I am debating on buying my gf's dad's Miller welder/generator. It is kind of an older model without the 220V but it does the job so to speak. There is a problem with the governor, when you weld it kind of bogs down and does the normal straining sound but all the time, even when there is no load. It needs a new battery. He is asking 800$ for it, I offered him 200$ now and 200 a month for it until its paid for. Does this sound like I am getting myself into a bad situation by buying a used, old, and partly troublesome welder? I know its good for a generator at least but I already have one of those. My big thing is, it doesnt have the 220V output, and I am not that dandy with a stick.

What is your opinions? Should I be satisfied with what I have and buy a wire fed welder, or a new set of golf clubs?

Another question I had was, on the bobcat/trailblazer welders cant you put an adapter on it to change it to a wire feed/spool gun welder so its MIG? or even TIG?

Thanks guys

I'm no real expert on this stuff (though working on it).

Miller stuff seems to be very servicable, so if it needs some work getting it back into running order shouldn't be that big of a deal. Probably wouldn't hurt to hit their site and ask the same question on the forums there. Also wouldn't hurt to find a miller service center, take it there and see what they think.

If its setup as a AC/DC power source it should be able to accept straight up wire feeders and be readiy adaptable to Tig also.

$800 is right about the MM175 mig price range if that's the sort of thing you are looking for.

Jason

Another thing is I cant see what model it is, it has miller all over it and the sheet metal but, I cant tell if its an old bobcat, trailblazer or god knows what. I tried google-ing it but couldn't find any pictures. Any idea on what it might be too. Its about 3-4 ft long and 1 1/2 ft wide. Has the blue sheet metal covering a little more than half but the engine is poking out of the back a little.

After looking at it some more, its a Miller AEAD 200LE. Anyone know anything about them? It has 115V outputs and AC/DC Welding.

I'm guessing its this box then
http://www.millerwelds.com/om/oi411a_mil.pdf

Jason

Yep! Thanks Jason, as soon as you mentioned looking up the manual on millerwelds I found it. I think I'll be happy with it, a little overpriced though but oh well.

Do you really need a generator/welder? There are some pretty decent 'normal' welders in that price range.

Jason

I understand what your question is by do I really need it? But thats my thing that I am trying to decide. What I would like to do is make a trailer for it and haul it around on that and use it on my dad's farm But, for this price (asking around) do you think I should pass on it or take it?

The type of work I will be fore sure doing with it is fence repair, building a new tire carrier, and fabricating a loader for tractors.

Plan on towing it around with the TJ? I think for just about $800 you could probably have the ready welder setup going. That would give you the portability for the fence work without having to lug a trailer around.

A few of my friends are running bumpers that were made with one on an F250.

Even the cheapest portable miller is about $2k list
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/enginedriven/blue_star_series/

So I don't think $800 is all that bad of a price, but I'm really no expert on these things.

Jason