getting opinions on a few welders

[ace4059]

I am looking at getting a larger welder. I just want to see what everyone has to say about a few of them. any info would be of great help. With one would you thinks is best for mig welding. Going to be used on MS. Any up or down on these Thanks in advance.

MM 350P
http://store.cyberweld.com/xmt304migwit.html

xmt 304 with pulse option
http://store.cyberweld.com/xmt304migwit.html

just to throw this one in there, the Lincoln STT welder.
It is something I relly have no clue about and know nothing about it.
https://weldingsupply.securesites.co...-1%5Cs%5Cs%5Cs

so what is your advice on these.
-Ryan

[ace4059]

Th STT is a 3 phase unit only, so that out of the question.

Has anyone ever used the XMT models for Mig welding. Whats the ups and downs of it. Would you recommend it over the MM 350P?

[bvweld]

I have both of the welders you are looking at. The XMT304 is a good welder,I use it for stick and mig. I had the OPTIMA pulse pendant and I thought it was a pain to set up, if you work in a non production setting (change settings frequently). That's mainly why I went with the MM350P. Also don't expect to weld much below 14 gauge with the XMT in mig. I use the XMT on the bigger jobs. You said you are working MS but a little more info would help. The MM350p is great once you get it dialed in. It's potential is probably best utilized in S.S. and ALU. though. Give us somemore details as far as what you need or want to do.

[ace4059]

bvweld,
thanks for the reply.
I asked this question on shop floor talk and I think I am going to go with the 350P. Mainly MS. If I want to weld other metals I just use my tig. My PM 215 works great in short cir trans, So the think stuff is no problem. I am planning on running 030 in my PM215 and 035 or 045 in the 350p. I weld 1/8" throught 1/2". My Pm will weld this on a single pass but just want the 350p for the spray and pulse spray.
I was going to get the push pull gun but I think it will be to big for MS. and I dont think I would really use it or need it just for MS. Whats your thoughts. This will be used for hobby use only so the setting may get changed several times daily.
-Ryan

[down19992000]

we use the xmt 304 at work for mig. pretty good welder but i have burnt up three of them in the 8 yrs i have been welding there. we have a couple of the old deltaweld 450 powersources still there that was installed when they started up the shop in 1982. just figured i would let you know. whats that like two and a half years a piece on the xmt's? we do run 24/7 though, but still the old deltawelds are still going strong after 25 years.

[tooldude56]

we use the xmt 304 at work for mig. pretty good welder but i have burnt up three of them in the 8 yrs i have been welding there. we have a couple of the old deltaweld 450 powersources still there that was installed when they started up the shop in 1982. just figured i would let you know. whats that like two and a half years a piece on the xmt's? we do run 24/7 though, but still the old deltawelds are still going strong after 25 years.

INTERESTING !!!!!
I bought my XMT304 when I retired in 1998 and it has been flawless.The company I retired from sent some of the guys up to my shop to try it and they were so impressed that they ordered 25 of them.I just spoke to a forman last week and he say s that since 1999,they have bought over 50 of these units and had only 2 falures,with being used 3-shifts and 6-7 days a week,but they were covered by Miller 100%.As far as the Deltawelds,while I loved the machines for heavy work,I have personally smoked 2 of the 452 machines.In my honest opinion,the XMT is is the finest machine that I have used for 16 gage and above steel.My machine excells on 16 gage,but that is about the thinnest.I have heard from others that 14 gage is the thinnest for thiers also,though there is a cure for this,you can either order an ALT board for it,to be able to weld thinner material,or just buy another smaller welder to do the light stuff.I have heard all good about the 350P,but remember that th 350P is still an XMT inside and may pose the same problems on thin materials also,unless maybe Miller has used a board like the one in the ALT machines for the lower voltages,I just do'nt know the answer to that.I dont like running my machine down to 15-16 volts for thin stuff,but have and do get by,but it is not the greatest.When I have to weld very thin,like a car body,I have tried .030 wire,versus my normal .035 and have noticed some improvement.I have tried .023 and not only does my power source not really like it,but I had several rats nests with my 60 series 4-roll feeder,though pulling 2 of the rolls off,did help the situation some.It would be great if Miller was to start making the ALT. model agan,because it was a bit more versatile.One big complaint from all XMT owners that I have spoken to,is the fact that unless you are rich enough to own an M series feeder with the built in pulser,you will need to shell out the ridiculous price of $1,000.00 or more for the ignorant little Optima box to control the pulser unit that is already built in to the machine.Miller is the only company that I know of that did not think this throgh well and decided to sell a great machine with a great pulser that you can not use !!!!!!,unless you spent another $1,000.00 for the little Optima box.Most other companys that I know of,sell thier welder with all of the functions of the machine in working order,without having to spend the ridiculous amount of another $1,000.00.Another of my pet peves is that,I have asked numerous Miller dealers and Reps.,to no avail,about getting an ALT304 circuit board to plug it to my XMT304,so I can weld the thinner material,but I always hit a brick wall and no one can ever answer this question.I did have a Lincoln dealer that was really trying to talk me in to trading my XMT in on a new Lincoln inverter and I actually told him that if he dropped one off to me for a week to play with,I would really consider it.In my personal opinion,after giving that machine a pretty good workout,I just was'nt real impressed and would have to say that my XMT seemed to have better characteristics all around.

tooldude56

[ace4059]

So what it sounds like to me is, if you dont want to spend 10,000+ dollars and want a machine that will pulse weld, then go with the MM350P.

[tooldude56]

So what it sounds like to me is, if you dont want to spend 10,000+ dollars and want a machine that will pulse weld, then go with the MM350P.

An XMT will be between $5,000.00 and $6,000.00 ready to rock and roll,by the time you get all of the componants,like a feeder,gun,cables,Optima pulser and cart,where the 350MP will be approx.$4,500.00

tooldude56