I had 2 miller dial arc 25 and both were JUNK, Last year I bought a New Lincoln and love it. It was a year end sale and cost me 1400.00
I'm willing to bet that betterthan 50% of the people on this board had a car before they had a license Gary
Any one else have a miller 165 diversion? I guess this is how I have to go. My power options are not ideal but it runs my compressor well so I will bet it can run this one well?
I see that you are Lincoln. go to Linweld , the folks there will help you out. Our welding instructor at CCC out here in hastings has a tig that isn't much bigger than a boot box. It's trick. I'm not much of a tig welder, and I made it look simple. I thought that it would work for about anthing a hobbiest like us would ever do. Fenderless
Had mine at 14. Buy used just don't buy a ESAB.Thats what I have and I wish I would have bought a miller.
I went to linweld they told me they didn't have any thing close to my price range but thank you for the suggestion.
off topic but I bought my first car at age 14 (73 Ranchero) and my first motorcycle at 11 my parents bought me 3 Honda 250's and told me the guy they bought them from said I could build 1 out of them. They though it would take me years. I had them ALL running in 2 months. they were a little pissed, they figured I would never get them done. they hate motorcycles. lol
Miller offers a power factor option.I have it in my 350 syncrowave.Basicly a bunch of capacitors that allow you to have a lower input amperage than without it.Normally my 350 needs 90 amps for full range and with the power factor it is down to 60.single phase. Uses less electricity also for some reason. Find a used miller and see if the option is still avail. Mentioned before,millers cutomer service is second to none.whatever you should need its only a day away.I used this unit at my house for years before i went out on my own.
I picked up a Miller Diversion last week. This was my first time tig welding. I am having a blast learning how to use this. The only issue that I have found so far is the 20% duty cycle. It is so much fun I forget to stop and let it cool down. Dennis
So I decided I am going to pick up a Miller Diversion. I talked to a different guy today at my weld shop and he told me I can get out the door for 1600 or so including the full bottle. I figured it will work for me just fine. And Its NEW!
I just wanted to add that a Tig is *manditory* if you want to weld large Copper items (copper gas tanks anyone?). Practice a lot, you will be amazed at the welds you can put down with a good Tig... brg
My old(circa 1975) Miller 330 A/BP tig cost me $300 10 years ago. It's a great tig welder and I also stick weld with it .
I'm no expert, in the same boat as you, looking for my first TIG. Got outbid at the last second(damn snipers) on a Miller Dialarc 250hf Friday morning so I started calling my local welding suppliers. They all steered me toward a Syncrowave 200. Here again I'm no expert but in my simple understanding; 20% duty cycle = 2 min on 8 off in a ten minute period. I burned up my first MIG machine from repeatedly overheating it. Diversion weighs 50lbs, Syncrowave weighs 238 Heavy=copper=good Not much more money Just throwing it out there...
MIller Dialarc HF. If you cant afford a syncrowave. We weld .060 aluminum all day long with them. We buy em from $800 to $1000 "refurbed".
Yes it is. I found one in 1985 for $350. Had to buy a remote and a tig torch as they used it for stick welding. You can run that machine with the pedal down all day.
tjsr19 It's not the magic wand you seem to think it is and you don't need it for any of those things. It's usually the last of the 4 main processes anyone who knows them usually needs or would choose to build cars. You'd be better off getting and learning gas and stick.
Bobkatrods said it best. Miller Dialarc 250HF, miller made 2 models of dialarc, make sure yours will be a HF, (Hi-Freq) I paid $700. for mine 10yrs ago, it has a water cooler and its a welding S.O.B. ! It's easy to use and it's pretty basic. Check out some buddies or a welding class and learn how to TIG, maybe you wont like how slow it is? Miller has a Syncrowave thats even a little better on Aluminum-it's a square wave rather than sine wave like the Dialarc.
Go to your night class. Save your money. Dont buy anything right now. Learn it first. Then buy a new Miller 250 syncrowave... Mikey @ Houston County Welding (owner)