Pro welder miller DVI2

Hi everyone.

My little 5 year old lincoln 3200 115V welder is down again. For the second time in 3 years.
I use it almost every weekend and have abused it heavily over the years forcing it to do 1/4 inch and thicker bumpers and some other reasonably heavy work quite often. No complaints other than bad time to break my toy.

I'm in the middle of a rock slider and roof rack project and I want a working welder now or sooner. !!

So option 1 is repair or replace the main control board on the 3200. Cost $100-150 but its going to take a few weeks to get it. (I plan to buy the board and fix the machine as a backup either way) I might even choose to be patient and wait till its fixed.

Option 2. I could buy another 115 volt welder for $6 -700 - 800 most likely same brand but its under rated for my needs to begin with and kind of expensive, but at a little over $125 per used year I'd say its paid for itself.

Option 3 is my real question. I've been planning to upgrade to a bigger pro grade machine since the first repair. I promiced myself If it failed again I would get a "real machine"

I'm thinking about the miller dvi2. It comes with a $1900 price tag, but it runs 115 and 220, has an aluminum spool gun and dual function mig/ spool capability. Spool gun and aluminum work opens up a whole new world of possible projects. Its expensive, kind of interesting, but not quite as powerfull as I would like for thick material. The 115 Volt supply is really important to me as well given the current shop does not have 220.

Anyone have any experience with it? Is it worth the price tag for a private shop? I do some paid work, but not enough to write off a $1900 expense as normal operation. The added aluminum features might justify it one day but not any time soon? Also its got a max rating of 3/8 at 220 and 20 percent. Its above my normal use but I was thinking 1/2 or better might be nice to have if I upgraded.

If any one has used it or just has an opinion I'm interested. Also any similar models I should look at for light fabrication (1/4 normally)

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

 

I gotta agree with DanStew. I have looked at some of the 220V welders. A decent one can be had for a very reasonable price. I priced out a hobart refurb at our local welding shop. I think it was an 185 amp. But he could get it to me under $500. Of course that is a refurb, and it would require a new 220 service to your shop, but I think you are well ahead in the end.

 

I bought the DVI, and later bought the spool gun. Spool gun is nice to have but I have used it all of 3 times in 2 years. Just get the DVI for now and upgrade later if ever.

The DVI is a great machine though. I have had it almost 3 years and have never had a problem.

 

I agree the spool gun is sweet but I have used mine only a couple of times in 2 yrs. It depends on how much aluminum you plan on welding. you can upgrade to that later. I have the millermatic 210 and love it.

 

Hello everone.

Thank you for the input.
So the weekend came and went. I looked at machines from Miller, Lincoln, and Hobart I . I also looked at my available budget. I stopped by harbor freight and tried their $150 special.

I ended up buying a hobart 140 because it was on sale for well under 500. It is a small 140 amp 115 Volt machine.

So for those wondering. The Harbor freight was well what you expect for the price. I returned it 15 minutes later. Its poorly made. I tried some sheet metal and it welded it, but poorly. It did not come close to welding the 1/4 inch angle I was working with. My opinion is its not worth the money. Its cheap and you get waht you pay for.

I also had a shop let me demo the miller dvi. Its nice. I just played with some scrap but the welds were nice, the penetration was good and the duty cycle was not noticed if it had one. The shop was running it at 220 Volt as well. If I had the spare money I would have bought it.

But reality set in and like everyone else I have bills, and the holidays are not to far away so I bought the Hobart 140. I took it home and fired it up eager to finish my rock slider/ side bars.

I was using double thick black pipe that has an ID just less than 1/4 and 1/4 x2 angle. For the first two hours I was less than impressed by the hobart. I did not read the instructions just plugged it in and started working. (I have been welding for years now) The welds were Ok but I was not getting the penatration I was used to with my Lincoln. I was getting a bit upset and was going to return, but I did not want to drive back out again. I figured I'd work a little longer. Best I'd get was store credit anyway since I had fired it up for half an hour or more by that point. I'm pleased to say that after about two hours working on and off at different settings and wire speeds the hobart started to warm up nicely. By the next day I was doubling the duty cycle of my lincoln and getting equal or better depth. I did a few projects I had been putting off and overall I have to say I'm happy with the machine for the price. I don't know about the electronics but the wire feed system, mig gun and case were slightly better quality than my old 3200. Not a bad machine for my immediate needs. I still plan to go bigger one day and expand into aluminum work but that will have to wait till later.

 

I have the Hobart 140 as well as I dont have 220 in my current "at home" shop. Make sure it is wired correctly for flux or gas per the instructions and play around with the wire speed and heat settings to see what works best for you. It took me some time too but now I love mine and am very very impressed with how much it can handle. I use flux pretty much all the time as I need the portablility and it does burn a little hotter than gas. I weld 1/4" very often with great penetration and even done 3/8" a few times with multiple passes and had good results. Its a great welder for the money and can do alot more than most people would expect from a 110 unit.

 

One thing that you can try to remember as you work your way through the small welder-big job issue: Leave yourself some gap when you cut things to fit. Then gravity helps the penetration issue. Secondly, if you have to make two, three, four welds in order to get the job done instead of making one pass...so be it. At least you don't have to wonder if your weld is going to hold.