Miller vs Lincoln inverter TIG

I like Miller inverters. They are made in the US and are much easier to service. I have had a Maxstar 200DX for 2.5 years, and it rocks.

You may want to look at the Thermal Arc 185TSW though. It is quite comparable, but only goes to 185 amps, only runs from 220 volt, and costs about $1600.

Once again Lincoln has outdone itself in winning the "Hardest Site to Navigate" award. It appears they have made recent changes to their site so it does not require cookies or the other script stuff they previously required BUT, now lots of good stuff are missing! Namely the documentation (users manual) section. I too found the sales brochure easily...

I know that the owner's manual is hidden in there somewhere but I can't for the life of me find it. I hear they have manuals dating back several decades but they must be in the "Top Secret" section of their site.

In the past, I have found what it takes is for several people to look and the persons setup correctly to navigate the site copy the link and post it here. Then it works well. I used to be able to use the site map to get anywhere on their site but so far today it does me no good. They seemed to have cut out many of the links previously there (it's a partial site map). You may have better luck with your browser setup.

Wayne, the owner's manuals are on the Lincoln website, but for some reason they keep them semi-hidden. Try this link for the V-205:

George

Well, the miller has a wider range of control for just about everything from ac balance (30-99%dcen) to max. amperage(200 not the v205t's 180stick, 170 for ac tig). The lincoln is not very good at stick welding 6010 or 7018 if that is important to you. The miller also allows for a wider input voltage range and both 1 and 3-phase. The miller is a true 'advanced' squarewave meaning that no HF is needed for the ac welding. The start is really a high impulse start and not even HF in it's own rite. The lincoln, I've been told, requires HF during the zero transitions even across its' squarewave. I've not verified this with an oscilloscope though. Lincoln bought the v205-t design from selco of italy. The owner's manuals are pretty much identical as well! I'd buy the miller.

-dseman

Japan

Thanks George, I got it. That's a hard site to find things on.

WayneJ

Thanks everyone, after reading the comments posted here and reviewing the manual I decided to go with the Miller.

WayneJ

Japan, by Sanrex.

Sanrex has been making the guts of Thermal's inverters and plasma cutters for a long time.

Sanrex is a massive electronics manufacturer. They make parts for every electronics company out there.

Lincoln does indeed have manuals for many of their older products. I don't think they are on the web site though. I understand that they will mail them out to you if you call their Customer Service number, 800-833-WELD (9353) and request the manual you need. If you request a manual, be sure to have the machine's code number and serial number.

Thank you Bob. I'll have to remember to call them when I can't find what I need from their web site. I've called them in the past and they have been more than helpful, one time going so far as to invite me to one of their local offices and show me how to solve a difficult problem I was having (stick welding 3/4 inch EMT!).

i'm also considering a Lincoln purchase.. but why isnt it good with 7018s?

what, exactly, does "not very good" mean?

thanks,

-tony

Well it has been my experience that when a mfgr. specifically recommends certain electrodes instead of saying "runs all electrodes", it is an indication to me of some limitations. Lincoln indicates which rods will work with this machine because it has low open circuit voltage limitations compared to other machines.

6011,6013, and a particular version of their 7018. When I reviewed their doc. upon product announcement, I did not notice that any

7018 was part of the list. It does appear to be now, but it is not the excalibur 7018 which is their better rod. This same information is also available in their operator's manual here, on page 14. is a hot start and arc force function. Based on other's input when using these rods, they found the default arc force value (I believe 35%) to be on the low side and needed to be increased to get a stable arc. I'd recommend you bring all the rods you plan to run to a dealer and demo the machine yourself. For those who think this particular problem is only found on the red people's inverters, note that the maxstar 140 never worked well on 6010, and the maxstar 150 is no better in that regard. I just came back from a miller roadshow where they had the maxstar 150stl on board. I asked about running 6010 and 7018 and the rep said that it is not designed for 6010, but ran the 7018 just fine. If you wanted to run both well, he said you needed to move up to the maxstar 200 or dynastys. Miller doesn't specifically state that the maxstar 150 won't run 6010, but the maxstar 200 and dynastys state "Superior TIG/STICK performance on all input voltages. Even on the difficult to run electrodes like E6010". You will find on other Lincoln machines (Precision TIG 275,375, Invertec 275S) that they specifically mention its capability with 6010/7018 as well. Hope this helps with your decision.

-dseman