Millermatic 130xp Repair

From Fozzee.net

My welder is now up and running.

To Recap the saga:

• Bought welder "not feeding wire" for about $90.

• Thought that the wire feed motor was shot, started looking into replacing the entire motor/gearbox assembly.

• Discovered that I could "rebuild" the motor by disassembling it, and cleaning the brushes.

• Replaced the motor drive fuse with a slow-blow, and the feeder seemed to work fine.

• Discovered that the torch was missing the liner, as well as the nozzle.

• Darren at Airgas was very helpful in figuring out specifically what I needed and getting it ordered (To the tune of about $50, but I've got quite a few spares).

I'm currently up and running on flux-core wire (Eventually, I'll switch to gas, when I can justify the $80 for a bottle).

Total investment: $175

• Welder: $90
• Parts: $50
• Helmet: $20
• Flux Core Wire: $15

I understand that I could have bought a new Century or Lincoln or some knockoff at Harbor Freight for not a lot more, but I feel that for my money, this thing is a heck of a lot beefier and whatnot than anything for less than $500.

Here is a link to a graphical breakdown of various welding torches. My 130xp is equipped with the Miller M10 gun.

A picture of the welder itself: