I just sold my Millermatic 175 so I’m shopping around for it’s replacement. I want a great tig machine first, do the multiprocess machines do everything as good as a stand-alone machine?

there are just so many options out there nowadays. I really want a 220 tig welder tho for around 600-900. That even possible?

 

I see this is a bit older thread but I'll chime in.

I would question what you intend to weld first off.

There are a wide range of welders out there (as you probably well know). Two of the biggest decision factors/limitations to a class of machine are the thickness of the metal you intend to weld and the duty cycle. Aside from that - the processes you want to do are your third important factor.

That said, if you get in to any decent size fabrication projects a light duty hobby grade welder with a 20% duty cycle is going to burn out pretty easy. Unfortunately, this is the grade of "multi-process" machine that exists on the lower end of the spectrum - they are your hobby grade garage machines. If you try to do any, even small scale, fabrication you can over-work them in a hurry.

Tig is a good process to know and be able to do. Keep in mind, also, that having control over polarity and DC vs AC will give you a lot more flexibility in what you can weld.

In my case, I have a light duty flux core machine. I've welded 1/4" with it, but that is a lot of work for it to do. It is a 20% duty cycle machine. Last summer I made a trailer dolly out of steel ranging from 1/8" to 1/4". During some of the heavier welds I over-heated the transformer. I still have to test it, but I am pretty sure there is some continuity where there shouldn't be as I get a bit of a tingle/shock touching the work or work clamp with the welder plugged in and off. It still welds - I just go easy on it.

My point is - pay attention to the duty cycles and consider what/how you are going to weld going forward. What did your 175 not do or hold up to? Use that as a guide perhaps.

If I could get any welder right now it would be a Miller XMT-350 with polarity reversing as a power supply plus all the accessories for MIG, TIG, and Stick. The XMT-350's are a single phase capable power supply (can set up for 1 or 3 phase) and are industrial grade units - they aren't light duty hobby machines. I don't see the duty cycle right off hand, but I want to say they are at least 50%, if not closer to 75%. The engine-driven units are neat, also. That would give a lot of flexibility with being able to run regardless of available power. However, I think I would rather have a stand-alone generator with the XMT-350 if I could do it.

For what it's worth, you don't typically get 100% duty cycle rated units until you get to the large industrial 3 phase power supplies.

At the moment I'd be happy with a single phase AC/DC stick machine - like a Lincoln AC/DC 225. I did a project last week with some 1/2" A36 and used a buddy's shop and welder. 6011 electrodes were the ticket - they penetrated exceptionally well, so much so I turned the heat down as the 1/2" was against some 1/4" wall square tube and I about blew through the 1/4". Anyhow, being able to weld the heavier stuff would be a wonderful addition to what I can do here. For as much as I have in mind to weld that is that thick - multipass is fine. I don't need to weld 1/2" in 1 pass. As long as I can penetrate with 6010 or 6011, or dress with chamfers and fill with 6013, I can run a few passes. Without enough heat to penetrate you're SOL - and that's where I'm past pushing the flux core machine sometimes.

 

Thanks for the reply. My miller would heat up and be a quitter during fab work so I wound up with a 210 and I’ve barely had time to use it

 

Just out of curiosity - what were you welding when you had the machine dropping on you? Long passes? Thick welds at max heat? Combination?

Mine went on long passes. The place I get my steel from does not offer tubing that fits inside of sequential sizes (telescoping, if you will) so I got the frame tubing for the dolly I made (3" OD square, 1/8" wall) then got angle iron 3/16" thick, cut the flanges to size, then welded them together to make the "couplers" that fit inside the frame tubing. Welding those couplers together at the seams I ran the arc for too long - of course, at max heat too.