Millermatic 252 or Lincoln Power MIG 256

[OkieDave]

It was the floor model at the Oklahoma City Airgas. Never been plugged in, though; it even still had all of the protective wrapping on it. Looks brand new. None of that is noted on the invoice, though; drop me a PM and I'll arrange to FAX you a copy if you like.

 

[4shorts]

Red or blue, their both great manufactures. That being said I run a Millermatic 252 and 350 P on a daily basis. I used to have a Millermatic 251. All those units worked great with zero down time. I also run a Miller Dynasty 200 DX and a Miller Trailblazer. Ya I like blue :laughing:

 

[rcowan]

Yes
Either

RC

 

[joe14]

I'm looking at the same machines, Miller 252, Lincoln 256. But at my local dealer had an open house with all the factory reps, there was a new machine from Thermal Arc, the fabricator 252, 300 amp mig machine, an arc welder, and tig also. The power source uses an inverter so the whole rig weights only 65 pounds. Does any body have any thoughts/opinion on this machine?

 

[Shield Arc]

Joe I can't say I've ever read a bad word about Thermal Arc machines! Not familiar with the machine you're describing tho. It does sound a lot like my Lincoln Invertec V350-Pro.

 

[swines]

I have a Miller, Thermal Arc, and an Esab wire feed machines. I like the Esab the best - the arc is very "fat," soft and easy to control. The Esab arc sounds like extra thick bacon frying on medium heat. The Thermal Arc is second with neutral arc that is easy to setup. I really find the Miller hard to control as the arc is always very "sharp" and is hard to adjust so it doesn't undercut at the edges of the bead. On the bacon sound scale it's like thin bacon on high heat.

I have a Thermal Arc TIG and it is an extremely nice machine. I like it because it has a frequency adjust for AC which makes it easy to setup for aluminum. Thermal Arc doesn't get talked about a lot on the Internet, but they are quality machines that are used a lot in production shops and factories.