Welding Tips and Tricks

I am retired and have a Miller Multimatic 215 machine that I bought new and have come to really enjoy. I’ve been doing Mig and stick welding as a hobby for a year in my backyard shop on various small projects. I’ve had a couple of week long welding classes and was introduced to basic Tig welding for a couple of those days. I don’t have a Tig setup for my MM 215 yet which has DC capability only. Is there any advantage in having AC in addition to DC when Tig welding? If so I was thinking about selling the 215 and upgrading to the 220. I don’t know enough about Tig welding to ask the right questions so I’m hoping I might get some feedback from the more experienced folks here. I want to do more precise and smaller welds for 1” stainless tubing than a Mig weld has been giving me. If I buy a DC Tig torch setup and get Argon gas for my MM 215 will it work well for Tig welds on small tubing or should I switch over to the MM 220 with its AC-DC flexibility and get it rigged up for Tig welding? The MM 220 is about $1000 more than my MM 215. I know I liked the Tig welding I did in the class but I don’t want to be limited to DC if what I really need is the AC capability. Thanks for any replies I get.

I also own the mm215. I did upgrade by purchasing the spool gun and the tig pedal.
I also own an everlast 250ex and i just ordered a used miller dynasty 210dx.
For me the ac tig welding is a must.
The price difference i see online is more like $1400. 1600 for mm215 and 3000 for mm220. What do you hope to get for your mm215? If you get $1000-1200 now your around 2k just for this ac option.
You can buy an everlast 250ex for $1400.
I just purchased my dynasty for 2400 new open box on ebay. No hardware included.
It's a tough call. If you want to go miller and go new then the 220 is probably a reasonable choice.
I would tend to look for a separate tig machine.
I Would love to give the mm220 a test drive.
Good luck






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The AC will let you weld aluminum, all steel and stainless is DC welded, so that is the capability you'll gain.

The question is whether you want to weld aluminum, if so you'll need the AC capability.

The only advantage for DC TIG in the 220 vs the 215 is the 220 has pulse. Pulse is a very handy feature for thin material and stainless. Not required, but helpful.

Also of utmost importance, is just how thin the wall is on the 1" stainless tubing you want to weld. That together with the low-end amperage range of the 215 would dictate just how versatile it would be for your specific need. That said, for stainless, you really want a DC TIG with HF start, foot pedal, and if at all possible, adjustable pulse.

Thank you all for your feedback