bit. They are very reliable and usually the cheapest but I tend to buy smaller stuff and supplies at my LWS. Hard to go to a LWS though for the bigger items when you are a hobbyist and will not really benefit much from their service. In my experience the LWS guys know the pros who are in every week or two and treat the rest of us very differently even when we pay full retail. That said, I got my Passport from a LWS as a demo for a $$$ discount that was significantly less than new from Cyberweld.

 

[mx842]

I went ahead and purchased the 211 tonight with:

Miller Welding Helmet
Miller Welding Gloves
Miller Welding Jacket
Miller Welder Cover
50' Extension Cord
6x8 Heavy Duty Welding Blanket

Spent WAAY more than I wanted to, but I think I'll enjoy it.

I do plan on purchasing all consumables locally, but I did a lot of shopping across the internet, and I got the lowest price I could find with no tax/free shipping. So I'm happy.

Cool, they are great little machines you will love it for a long time. When I bought my last machine I did the same thing, looked for days and weeks all over the net and got what I thought was the best deal and was about to buy when I stopped by my gas supplier to pick up some oxy/acel and I was looking over all the new stuff they had on display. Of-course there were no price tags on anything in the store and you had to ask what this and that cost. They had a 211 on display and I asked what it would cost all set up and ready to go with a full gas bottle, cart, and spool gun with a 25' lead and a long extension cord and he said right at $1500 and some change.

Then I asked him, if a guy came in here today and wanted a 252 package with the 30A spoolmatic gun and 25' leads on both the M25 torch and the 30A, two large tanks of gas what would he have to shell out before he left the store. He looked in his book and said around $4700. I told him I was going to buy one and wished I could buy it from him but I had seen them all over the internet a lot cheaper and he asked how much cheaper? I told him that Miller had them on their site for under $4400.00 and there were lots of dealers that had them for $3900 or so. He said....with gas bottles and the unit all put together and setup? I told him I didn't know about the setup but they did come with bottles. Of-course I didn't tell him they were the small customer bottles. He said, ****! That's a good price. I just said, I know and turned around to walk out the door and he said wait, let me talk to my boss. A few minutes later he came out and asked if I really wanted that machine and I told him yes I did. He said that I was a good customer and he wanted to keep my business and he would sell me the machine with full gas bottles and fix the tax so that it would all come out to $3800.00 out the door and I told him to order it. I had planned not to spend over $4500 on that machine if I went that route so I decided to stock up on wire and other stuff I needed along with a new elite helmet and some parts for one of my cutting torch outfits. It all came to $4189.00 out the door.

Some times local dealers will match or beat or at the very least come real close to the prices you find over the internet and then you have a face to fuss at when something goes wrong. You will probably not have any problems with that machine because they are bullet proof and work well out the box. The biggest problems people have with these machines is duty cycle and trying to get something out of it that it was not built for. Other than that you are good to go. I just like to keep the local guys going because you never know when something might come up that you need a helping hand with.

 

[BluegrassOrange]

I was going to tell a story similar to mx842 as my local Airgas dealer was very competitive on their prices. I bought a Millermatic 212 and got a very good deal OTD with gas cylinder full and two large rolls of wire. I love the welder and have not been able to out work it yet. The big difference between the 211 and 212 is duty cycle, of course the 212 is 230V only but I have 50A service just for the welder. I have been very happy with my LWS, still buy a few things off internet but most through LWS.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was going to tell a story similar to mx842 as my local Airgas dealer was very competitive on their prices. I bought a Millermatic 212 and got a very good deal OTD with gas cylinder full and two large rolls of wire. I love the welder and have not been able to out work it yet. The big difference between the 211 and 212 is duty cycle, of course the 212 is 230V only but I have 50A service just for the welder. I have been very happy with my LWS, still buy a few things off internet but most through LWS.

I think the Miller 212 is designed for light commercial welding in shops while the 211 target audience is the amateur or home based weldor. Home weldors are less likely to have duty cycle problems but both excellent at what they do.

 

[murphy1244]

Originally Posted by Martian
I went ahead and purchased the 211 tonight with:

Miller Welding Helmet
Miller Welding Gloves
Miller Welding Jacket
Miller Welder Cover
50' Extension Cord
6x8 Heavy Duty Welding Blanket


Gonna have to start calling you Mr. Miller...:laughing: