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upgrading mig welder

Hi all:

In the past I have been given very good advice regarding equipment purchases by this group. Now I am looking to upgrade my old Century 160 mig welder to a better and greater capability welder. I have looked at the Millermatic

251 and the comparable Lincoln 255. They seem to have the digital readout for voltage and wire speed, and I am wondering if those niceties are really necessary or are possibly more things to go wrong with the welders, The lincoln has stitch and spot welding adjustments that I don't know if I ever will use. The kind of welding I do most of the time is not that exotic or advanced that I would need all these features. What I am looking for in a Mig welder as far as features are:

  1. Welding capability to 1/2 inch in a single pass

  1. Good voltage stability
  2. Duty cycle 40% at max amperage
  3. Constant wire speed once is tuned in. This is one of the problems with the Century, the wire speed has become erratic and it is very difficult to stay in the "bacon frying " zone
  4. Reliability of components. I guess most of the name brands are pretty good. Some of the wire speed mechanisms look to be well made. HTP has four wheels (geared) pushing the wire out.
  5. Good arc stability. The Miller advertises some additional circuitry that improves the starting arc.

I have not tried any of these welders so I am in the dark.

In conclusion: I would like as simple a welder that have the features above without bells and whistles that add to the complexity of the machine.

I look forward to your learned comments

Best Regards

Ray Ramos

Reply to
Rafael Ramos
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Spot and stitch feature is very useful if you ever need to weld very thin or rusty material...........I would opt for the more fully featured set, if the price and after sales service are comparable to the other set.

k
Reply to
Ken

I have the Lincoln 255 and I really like it. Hobby use, I've run perhaps 60lbs of .035 solid through it in about 2 years without any problems. I don't have the experience to say that it's better than comparable models, but it sure was a big step up from my previous machine, a Century 155. I don't get much use from the timer option, but feel it was worth the small extra cost. The wire feeder is industrial-quality, it feeds well even if the gun lead is near knotted. The digital readouts are really nice, they allow you to repeatedly and accurately setup without diddling.

Nitpicks are few. The setting knobs are too sensitive for my taste. The setting chart is clumsy to get to inside the spool compartment, so I wrote some custom settings on duct tape on the gun holster. That holster is crummy IMO. Instead I bolted a post with some hooks to the front of the machine, which allows the cables to be easily hung up clear of the floor.

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A friend says my machines look like Saguaros. :-) The solid wheels aren't great if the floor is cluttered. The main power switch is directly below one of the timer toggles, so there's a slight tendency to accidentally switch from 2 step to 4 step.

Wayne

Reply to
wmbjk

Reply to
wayne mak

Hi Wayne:

You made the same jump that I am considering. My welder now is the Century

160, a unit that Sam's Club had as a display model in one of their stores, They were getting rid of it and I offered $300.00 for it. It had never been used but some of the parts were missing. I took it home and in no time had it working. It has done a great job for me and in fact I have learned how to mig with that machine. I still have a Miller AEAD200LE ( Onan engine driven AC arc welder), that has been my main welder for almost 30+ years. and still running well. I find that more and more I prefer the mig, especially in the shop and the Century has not been performing well. With the help of Gunner (from this group) I think I have now isolated the problem to the torch liner. Hopefully I will be able to get the torch running smooth once again. Regardless, I have now committed myself to a new mig with plenty of power to be able to enjoy what I am doing. I figure that I have endured with the Century and I am now ready for a new adventure. I am sure you experienced basically same feeling when you got the Lincoln. I did notice the drive in the Lincoln looks much heftier than the one in the Miller. Something to consider. I have not made up my mind yet, but I certainly will consider your input when making the final decision.

Thanks for your advice

Best Regards,

Ray R

Reply to
Rafael Ramos

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