Miller dialarc 250

[gearhead]

Have a chance to purchase an older dialarc 250 (white face). Told the machine is in good condition and has been used just a few times. The original owner still has the machine. Question do these older machines have any issues regarding reliability. I'm also considering using this machine as a tig welder also any thoughts on this.

[shorerider16]

We had one of those at he high school, great machine for SMAW. I don't know exactly how old it was but it surrvived many years of immature school kids beating on it and still runs very well. I couldn't comment on how it would work with tig since I haven't tried. The only draw back that I could think of would be that they suck a lot of power, ours would draw over 100 amps at the breaker (measured by a proffesional electrician) when running near full capacity.

[gearhead]

I'm just running a 50 amp breaker, I don't think I will ever need full power....

[Sberry]

Its a great machine but because of power issues in home shops I opt for a Hobart Stickmate, right out of the box new for 420 or so and runs from common 50A electric service, these days I am tempted to look at Maxstars too due to the cost of copper. The Max will tig steel and stainless.

[diverbill45]

I've got an older version of the Dialarc 250 and got to say that it's a great machine. I use it in my shop all the time, when doing both stick and TIG and haven't had any trouble with it. Very smooth arc and it doesn't seem to draw a lot of power, at least my monthly shop power bill doesn't seem to reflect it.

Bought mine from a guy I know for $200 and he even threw in 150' of welding cable, with stinger and ground clamp. You might say I got the machine for free.

Sure wish I could find those kinds of deals more often.

[Sberry]

Yes, that was a deal. I agree about it being a fine machine, the only thing makes me leery is running them from home electric service sometimes. We see it all the time, what a deal on a 300 old monster type machine, the Dialarc is lighter and you might be able to skimp on 50A. I paid a hundred for my 300 synch, but I have forklift and 400A service.

[nedster]

I'm no expert at this but for what its worth:

I have a newer Dialarc 250 w/o power factor correction. I love this machine! It welds like a dream when using it in the mid-range of its power capabilities. The manual says it needs a 125A breaker on 230V. Several times I've run mine at full duty cycle on a 230V/50A breaker at up to 240 DC weld amps using up to 3/16 rods and have had no issues with the input circuit. The wires in the sub-panel get slightly warm, but nothing else. I suppose if you ran it wide-open it might be too much for a 50A circuit. Just make sure your entire 50A circuit is wired with #8 AWG or larger.

BTW: If you do pick one up, think twice about the power factor correction option. It draws a lower current when welding with power factor correction, but it also draws a hefty 23A at idle! (without the PFC it draws only 2.5A at idle). That could make for expensive power bills if you have a lot of idle time. You can tell if the machine has the power factor correction by the model number. Miller can help you out with that.