The Tax Return Electrician

Erin Burke

Erin Burke

KnifeMaker...ish
Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
1,330
Hey folks,

I'm fortunate in that I will be getting a fairly hefty tax return this year. There are a few tools that I have been on my wish list, but the main ones are:
  • a bench-top mill (I am leaning toward the Grizzly version of the Seig X3).
  • A nice MIG welder
This post concerns the MIG welder.

The welder that I really want is the Millermatic 212. Cyberweld.com has this welder for $1,535 (or for $2,260 with the spool gun). My concern is whether my shop's existing 220 circuit will be adequate to power this machine. Currently I have one 220 circuit to the shop. It is protected by a 30-amp breaker in my home's panel. The wiring is #10. Currently I use this circuit to feed my 2hp KMG, my HT kiln and my table saw (though none of them simultaneously). The Millermatic 212 spec sheet says that this welder draws 28-amps at rated output... and recommends a MAXIMUM circuit breaker of 40-amps at 230-volts. If I run this welder off my 30-amp circuit breaker, am I likely to have a lot of nuisance trips? Or will everything be OK?

Thanks in advance.

Erin
 
You should be fine as long as the welder is the only thing you're running.
I would tighten the lugs at the breaker and receptacle to make sure you have good connections.
 
I've been looking at that grizzly bench top mill. I think if I had one I'd probably never leave my garage.
 
The welder will only pull full power when used at it's maximum settings. Unless you are only going to work with very thick metal all the time, it should be fine on the 30 amp breaker. I might be a little concerned about voltage drop if the run of that #10 wire is more than 100' though.
 
Mahoney said:
The welder will only pull full power when used at it's maximum settings. Unless you are only going to work with very thick metal all the time, it should be fine on the 30 amp breaker. I might be a little concerned about voltage drop if the run of that #10 wire is more than 100' though.
Click to expand...

Agreed with the above, the #10 wire would be my main concern, but should be OK.

I have a Millermatic 210 and love it. Nothing worse than a cheap mig welder running flux core wire.
 
I LOVE my MM210!!! Love it love it LOVE IT! It is a sweetheart of a wire feed welder. If I had to buy a new welder, the 212 would be something to look at, but the auto-set freaks me out. (Just too high-tech-y for no good [to me] reason) I do, however, like the infinite voltage control! All in, I'd probably skip lunches for a (long) time and go with the 252. Which will definitely trip your breaker. ;)

Another option: If you can find a used 210, snag it. Otherwise the 212 is a solid choice, no mistake there.

I think you'll be fine with your breaker as-is - you would really be cranking it to push to max amps. I managed to weld up a 30 ton press without touching tap 7. ;) Unless you're going to get a spool gun and go to town on heavy aluminum?

Dave
 
Can't go wrong with a Miller. The MM252 is my favorite, it is one fine piece of machine.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I ended up going with something a bit smaller than the MM212... the MM211 (w/ spool gun). I'm sure I'll be happy with it, and will use the money saved for more tools. :D

Erin

Dave... the 211 does have the autoset, but that may be a good thing for a bone-head like me. :p
 
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