# Oldie but goodie? Airco Heliarc monster.



## stevewatr (Aug 22, 2014)

I picked up this old Airco Heliarc welder made by Miller with a water cooled Tig torch, and shot some video. It's way too big for a home shop type like myself, but I wanted to try Tig welding, and the brand name inverters were too much money for me to spend, and I'm told these old units can run forever with a little maintenance.

[video=youtube_share;sV-_RbWfjZU]http://youtu.be/sV-_RbWfjZU[/video]

[video=youtube_share;MNBEvudeJuc]http://youtu.be/MNBEvudeJuc[/video]


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## Rbeckett (Aug 23, 2014)

Yup. your great grandchildren will still be using that machine long after you are a distant memory.  If you got it for a good price hang onto it like gold because it is a definite keeper.  I would have killed to get one like that at a reasonable price but the shipping to Florida was out of this world and Florida owners know what they are worth and wont come off the "in the clouds prices".  You will be able to do some fantastic things in pretty thick aluminum if you feed it enough juice, but they are amperage hungry and you may find that you cannot run it on max power because you power supply isn't large enough.  But what ever you don't let that piece of gold slip away ever.  If you ever do you will be so disappointed in just about anything you ever buy unless you step up to a multi thousand dollar machine with all the bells and whistles.  You can still do every thing they do it just takes a little more finesse and practice to pull it off perfectly.  Just remember TIG is an art form unto itself and you will have to practice quite a bit to become proficient, but if you need tips start a thread or PM me because I am a medically retired old school welder and metal fabricator from way back.  Oh yeah and welcome to our little gang, hope you find everything you are looking for and you can always ask a Mod if you have a question or an issue.  We are here to help and provide assistance where we can.

Bob


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## Rbeckett (Aug 24, 2014)

I just watched the Video.  You stole that puppy.  for what you paid you got it for way less than the scrap value alone and it appears to be a single phase line connection too.  Congrats on a super great deal!!!!!  I wish I could find someone dumb enough to make that kind of a deal in Florida....  I was amazed when you put out the price as 299, I guess he was in a huge hurry to get out of that building to avoid some kind of legal issue or losing everything to a landlord completely.  Your great grand children will certainly appreciate that machine when you are long long gone.  I am so jealous I can barely stand it.....  Good luck and have fun with the new to you machine!!!!!

Bob


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## uncle harry (Aug 24, 2014)

stevewatr said:


> I picked up this old Airco Heliarc welder made by Miller with a water cooled Tig torch, and shot some video. It's way too big for a home shop type like myself, but I wanted to try Tig welding, and the brand name inverters were too much money for me to spend, and I'm told these old units can run forever with a little maintenance.
> 
> [video=youtube_share;sV-_RbWfjZU]http://youtu.be/sV-_RbWfjZU[/video]
> 
> [video=youtube_share;MNBEvudeJuc]http://youtu.be/MNBEvudeJuc[/video]



Great find ! I acquired a P&H Chemetron unit that has features identical to your Miller.  The bad news is it did not come with a torch or any cables.  The good news is I traded a hydraulic cylinder for it which had cost me $ 25.00. Considering that the welder was delivered to my shop free I don't feel too bad.:roflmao:


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## stevewatr (Aug 24, 2014)

Rbeckett said:


> I just watched the Video.  You stole that puppy.  for what you paid you got it for way less than the scrap value alone and it appears to be a single phase line connection too.  Congrats on a super great deal!!!!!  I wish I could find someone dumb enough to make that kind of a deal in Florida....  I was amazed when you put out the price as 299, I guess he was in a huge hurry to get out of that building to avoid some kind of legal issue or losing everything to a landlord completely.  Your great grand children will certainly appreciate that machine when you are long long gone.  I am so jealous I can barely stand it.....  Good luck and have fun with the new to you machine!!!!!
> 
> Bob



Hi Bob,
Thanks for the comment, but at the risk of having you wish you could push me down the stairs, $299 was the last listed price on Flebay, he agreed to sell to me for $260 after it failed to sell again. 

