Bob_Skurka said:
I'm not familiar with that model, but I have a Miller Passport. Which is a self contained dual voltage suitcase welder that uses CO2 as shielding gas. LOVE IT.
But lets face it, bigger is better so you should be pretty happy.
As Bob likely knows, my welding supply company let me "test" a Passport for about a week (they are pretty good like that with me - they ought to, as much as I've spent with them over the years). I have to admit, the Passport not only impressed me with it's capabilities, but also impressed me with the very short learning curve for people who are not every day, or every week, welders. I don't bother to memorize all the technical terms, but the Passport is easier to run a great looking bead, with good penetration, than many much larger welders.
My son had never touched a welder before in his life and I had him running "acceptable" beads within about a half an hour. I'm not talking about bird crap looking welds, but reasonable beads with good continuity and good penetration. He cannot lay down welds quite as nice with my MM251 but, oddly enough, does reasonably well with my Hobart Stickmate 235 on DC, reverse polarity with 6013 1/8" rods.
I mention this only because it is very important for the 'casual' welder to be able to quickly pick up the ability to lay down strong welds with their machine. There isn't much more frustrating to a casual welder than 1) having to constantly grind their welds off and try again, 2) having people comment that their welds look like bird droppings, or 3) having nice looking 'cold' welds that break at the worst times. The easier the welding machine makes it to make competent welds, the better. I place the Miller Passport in that category. I'd have to say it's
only drawback is that it is not cheap. But, in general, you do not get
quality for
cheap. Many people seem to under-rate just how much a Passport will really do.
