Old Miller Stick Welder

Matthew L

Member
Hey everybody-
I have the opportunity to purchase a older Miller stick welder from the shop at my high school. I know that is is 230v and runs up to 250 amps. It has a 30% duty cycle at 250 amps, and 50% at 200 amps. I don't know the model. Does anybody have any opinions on a welder like this, and does anybody know what model it is? Thanks, Matthew L.
 
Have a little 220v AC Miller buzz box (not sure the model). Has the amperage control as a hand wheel on top. Guessing it's 30-40 years old. Measures about 18" square by 24" tall. Still welds well for my purposes. Had the cooling fan go out, and replaced it with a 220v computer fan from a European salvaged machine.

Careful that yours isn't a 3 phase machine.

Pete
 
Matt,I have a Miller stick welder that I bought at a farm auction large machine on a cart with wheels,250 single phase welds great,if you can pick it up for cheap they're a good machine.
 
I had a couple Miller Thunderbolts in the shop. One was an AC/DC I ruined it running a wire feed from the DC side. The primary and the secondary tried to separate from the forced within the transformer when I worked it too hard. They have movable coil rather than the tapped coil of the lower priced Lincolns. For some reason, only an electrician can tell you, a movable coil is better than a tapped coil. About three weeks ago I bought a new Hobart AC/DC because it had a movable secondary coil.

Miller made the Airco was built by Miller and was the same welder as a Thunderbolt except it lay on the side and the adjustment crank was on the end rather than the top.

You got a good machine
 
I think you are right. I wish some electrical experts could tell us how the movable core is netter than a tapped coil. I just assumed that there was better voltage control
 
I have an AC/DC Miller 130, a 200 amp 240v unit, blue sheetmetal case stick I bought 20 years or so ago. The twist handle on the top moves the core in and out to change the flux coupling and hence the output amperage.
 
I'm certainly not an electrical expert, but I think that more amperage (not voltage) control is what makes movable core welders "better". I put better in quotation marks because which arrangement is better is really a matter of opinion. With low end MIG welders, adjustable voltage (not amperage) is generally considered better and costs more---other things being equal. But fine tuning of the arc is probably more critical for the kind of work that low powered MIG welders are best suited for than it is for the kind of brute force work that stick excels at. Infinitely adjustable (i.e. movable core) stick welders are subject to linkage problems which can make them drift out of their setting. Tapped core welders stay where they are set. I've owned and used Lincoln buzz boxes (tapped core/fixed settings), and Hobart Stickmates (movable core/infinitely adjustable settings), and I'd be hard pressed to choose one over the other.

Stan
 
Hi Matthew;

Transformer type stick welders like that one are tough, simple pieces of equipment that can withstand a lot of abuse. Miller is currently one of the country's top manufacturers of high quality welding equipment. Those are the pluses. The minuses are that equipment used in a training situation---especially one where most of the users will be teenaged boys---is going to get a lot of careless use. Would you buy a car that had been used in the school's drivers' ed program? If you buy a welder from someone who didn't use it to make a living, it probably won't have been used much at all.

Another thing is that old stick welders don't sell for much on the used equipment market (like on craigslist). Transformer type stick welders like the one you describe made by Lincoln or Miller sell on craigslist for around $100 to $150 for AC only, and $250 to $350 for AC/DC. I've paid less than half that for each type by not being in a hurry and by checking the listings often. If the welder you are considering buying works well now, chances are it will continue to do so. Personally, I wouldn't be interested in that welder unless it was very cheap, but I live in a heavily populated area where there are plenty of used welders for sale. If you live where deals are hard to find, maybe that would make that welder more attractive to you.

Stan
 

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