Regards,
Steve.

- - - Updated - - -



uncle harry said:


> Great find ! I acquired a P&H Chemetron unit that has features identical to your Miller.  The bad news is it did not come with a torch or any cables.  The good news is I traded a hydraulic cylinder for it which had cost me $ 25.00. Considering that the welder was delivered to my shop free I don't feel too bad.:roflmao:



I may have beaten that deal. What I think happened in my case is the seller did not bother to list all the extras that went with the welder. Tig torch, water cooler,flow meter, all hoses, argon tank, foot pedal, 400 amp stinger, and a lot of leads. With copper wire being so expensive, those thick welding cables are damn expensive. I have my old lincoln AC225 I tried selling on CL. I've been asking $150, but have had no interest. I'm toying with the idea of taking the leads off to use as extensions, and scrapping the rest. It's be a shame, but right now it just sits there doing nothing. Speaking of scrap yards, not a bad idea to make friends with your local guy. Might be able to score some used welding lead wire at about half the cost of new there.

Steve


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## Rbeckett (Aug 24, 2014)

You sir are downright dirty thief. and you should be careful and look both ways when you get close to any stairs.  If you ever need help with the correct tungstens or the best way to fab a weldment you can give me a holler just about any time.  I am disabled so I keep my own hours and tend to spend more time on the net at night late and in the early hours of the AM.  if I don't respond immediately I will get back as soon as I spot the message.  With that machine I think you can go as large as one step bigger than 1/8 and as small as .030 with no problems just change out the collet and holder to accept the size you select based on the weld and amps you are planning to use. Most of the collets and holders are kind of a universal fit on the WP series of torch and it looks like you have a WP28 (I'm guessing at that) torch. Damn I'm jealous now you thief!!!! A good guy to learn about TIG from is Jody at Weldingtipsandtricks.com.  I normally do not recommend an offsite place but he does a great job explaining some of the principles and how to do some pretty basic stuff as well as the finer stuff once you get a little practice.  Take a look if you get the time.

Bob


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## CGT80 (Nov 11, 2014)

Nice score! 

Here is big welder I use:







It might look familiar to you. It is after all, a Miller 330ab/p. I didn't steal mine though.:greenwithenvy:

In 2000 or 2001, I think my dad found this one on craigs list. It was $1,000 and came with pretty much what yours has, but the cooler isn't anything great. I changed the cooler setup a bit and made a cage for it next to the welder. I haven't skinned the frame yet. The 330 is rated at 460 amps max. I only have a 50 amp 240v circuit to the garage, so 250 amps is the max I can push it. If I run at 250 for a long time it will heat up the breaker. I bought 6/3 cord for mine as well. It would need 104 amps at 240v for full output.

The best item I have on it is a heavy duty flex head water cooled tig torch. I had a light duty flex torch and it eventually leaked. It had a slim neck like the hard torches. The new one has a neck that is an inch wide and over half an inch thick. It makes it much easier to hold the torch in a comfortable position. 

My welder also needed new capacitors for the high frequency. They are about a hundred bucks each from Miller IIRC. I would try some from an electronic shop if they were needed again, and could be found. I had a guy do some electrical repair on the machine when I first got it. The post flow timer or circuit leading to it needs some work as it likes to keep cycling after the initial post flow.

I use thoriated tungsten for steel and pure for aluminum. I tried the blue tungsten for aluminum recently and it seems to do OK on the sine wave machine. I haven't used it enough to know for sure. Pure works well, but I don't think even 1/8" pure is rated for 250 amps AC. Aluminum sucks up the heat and I find that I have to run the pedal 50-100% with the machine set at 250 amps, for the average aluminum work I have done. You can set the limit of the amperage on the front of the machine and the foot pedal will let you work from 5 amps up to that set point. Mine has a start adjustment that I leave on 0. If you set it higher, then you start above 5 amps. For thinner aluminum, I will set the dial to 50% while on the 250A AC range. It gives you more control with the pedal.

I have the 330 owners manual in a PDF if you need it, just hit me up.

Have fun!


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