I'm looking at buying the Millermatic 211 w/ Auto-set & MVP (interchangable plugs 110/220). Anyone use any of the auto-set welders from Miller. Any + or - about them?

I have a 180 Autoset. It's one of the best welders I've used to date. I will say the autoset is hit and miss on really thin sheet metal, but for anything else it's fantastic.

As others have noted, it just isn't ideal for light gauge steel (below 20 gauge) . Flux core disadvantages:

Porosity
Splattering/Slag
Settings must be more precise - no half-assing it
Hand/Gun position must be more precise

If you're welding thick steel, like say 1/4" and above, then it's great.

Understood that fluxcore is messy stuff, and that it makes for a lot more cleanup work afterward.

But if, like the farmer, you're stuck welding outdoors for any reason (no garage, garage too full of stuff to work in, wife won't tolerate welding fumes creeping into the house from the attached garage, etc.), you don't really have much choice.

I have heard of people using a little gas along with fluxcore, but I haven't tried that yet.


Norm

I don't know why a good farmers wife wouldn't let him weld on the tractor in the garage! And if it's full of stuff - then the living room should be a practical alternate! :wow:

A comment on the new "auto set" welding equipment....

Welding requires acquired SKILLS... and the ability to adjust to the situation at hand - vertical - overhead - around corners - tubing - angles at hard to reach places etc.... I need to adjust the welder to fit the job at hand. I have taped a LARGE SCALE guide on the side of my MIG machine - it shows wire size - metal gauge - and the settings for each... so my "auto set" is to look at that guide - and flip two knobs... speed and voltage (some call it amps - whatever)... how hard is that?

There are so many TRICKS to welding -- like cutting your wire after each tack weld at an ANGLE if you're on thin stuff -- it helps get a quick hot weld going... etc... and IMHO these are the things that a person has to research - and PRACTICE etc in order to be 'decent' at welding. The number one thing that my friends FAIL at - is failure to adequately control warpage - and getting tight fit ups (they leave big nasty gaps so they burn through). To me it's kinda like golfiing - new clubs are nice - but they don't really help your score....:willy: :lol:

you know.... I really like how Greg tells it like he means it and isn't afraid if it hurts someone's feelings just a little. :thumbsup: :cheers:

good advice. Now if I can just remember to follow some of it.......

Wedged --- I guess it's 25 years of AA -- that whole HONESTY, HONESTY, HONESTY thing has finally set in. :rofl:

I probably should really just keep my big yap shut - but I figure if guys are really looking for answers / help / advice... then I'll put my half of one cents worth in - and they can take it or leave it. I'm not really good at any of this stuff - but have done a lot of it - and I've tried to forget all the really important stuff I've learned along the way...

Welding is one of those things - like golfing - it takes a bunch of practice - and you can't really ever practice for the shot you're just about to make (some ridiculous sidehill lie under a pine cone next to a big rock and against a tree) BUT you can take a lot of the practice you've done on normal stuff and try to apply it to the situation at hand. HOWEVER... the talk is always about the welding machinery - like it is about golf clubs - and in my HUMBLE opinion - it's all about skill(s) and a good welder can make a POS machine do wonderful things - like an old club in Tiger Woods hands...

What I do hate to see is someone limiting what they can finally do with a decent machine - by buying too small of a machine - because when they can really finally weld - the world will open up to all the things they can do! I happen to really like tools - all of them - never saw one I didn't like... and I consider them an 'investment' in the hobby (my life according to my wife) and I'm just old enough to have made the usual 'mistakes' (too small of a compressor - buzz box welder - 1/8th amp grinders for a 10 amp job). LOL But I also appreciate the cost factor and other peoples budgets etc. So fully understand buying something that will do the job - if that's all a guy can do at the time. Been there - done that - I get it.