"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:27:22 +0200, "Gerhard"
wrote:

Is it worth putting money down on a Miller Diversion 165 for hobby TIG
work?
(I need the Aluminium option)

I am a bit worried about the limited adjustments and tuning possible.
I would also love a stick option.

There seems to very little independent reviews and feedback on experience
with the Diversion 165.

A Dynasty 200 is a bit expensive for occasional usage.


Gerhard van den Berg
CSIR

Looks OK to me for ally up to 3/16". The only parameters I ever
adjust are current, AC vs DC and tungsten type and size. I like
zirconiated tungsten for aluminum and lanthanated tungsten for DC
welding.

Could you make better welds with a Dynasty or other machine with
variable dutycycle squarewave, etc etc? Maybe, maybe not. Is that
necessary to make good welds? Certainly not!

Thanks for the feedback guys.
There is a lot of comment on the "TIG Welding for Dummies" title of
the book included with the Diversion 165 package. It seems if Miller
targets the home and hobby TIG market.
In many of the blogs professional and experienced welders seem to be
really concerned that people might TIG weld without proper training.
Lots of people in the home and hobby market started stick and MIG
welding without training, it is a phenomena of our times.

I think that "TIG Welding for Dummies" and the DVD is an attempt
by Miller address the problem and provide some training. Many very
complex welders and machines are sold without proper user manuals.
(For the record I haven't seen the TIG for Dummies book or DVD,
so my comments are based on comments by others on the contents
of the book and DVD).

It seems if the Diversion 165 is an excellent and very forgiving
machine that allows one to make decent TIG welds with minimal
training. It seems that the machine allows the slightly skilled welder,
that welds only a couple of hours every month or three, to re-master
the torch and machine 'settings' without going through a lengthy
practice and testing phase before a new set of weldments can
be laid down with confidence.

The simplified controls allows quick change between various materials
and types of welds without memorising or consulting a detailed
notes of previous settings usually kept by welders. Most of the time
home and hobby welders do a lot of different welds in a single
session, requiring setting changes. Miller seems to have
addressed this reasonably well with the simplified controls.
Limmited duty cycle at high currents might be main limitation
in a production environment.

Some of the critique by professionals on the machine and the
Dummies book seems to be driven be a fear that they might be
caught peeking into the book or the DVD or actually using the
machine for 'dummies' :-)

I found the following URL quite informative.
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...ad.php?t=14810
Some interesting photos included. Do check all the pages.

Why the machine does not have a stick option is addressed by Miller's John
Swartz at
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...=13331&page=17

I which is could lay my hands on one for a test drive.
I contact lacal agents about price and availabily. I fear
it might be over $2000 after local agents added their cut.

Gerhard van den Berg
CSIR