Welders

I am looking at getting a new welder. I share a SnapOn in our shop and use a Miller at work. The SnapOn burned the motor up and I am always persuading the Miller to feed properly. I want to get one that does MIG and TIG and have been looking at the HTP 160 MTS. Am I better off buying two separate welders and has anybody had good/bad experience with HTP products? Also, my SnapOn guy is telling me that he can only send their welders off for repair and not get parts, am I right to believe that Lincoln is now the manufacturer?

Thanks for your time and Happy Thanksgiving,
Scott

 

I would stay within the trio of Miller Hobart and Lincoln... meaning support is just across town.
As with the Miller feeding... sounds like a liner or drive rolls even a worn contact tip

 

I believe a saw a report of "best new product" (possibly SEMA) about a Swiss company that brought out a portable MIG, TIG, and Plasma cutter. Had great reviews but I can't think of the name. Google?

 

I have had a HTP240 Mig for about 10 years and a HTP MicroCut400 plasma cutter for about 7 years, Have never had any problems with the Mig and very little problems with the plasma and what problems i have had with it, they fixed out of warrenty super fast, at no cost to me. Consumable parts for the mig is easy to get at any welder supply store since its a Tweeco gun but the plasma you have to order from HTP which is a pain but you just learn to order more ahead of time. I'am looking to get a Tig welder soon and will most likely get another HTP product. Everything i have ordered from them i have got very fast time wise, like 2-3 days. They are a great company and their customer service is awsome.

 

i have had very good luck with miller products, snap on at one time did use century. have heard good things about htp. sometimes its a crap shoot when the manufactures use diff. suppliers.

 

It's the liner. Has a kink in it. Very frustrating when doing seams. It's the shop welder and it's been abused so no hard feeling towards Miller.

 

Thanks everyone for your info. I will check out the other threads as well. Still getting use to the site but I love the support from the H.A.M.B.. I know the big names have some kick ass products but I like different ideas and innovations the lesser known companies offer. I am a tad bit leary of the combo packs but it sure would be nice to get it all in one unit. It is a crap shoot and I'd like to get quality with my hard earned money. Thanks again with your replies.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Scott

 

Tools these days can be as bad as the cars they sale now. lol They don't make them like they use to.

 

My buddy spent 4,000 on a snap on welder. He didnt know what he was missing untill he tryed my hobart 110. No he wont give it back just sayen. The hobart was 500 at central tractor.

 

I used a brand new Multimatic 200 by Miller the other day. Its compact, variable voltage, MIG, TIG machine. It works awesome, but has no AC or hi-freq start. A nice machine for about 2200$.

 

I would check out the local welding supply. See it, touch it and price it and ask about parts and service. A lot of times their price will be just as good when you figure freight. HTP makes good machines but service could be an issue. Coming from commercial use I would not recommend combo machines. If something breaks down nothing works. If you have seperate machines you can keep working. I have been a red guy for over twenty years and have twenty two machines in my shop. In that time only two machines have gone in for service.

 

I've got a ~30 year old HTP 120volt MIG and a Miller 175 220volt Mig. The HTP is a much higher quality machine in my opinion. It is smoother and more controlable than the Miller.

 

Scott, before you decide on a welder, peruse this website for helpful info. This guy is a serious weldor. I bet if you email or call him he will give you excellent advice.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/

 

The 135 lincoln if you are just doing sheetmetal or 175 if doing frames
I have bought at least 10 of these welders in the shops I've managed and never had a bad welder
At home i have a 135 lincoln and a 225 centry the Lincoln is the one that gets used 95 % of the time.

 

I'm another one who says Miller, Hobart or Lincoln. All three belong to the same parent company and are aimed at different markets. You can readily get parts and service for any one of the three and that is a big factor on any welder.

A lot of the big shops here in Yakima use the Airco units but they are a bit spendy for home use and a lot of them run on 440 three phase.

 

Miller for TIG, Lincoln for MIG.
I use both every day. We have Lincoln TIGs at the school, and they just don't produce the same quality weld as easy as the Miller. Couldn't explain it if you had a gun to my head...

 

I would agree on the two seprate machines and I would stay away from the 110 volt machines. I have a snapon YA 212 A have run tons of wire throu it I can see if I can find the phone # for the service guys for the snapon welders these guys can usaly fix your welder over the phone. I also have a lincoln Idealarc 300 300 tig this thing has stood the test of time and its a monster has its own zip code I think.

 

Compair also for "duty cycle" time on each unit. Duty cycle is the number of minutes you can run in 60 minutes time. If you go over that amount alot you'll end up burning out the rectifier or transformer. Most of the new stuff have an overload protecter that will kick out. Just sayin' my dad repaired electric motors and generators for over 50yrs and use to grill stuff like that into my head as a kid. And he thought I was'nt listening!!!............funny the things you remember.

 

Makes a difference on what you are going to do with it. I have the Millermatic 210, great for fabribation, but I hate it for sheetmetal. I bought a Millermatic 140 for the sheetmetal work on my car and LOVE it. It has a softer start that helps avoid blowing through. For aluminum I bought a Spoolmate that plugss into the front of the 210,adequate but not perfect. I'd rather have a tig for the aluminum, but I rarely do aluminum.
Good info over here too:http://weldingweb.com/

 

Put me down as being against combination machines. If anything goes wrong your dead in the water whereas with separate units you can at least "limp" along with a single process. I've always used Miller while I operated my fabrication shop but since being retired I've got a Hobart 250 wire machine for the heavier stuff and a HTP 110v unit for light use (sheet metal, etc.)
Like one of the posters above I've got a Lincoln 300/300 that I've had forever for my tig use. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of the newer machines but it's like an anvil.........you can beat on it and it just keeps coming back for more. I'm only into mild steel and some aluminum so it serves me well.

Frank

 

Lincoln and Miller are direct competitors. Not owned by the same parent corporation.

Miller and Hobart are sister companies owned by ITW.

 

I would def. use 2 different machines. I have never been happy with the combo machines. I have a miller syncrowave for tig and a miller 251 for mig.

 

as far as a mig/tig combo machine idk. but i just bought a 211 miller and the thing is friggin awesome, im pretty new to welding and this machine makes me look WAY better than i am. so easy to use. every miller tool ive used worked flawlessly. my buddy has a 350 lincoln mig and had a smalll issue with it but other than that its been great as well. i agree with others, lincoln miller or hobart

 

I have a thermal arc 181i fabricator.. It's 3 in 1 . Mig tig and stick. Paid 950 for it and the tig torch and its the best lol welder you can ask for in my opinion. I work in a fab shop, we use Lincoln's and millers . There great also but this thermal arc is cheap and it does everything , I'm very very happy with it . Got it from cyberweld.com

 

i'm a big fan of miller, but thats all i've used with any regularity. i own a millermatic 200 mig and 180 big. my old shop had a 251 mig. nothing bad to say about any of them.

 

I have 3 welders...all Blue...so I am a bit biased.....I will have to agree with the above statement about the Lincoln, not having the same arc quality as the miller...at least on the older machines...have not tried a newer one , but I have a feeling they have gotten better. That Milermatic 200 mentioned above may be worth a test drive if you can find a dealer with one for a demo. Also you did not mention what thickness material you planned to weld???the 200 will not TIG aluminum , but it will MIG aluminum just fine....It will also operate on a 20A 220V circuit...Shawn