Welding Tips and Tricks

There's not much info out there yet on this fairly new machine & I think it deserves a real review from a "real" welder.
There are a couple reviews on YouTube, but it's pretty apparent the guy doing the review is a hobbyist & does not weld for a living.

Is it an inverter machine in a heavy case, or an extremely light transformer machine?
The control panel is identical to the Dynasty 280 - is this 210 a dumbed down version of a Dynasty?
With the upgrade cards that are available for it, this machine is obviously capable of more than what they advertise. That leads me to believe that it is indeed closer to a Dynasty than a Syncrowave & they will come out with more upgrades in the future so you can leave it as is, or upgrade until you have as much machine as you want.

It looks like a bad move for miller IMO.
It's a heavy inverter. No room for a water cooler. By the time you add cards for features that should of been basic standard features you would have been better off buying a 200dx. Plus the small display and 1 button control don't look like they make it easy to navigate and the short display doesn't show more than what 3 letters?
Sure it can hook up a spool gun...big whoopie doo.
Miller could have done a much better job. Oh and you can only use 1 SD card at a time. More crap to loose, damage and break.And the price on the upgrade cards are ridiculous. Last you need is someone throwing that in their pocket.
Buy an HTP 221 or the 200dx.

Just my .02.

It's too late for that.....I already ordered the 210.

For me, it makes sense as long as it welds nice. I already have a Sync 250 in the shop, but 90% of my work is in the field.
The fact that this welder will be in my job trailer full time is another deciding factor for me. I have some serious OCD when it comes to my trailer, tools & equipment. I already have a rack in my trailer that (2) Millermatic 252's clip into, but rarely need more than 1 wire feed in the field. That rack will now hold (1) 252 & the new (210) without modifications & either can be swapped out if 2 mig's are needed.

As far as the cards go, yea they are $200 each, but I don't think I'll ever need them, but do like the idea that the machine is expandable if need be. As I've mentioned before, I think this machine fills a niche. I think it is closer to a Dynasty than a Syncrowave. I have a felling the 210 is a fully capable 210 amp Dynasty inverter that has been detuned & installed in a 252 cabinet. I also believe that Miller will offer more upgrades in the future.

They are on backorder at my LWS, so I won't have mine until the 15th & am actually excited to try it out.
I want to know more about this machine, but if it is Dynasty based & word gets out, I'm sure Dynasty sales will drop, which is why Miller will not comment when I ask the same questions on their forum?

I know ALOT of welders, I can't think of one of them that need every feature that a Dynasty offers. If the 210 truly is what I think it is & Miller decides to offer more cards to add more features, it's like buying a 1/2 priced Dynasty & then upgrading just the features that YOU will use. I fully believe that the machine will be perfectly capable for 90% of the welders out there.

my local store has sold only 6 of those. I think it could be a good machine but not the advertised price. I like the idea of upgrades and expansion just not how they did it.

Just re-read gambles post & it got me thinking. If I wanted to (for example) buy & install the pulse upgrade, so I can weld at 150 pps (I believe that's what it's rated for), do I install the card & the machine stores the settings, or do I need to keep that card in the machine to use it, eliminating the possibility of using more than 1 upgrade at a time?

If the later is the case, that's BS & Miller owes it to it's owners (like myself) to update the software to store multiple upgrades in the machine so the cards can stay safe in the office & not in a dirty a$$ shop. I'm pretty computer / technology illiterate, but I have to imagine they can make it so you can download software straight from the net, onto a card that could be inserted & downloaded into the machine, where the settings could be stored for good.

Come to think of it, that's also how they should sell the upgrades. Everyone has SD cards laying around now a days, should make it a little cheaper for the buyers by not having to buy a card if they already one laying around? Just download & go.

I love my Syncrowave 210!
But I'm a hobbyist so I know I'm not helping your original question...
It has been great with zero problems. I purchased it cause it was a step above the Diversion 165 but couldn't pull the trigger on a Dynasty at that time.
Only complaint I have is, I found lots of videos with setup and use for the Diversion and way more videos on the Dynasty... Hoping miller gets around to adding more support videos and literature to make sure I am getting the most out of the machine.