The short answer, please

2

252 is all electronic, 250 is analog and has no microprocessor. i

That be the one I want then. When I had my 200, a friend of mine got a Lincoln digital, about the same size as the roll around 200. He had nothing but problems with it. I'll stick with the simple ones. Pots are cheaper than circuit boards.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

Thank you, tm.

Steve

Happy to have been a help. Let me know if you need anything else. :)

tm

I rather doubt it. Ig gave me all I needed to know in two sentences.

Steve

Actually, in one sentence. :)

i

"Ignoramus11892" wrote

You can see how detail oriented I am. But most of the really important stuff does stick in my mind.

Steve

The Millermatic 250 is an older analog machine with no digital readouts. The 250X was the first Millermatic with digital readouts, but it sucked ass big time. The 251 and later the 252 were incremental improvements.

The 252 is a great all around machine as long as you ditch the crappy factory gun. I like Tregaskis 400 amp Toughguns. I just put one on the 252 at work. Huge improvement.

In output they are identical.

Yeah, we have a Miller 250X that we bought new as the "latest and greatest Miller"... I'm amazed Miller survived after putting out such an awful POS...

The sad thing is we had a "CK Systematics 175" (not sure who actually made the machine) and I thought we were _upgrading_ by going blue but the machine we had prior to the Miller 250X was _much_ better...

Still angry about that after all these years... grrr...

Carla

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, and carry $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget and debt, reduced to a level that we can understand." - Dave Ramsey

The trick with the 250X machines is to run a larger wire, like 0.045", and never leave a wire hanging out of the tip. Clip the wire flush with the tip every time you stop the weld.

At South Seattle Comm. Coll. , after 2 years we finally got Miller to take the three 250X's back as trade in on three 251's. That hot start bug sucked ass.

CK Systematics was one company that later split into CK Worldwide and Systematics. CK stands for Connely and Kleppen. They split in the 80's. Connely took Systematics to Pennsylvania where it still makes wire feed machines, and spool-guns for Snap-On, Lincoln and other companies.

Kleppen took CK Worldwide to Auburn, WA, where they make TIG torches.

That's what I was looking for in my MIG thread. So the 250X is the one to avoid and the 250, 251 and 252 are all decent machines with incrementally more bells and whistles as the models progress.

Thanks Ernie, I'll try that next time we fire up the machine...

Too bad a single-machine user doesn't have that level of 'clout'.

Thanks again Ernie

Carla

Correct. The 250X's big brother the 300 had the same hot start bug that the 250X had, but not quite as bad.

I had a 300 at my last job. It worked great for large wires or dual shield, but small solid wire would constantly pop back and stick to the tip.

Our shipyard uses Lincoln V350 Pro (multi-process power source) and Lincoln LN-15 and LN-25 models for virtually all of our wire feeder welding (spray, dual-shield, pulsed-mig.) I think the only process we don't use them for is SAW.

We beat the hell out of those machines but they just keep working.

Occasionally I'd get to my jobsite and find a screwed up machine, but

99% of the time all I need to do is take my wire brush to the wheels inside, drop-test the gas lines, and uncoil the leads and brain-cable. Leaving the cables coiled up really messes with them- pulse doesn't run for crap with coiled cables. Induced magnetism screwing with pulses?

I know if I had a fab shop of my own, I'd want those two machines in it, with a Miller Dynasty for AC/DC tig.

I've even carbon-arced off a V350-- using 1/4 inch carbon for gently erasing goobers left by some apprentices.

I have managed to overheat a V350 before, but that was a long, wide, deep joint that I sprayed between three 1/2" hull plates (really big T joint with full penny required).

The best machine we had at the Divers Institute was the Lincoln Invertec 350. I would still take a Miller XMT350 over the Lincoln, but the Lincoln was a good machine.