Millermatic 211 vs. Hobart Handler 210MVP

[5030]

Right on, very cool! Jody’s videos are how I learned to Mig weld. Great resource!

In reality a chimpanzee could lay down an acceptable MIG weld. Glue guns don't take a lot of skill, so long as the job is prepped correctly.

With welding, the devil is always in the details (Prep).

Why I like them, quick and dirty (not in the dross sense either).

 

[greenerdreams]

nice choice on the miller it will not let you down. I had a miller 135 and sold for a 211. you mentioned keeping the 140 for backup, it will never be necessary. I have had my 211 for quite a while now and use it often never had a hiccup. sell the 140 and use the money for a spoolgun and argon tank and you can weld some aluminum as well.

 

[5030]

Don't believe I've ever ran flux core wire in my life. Always solid wire and shielding gas. 75-25 for the MIG and straight Argon for the TIG. I use my Hobart's in a production setting or should I say my help does. Not much skill required to make an acceptable looking weld with proper penetration. Of course TIG is a different story. Do almost of that myself.

 

[shaeff]

In reality a chimpanzee could lay down an acceptable MIG weld. Glue guns don't take a lot of skill, so long as the job is prepped correctly.

With welding, the devil is always in the details (Prep).

Why I like them, quick and dirty (not in the dross sense either).

Agreed.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I have both a Miller Multimatic 200 and 255 with access to a pair of Miller Multimatic 220s as well as engine driven stick welders and they are all awesome and they get used, but for the money, a Yes Welder MP200 looks enticing. Seems to me Yes Welder also offers a multiprocess 250 machine as well. https://yeswelder.com/blogs/yeswelder/yeswelder-mp200-5-in-1-welder-cutter-user-guide

Anyway, instead of looking at Miller's 220 as my next welder, I'm thinking of the Yes Welder's AC TIG machine for less than $600.

 

[5030]

TIG is lift start and I'm not fond of that at all because you'll get a weld inclusion. I much prefer HF start and a foot pedal for control.

Never seen one before. I presume it's 'Chineseum'...

 

[greenerdreams]

nice choice on the miller it will not let you down. I had a miller 135 and sold for a 211. you mentioned keeping the 140 for backup, it will never be necessary. I have had my 211 for quite a while now and use it often never had a hiccup. sell the 140 and use the money for a spoolgun and argon tank and you can weld some aluminum as well.

update, maybe i just jinxed myself. the 211 decided to not turn on a few days after i originally posted. did a bunch of troubleshooting and it turns out there is a board problem. some internet searching shows me that this is not uncommon at all with the new style 211. I have it at the shop right now to see if there is any chance that a board component can be repaired before i am forced to replace the entire board but hopes are pretty low. I have recently been looking at one of the hobart transformer migs 210 or 240 so i don't have to deal with this again. the guy at my local shop said they almost never have transformers come in for repair but often see inverters, said the biggest concern is when a 40 year old transformer comes in the parts are usually not available. i am guessing there will be no 40 year old inverters, they will be in the scrapyard far before that. it seems like everything is moving towards throw away instead of repairable at some point.

 

[BukitCase]

Greener, in your earlier post you mentioned buying your mm211 "quite a while ago" - I'm hoping for your sake that does NOT mean it's out of warranty

I've only had Miller MIGs, both versions of the mm211 and the MM252, and one thing I've noticed is that ALL of them cool by pulling air IN AT THE FRONT - for the life of me, I CANNOT understand the SANITY of doing that; that is the MOST LIKELY place that will see grinding dust or slag, so why not pull cooling air FROM THE BACK INSTEAD???!?

I put too many hours into my custom cart for the newer MM211

Container Weld Shop build -

Well, about 40 posts ago I mentioned getting some self-stick rubber matting from HF to put under the gas bottle on the weld cart - changed my mind (again??!?) and decided to mat the WHOLE FLOOR of the cart for now - if'when I add a deep drawer it won't slide on the bottom ANYWAY, so may as...

www.tractorbynet.com

to wanna "buy it again", so my "bandaid" for that engineering brain fart is a 2'x3' piece of OSB - leaned up against the front of the welder with plenty of room for "side" air but NOT DIRECT CRUD at the air intake - IMO, OSB isn't good for anything else ANYWAY

I know it's not possible to "prove a negative", but if my inverter 211 craps out even WITH the "crap baffle", I'll know that there's more than ONE design flaw involved... Steve

Edit - at least, with the exception of the transformer MM211, the inverter 211 AND the MM252 have "fan on demand" so would be LESS likely to suffer from pulling in crap at the front...

 

[BukitCase]

Just remembered this discussion from awile back

Bad Miller Matic 211 Board - Miller Welding Discussion Forums

Hello Guys, new to the forum. I have or had a 211 that it is about 4 years old with only a few hours of usage since it is for home use and quick repairs. Used about a month ago without issues and last week went to turn it on and I had no lights or sounds from the machine. Obviously out of...

forum.millerwelds.com

HTH... Steve

 

[dfkrug]

the 211 decided to not turn on a few days after i originally posted. did a bunch of troubleshooting and it turns out there is a board problem. some internet searching shows me that this is not uncommon at all with the new style 211. I have it at the shop right now to see if there is any chance that a board component can be repaired before i am forced to replace the entire board but hopes are pretty low.

Sorry to hear. My Thermal Dynamics CutMaster 51 is inverter-based, and I hope it does not crap out.

I fix things here when I can, and I had a Generac inverter generator go out on me a few years ago. It was the inverter/rectifier/regulator board, which WAS replaceable, for 2x the cost of a new generator! The Chinese factory which made the boards would sell them for 1/20 of that, but you had to buy at least 10. :-(

The newish IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) device technology makes these high-current inverter welders. etc. work. And work well they do. I love them. Then they quit, and essentially become unfixable. I hate that.

BTW, I tried to fix the Generac board. Took a few weeks to remove the potting epoxy, but I could not find a failed component. I was hoping it was one of the power semiconductors, as they are readily available and cheap. Nope.