Just bought a Miller 35 wire welder.

[JDseller]

I saw a Miller 35 wire welder advertised over the weekend. I called the guy yesterday. He says his Dad bought it new and used it a few times but did not like it as he was wanting to weld body metal. The son now runs the body shop and put the welder up for sale.

He was asking $700 without a tank. It is the newer of the Miller 35 units as it has a black back front instead of white.

I am going to go finalize the deal Sat. If it is in as good as shape as it looked in the pictures I think it will be a good deal.

I am getting tired of the newer ones I have blowing some circuit board and costing an arm an a leg to fix. I am thinking this is a simpler machine.

So what do you guys think???
 

[Lanse]

I wouldn't do it...

just IMHO.

Yes, those old machines are made VERY well, but many of them have been overworked, abused, run hard and put up wet for a few decades. It takes its tole on them...

You can get a brand new Hobart Ironman 230, a 250amp machine for $1,539 shipped to your door with that new welder smell, and a warranty.

I know many people swear by these old machines, but still. Theres a lot that can go wrong with anything old, usualy at the worst possible time.
Poke here

 

[Uncle Ernie]

I paid $600 for a brand new Millermatic 135 a few years back with a tank. Good machine. The price you are being asked to pay sounds high to me.
 

[JDseller]

Uncle Ernie: This is a Miller 35 not a 135. This welder easily could be thirty years old. It is a 160 amp machine. It was the first All-in-one wire welder Miller made. It is more of a commercial unit.

I already have several Miller welders: 251 and a 252. I have had issue with the circuit boards in both of them. Cost about $500 each time to get them repaired.
 

[JDseller]

Lanse: I already have two newer Miller welders: A 251 and a 252. The Miller 252 is only about three years old an I have already had to replace the circuit board in it once. This is with light shop use not full time welding.

This welder is supposed to have only been used a few times. The seller's Dad bought it new and only used it a few times. The seller has used it on some heavier frame type repairs but his main business ins auto body work and he uses welder that are setup for thinner metal.

I am looking for an old wire welder without all of the electronics that the new welders have on them. I think that these Miller 35 welders do not have any electronics on them. All is diodes and rectifiers. I am not sure of this but that is what I want.

A long gone buddy had a Miller 35 that he used in his weld shop for years and he never had any problems.

That new Hobart welder has that new welder smell but it also is full of electronic crap that can take a dump and become a big paper weight. LOL

Thanks for the reply. I am really looking for some of the older guys that actually ran these welders. I want a good welder on 1/8 to 3/8 thick stuff. I have good stick welders for thicker stuff.
 

[Stick welding]

A Millermatic 200 is more desirable and I think $700 is about $100 too much for a 35. You can tell the year by the first 2 letters in the serial number. I'd guess a black face is from the 80's, maybe later. H is 70's, K is 80's and J is 90's. A would 00, B would be 01, C would be 02, etc. KA would be 1980, KB would be 1981, etc. If your 252 is less than 3 years old it should be covered under warranty. Do you have your original receipt?
 

[JDseller]

I bought the welder Miller 252 as a demonstrator. It had been used at trade shows. It only had two years left on the warranty. The board fried after I had it about three years. It runs a nice bead and the digital read out is nice to repeat your settings but I just am not happy with how it has held up. My sons both need to used welders at their places so half the time mine is scattered around their shops. I don't do that much welding any more. That is why I thought that this Miller 35 may work for me.

I will let you know how it goes Sat. Thanks for the reply.
 

[Puddles]

JD that is the first time I've have ever read anything bad about the 251, and 252. I've read where the 250 was very hard to find the sweet spot, so Miller went back to the drawing board and came out with the 251. Can you post a picture of the Miller 35? I know Ive heard of them, but without seeing a picture I can't remember if I've ever run one. Way too many years, and way too many welders to remember them all, especially by name / number, but seeing the welder seems to jog my memory for some reason.
 

[36 Coupe]

I borrowed an Airco Dip/Stick 160 welder to work on my truck cab.I think it was built by Miller.It came from a small stove co that quit.No circuit boards.A friend brought a circuit board into my shop.It was from an Esab welder.The switches were part of the circuit board.Both switches were broken and beyond repair.A new board would cost 700 bucks.A rip off price for a small board about 8x8 inches.The airco was old, couldnt reverse polarity to handle flux core wire.Nice welder that could stick weld AC or DC or mig.I have been welding since the mid 50s but never used DC.Tried it with the Airco.Like DC alot,Built a DC converter for my Lincoln 225.Gives me a chance to use the 6010 I collected over the years.I would not buy a welder that has a circuit board in it.Better to find an older welder with out circuit boards.
 

[JDseller]

Puddles here is a picture of an ol Miller 35. It just is a white faced one. The one I am looking at is newer with a black back ground.

On these you just have 5 or 6 heat settings and a dial for the wire speed.

 

[Puddles]

Nope, sorry! Never ran one of those before. Reason I know, I think those tapped machines would drive me crazy. Here again never ran one, but I'm a control freak, I want complete control over the puddle, not what some welding machine manufacture thinks I need. But that's just me, again I'm a control freak.
 

[jon f mn]

The welder I learned to weld on was a 35. It worked great. When I had my shop I too bought the 250 then 251 then a couple of newer ones I can't remember the models of. They were all junk as far as I'm concerned. I now have a vintage which is a newer version of the 35. It also works great. I found it was nearly imposible to use my spool gun on the electronic ones because they would build a static charge and when you pulled the trigger the wire would stick to the tip. I think you will be happy with it.
 

[Stick welding]

Miller didn't make the Dipstick 160 but did make other machines for Airco as did Westinghouse and probably others. Airco are the originators of MIG. Patented in 1948. Airco had some of the best equipment in the industry, especially their cutting machines. Were also big in TIG.
 

[Bodyman]

JD, many years ago around 1972 I was just entering into working in a bodyshop and used one there. I thought it to be a good machine so I bought a used Miller 35 S, if I remember correctly the S was for spotmatic. I used that welder for a long time as I built my first shop the next year. A couple of years later I rented a much larger shop in town and added employees, took the Miller to town and bought a new Lincoln Mig. Four years later bought a bigger shop, more employees, sold the Miller 35 to a friend of mine (he still uses it to this day in his home shop, amatuer bodyman).