Mig/Tig/Arc welding with Miller Dialarc 250-AC/DC and Miller DialArc HF

[DocDan]

A family member passed away and left me two Miller Welders.   One is a Dialarc 250 and the other is a Dialarc HF.  After they sat in my shop for a few years I decided to check them out and see exactly what I have.   Several pieces came with the units, lots of heavy welding cables for ground and stick,  a model RFC-23A foot controller, a MIC-4 Interface control box and a Weldcraft V-92 Slider TIG unit, and lots of metal rod.    I think that he was using the TIG primarily for aluminum, as I got a huge amount of aluminum rod also.  I have been using the DialARC 250 to stick weld, as I have been teaching myself,  but I'm about to begin a project making some deck railing and I think I want to use MIG to give me cleaner welds.   Will either of these units work for MIG?   What other components will I need to be able to use one of these welders for MIG or would I be better off to purchase a specific Mig unit set up for wire welding?  Which of these units would have been used for the TIG setup?     Any help will be appreciated.  Thanks!

 

[John McPherson]

The preferred method of welding aluminum is with AC high frequency (HF). Both will do DC TIG (-) or stick (+). Neither will do MIG.

You can get a free download of the owners manual from millerwelds.com if you have the model number and serial number off the data plate.

[f18framer]

if you have the ability to tig weld i would do that all day.  for things that you are gonna see the weld, and it is important that it looks good, i always use a tig weld.  it will take some practice to master but it produces very small clean strong welds.