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Millermatic 250 MIG welder?

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Silver69Camaro

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have a chance to buy a Millermatic 250 MIG welder from work, for a good price. It's got the gun & cart, but no tank (no biggie). I thought it was a 3 phase, but turns out it's single. The shop manager here said he didn't like using this series of welders (not just this welder, the whole Millermatic series I guess) because the current flow was inconsistant and sometimes made the welds a bit icky. I'll try it out before I buy it, of course. It looks like it was made in the early '90s or so.

Does anybody have an opinion on these welders? I don't think I'd weld anything more than 1/4".
 
#2 ·
I have the Millermatic 210 Mig welder. It does a great job. Supposed to weld up to 3/8" and the 250 is the next step up. I would recommend the Millermatic Brand. The only thing I can say negative about mine is the power setting has five positons versus infinite so welding very thin metal can sometimes be aggravating since I can't fine tune it.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Good point about the adjustability, I'll check that out. It would be really nice to be able to do sheetmetal.

I was actually planning on buying a Lincoln 175, but I think that has pre-set heat settings too.
 
#4 ·
I've been using a Millermatic 175 for a little while, it is fantastic. I'd go for it.

Current flow inconsistent? Hmmm...

The issue I had with "inconsistency" turned out to be a loose gun hose (where it attaches to the machine) so my sheilding gas wasn't really traveling down to the tip, it was just escaping into the machine. But it was 100% my fault, and once I resolved the problem everything works awesome.
 
#5 ·
I agree with WildBillyT about the inconsistency. I believe that the problems that I am having is that I am not an expert welder and it is probably not the welders fault as much as it is mine when it comes to welding sheetmetal. I have not done much of that and what little bit I have done was on stuff that wasn't very clean. I have done considerable welding with it on thicker material and it is a pleasure to use. If you can get a good deal on the 250 I would go for it and not worry too much about the adjustability. I think it will handle up to 1/2" so it could be the only one you will ever need. Just curious how much can you get it for? My 210 was $1200 from a local dealer.
 
#6 ·
Miller made a electronic version of this welder that adjusted the wire feed speed all by itself and I didn't like using that one very much. The old Millermatic 250 and the new Millermatic "classic" are manually adjustable and are awesome welders. I have personally put hundreds and hundres of pounds of wire through them and LOVE the way this welder works. I do prefer a Tweeco mig gun but it will work just fine with the miller unit. I say if the price is even close to good, buy it.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
This is good stuff. I took a closer look at it, and it does have infinate wire and heat settings. I'll see if I can grab a price out of The Big Boss here today. One of the shop guys said it's probably 15 years old, and may be a tired unit, but he wasn't sure.

I'll probably try the thing out, and if it doesn't work real well, maybe I can take it in for a tune-up? Assuming the price is pretty good...
 
#8 ·
Let us know how it turns out. Do you have a Miller dealer around there locally? The place that I deal with here has great service. That was the main reason I went with them even though I could find a cheaper one elsewhere. They might be able to tell you even more about it such as age etc... They may even check it out for a reasonable fee.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Well, I got the welder today. It's from 1994 at the earliest, so its about 10 years old and has about 6-8 years of use out of it. The guy who used it says it still works great, the gun just may need to be replaced. Other than that, it works fine.

And the price? $100. That's it. No way in h*ll I'd pass that deal up.

I'm a bit concerned on how much life is left in it. Like I said, it's got 8 or so years of use, and these guys are welding quite often. But hey, for that price, oh well...

I'm checking on a price for a Tweeco gun right now.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
GoEjrGo said:
Way to go man.
I would have to bet that a Millermatic 250 is more than an 8 year machine.
You can't go wrong for a hundred bucks.
Good score.
Click to expand...
I agree. I'm not exactly sure how old it is. The manual was printed in '94, but that doesn't give any indication on when it started to be used. They bought the new welders in 2002-2003 so it's been sitting since then.
 
#12 ·
I have the same Millermatic 250 at work and one at home, they are great. The wire guide sleeve to the gun can get buildup and make the feed jerky, either replace it or remove yours and blow the metal shavings out of it. any metal that grounds the copper shield (nozzle) to the gun can cause it to short out if you touch the shield to ground while welding. Just clean it all up and maybe buy a new tip for it, use anti-spatter spray on the nozzle to prevent spatter buildup.

You can also buy a spool gun and controller card for that welder and weld aluminum with a change to argon gas.
David
 
#14 ·
Here are a few tips that I have used over the years for that same machine (which is an awesome machine...BTW)


Pull the cover off once a year or so and blow it out with compressed air.
If the gun is not feeding properly...Inspect the guide feed rollers and make sure they are not wore out....and also check the tension on them as well.
And my very best advice is to spend the extra money on the 75/25 gas...not straight Co2....The argon mix will run much smoother & hotter and will give you much better results

Nice Find For One Benny!

Dan
 
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