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Update on my Miller Passport 180

Well, I just got Passport #3 from Miller and it seems to work. I had to test it at B&R because they said Miller won't accept any more returns on it. Even though the unit failed within the first 12" of welding .035 solid with co2 both previous times . B&R said I must have a "line problem". Yeah, right. I'm gonna have to contact Miller about this. Even though the unit #3 works fine now, pardon me if I have a little worries about it still having a warranty. It SEEMS, I say SEEMS, that Miller may have 'bypassed' the duty cycle circuit altogether. Before, about when you would expect the duty cycle light to come on, say .035 solid at 65 speed for one or two minutes, it would just die. Now, at full output, it will never fail and the duty cycle never seems to come on. I ran a single slow bead up and down both sides of two 1"x1"x12" pieces of steel to a 1" 12"x6" piece of plate, and ran several other beads on the plate, all for about ten minutes and the duty cycle (20%) never kicked in (yellow thermometer light on, no weld). Maybe bigger Mosfets, maybe a faster fan, or just maybe I now have a working unit. I'm still a little paranoid though, especially since B&R claims Miller won't warranty the new replacement, "because of my power grid". I WANT to reccommend this unit, based on how its now performing, but if Miller won't honor a warranty because of their R&D or QC problems, I won't be buying Miller anymore. I have an HTP Invertig 201. Had for a year, never a problem. I have a Hypertherm. Had it for about a month. FLAWLESS. I have a single, clean, dedicated 240v line, and can only use one machine at a time. I never had a problem with either of my Maxstars (except being unable to run aluminum rod on the LE version, which runs fine now on the LF version) Anyhow, the most recent one seems to work.

Reply to
Ben Woodward
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Glad to hear it works finally. I was getting worried.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

I bought one, and it's been a very nice unit. I have had no issues with a weak wire-feed or any other issue either.

I am really picky about my machines and this one pretty much makes the grade. I did ditch the crummy torch though.

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Reply to
svande48

Ben, one more thing. Did you know the Passport was a Maxstar 150 with a cv loop and different magnetics in the transformer? It made me breath a little easier. :)

Reply to
svande48

Now if they would just offer a CC/CV Maxstar 150.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Reply to
Ben Woodward

Ben , I have not ran .035 wire in the passport. I used .023 and .030 The .023 pretty much welds like crap. The .030 weld really nice and will weld thin enough for the average person. It takes a little time to figure your settings out, but when dailed in no little welder has as nice of a arc on CO2 gas. I used pretty much all the little 120/230 volt welders out, and the passport overall is the best one. The little lincoln 175 plus is cleaner by far with .023 wire, but it is not a handicap at all.

One machine is a tig and one is a mig., so there will be differences. It's just what Andy said about it on the Miller forum. Since he is a straight up guy and works for them, I happen to believe what he said about the passport. It still is based from the Maxstar 150. I happen to think that is a good thing. Everybody at Miller says the Passport welds like crap with aluminum. That is why I never tried that setup. After my Lincoln 300 python and my Esab 350 MPI with the aluminum slope setting I am pretty sure I would feel the Passport sucks too. I might give it a go with the M-10 anyway. Hawk over there, told me to stick to .030 and he is right on that count.

Reply to
svande48

Yeah, I have to admit, after going over the specs for the 175 and the

135, I realized that the Passport has it hands down. Double the duty cycle and, according to the chart anyway, it MAY put out up to 200 amps. As far as the weld appearance, that's probably due to the fact that I was using 1" plate to play around with. I'll take your word for the Passport having the best looking welds, like I said, I've never used another mig, other than the ready welder a very little, so I really have nothing else similar to compare it to. After reviewing the data sheets, it seems the only possible replacement for the Passport is the MM210, but that won't fit in the trunk of my Civic as easily as the Passport. I uesd the first Passport with argon to weld two pieces of 1/8" aluminum angle together. It required a really FAST bead, but I thought it looked especially good. I didn't know Miller had a forum. If I have any service/warranty issues, I'll post over there.
Reply to
Ben Woodward

I feel it's not really the best welder for a novice. The arc can take some time to get right. A little tapped transformer would speed up the learning curve a bunch. There is a plus and minus to all welders. That said, the settings on the passport on the inside cover are real close most of the time.

Try here for the most info on the Passport.

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Reply to
svande48

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