Used Miller Power Supplies

In two words, it works! A machine that has such a long, good history, and you can maintain it. When you have an engine (F Series Continental) with a history (97 years as of 2026), it became the standard 4-cylinder diesel engine of World War 2; millions were produced. When you have this popular engine design, any engine mechanic should be comfortable with its technology. We know its strengths and weaknesses, the design can be upgraded.

If Your tired of buying new Cheaply Produced Miller power supplies, Consider older, Simplier Miller Machines.

If you are sick and tired of spending thousands of dollars on new Miller (or Lincoln or any Chinese company) power supplies that are super expensive, non-intuitive, and too complicated for your employees to operate smoothly, It's time to look elsewhere.

What type of Welding or you doing In House?

Let's start with Covered Electrode (Stick) welding.

How big of a power supply do you need? If you call your local yokel welding supply salesman, he is going to try to sell you what he has in stock and needs to move today. If you're lucky, it will be a good fit.

Let's talk stick welding. There is more 1/8" and 5/32" stick rod sold in the United States than any other size. How many amps does it take to burn a 5/332" rod? If your salesman can't give you an accurate number off the top of his head, he's not a professional; red warning flag. If he tells you what you need, always ask him why.

If you are burning a 1/8" welding rod, take the decimal equivalent. 0.125 or 125 amps, a very good starting point.

The myth of "Duty Cycle". The concept of duty cycle goes back to the 1920s. Stick welding machines are designed to be electrically inefficient. This is what gives you the constant-current ability of the machine. In other words, the windings will get hot. That's why all machines have a cooling fan.

In all honesty, when was the last time you saw a stick welding machine overheat and blow up? Last time I saw one die like that was in 1976. A Miller SRH333 that some idiot was trying to arc gouge quarter-inch rod with.

Modern transformer machines have thermal overloads either in the windings or on the rectifier assembly. If it gets too hot, the machine will turn itself off.

If you're in the market for a stick power supply that will weld most rod, 3/32" upto 7/16 "Jet Rod only, a good 250 power supply is all you need.

Here is a machine you should consider: This is a Used Miler SHR-333, pre-1980 (in 1980, Miller changed from White face panels to black panels. The guy on eBay was asking $475 for it. Now I'm a cheap bastard, but before I shelled out that many pesos, I would want at least a 30-day return policy on it. I'm not worried about dented sheet metal or paint. I want to know what's inside. I would get it and take it to a good welding machine mechanic who has a load bank and have it load tested.

Why am I so resolute (stubborn) about this machine?

1. The SRH series of welding power supplies was manufactured from roughly 1977 through 1998. It was manufactured in the United States, Mexico, and Iran before the Shah was overthrown. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of these machines still out in the field working today.

2. Why is it so reliable? A fact from the real world: if something's mechanical and it moves, it will eventually wear out and need to be replaced.

3. The only parts that move are these;

A) the fan motor, and the only thing that wears in it is the bearings, which are easily available and easy to replace. New replacement fan motors are available off the shelf.

B) The controller is a rheostat, available from Miller and the aftermarket.

C) The on/off power switch. The original switch is no longer available, but retrofit kits are available to replace it.

D) We can supply you with new face plates and stamp your original serial number on the new plate.

E) Transformer machines are immune (they cannot be damaged) from "brown-outs" and transient voltage fluctuations. These machines have no expensive, non-repairable, probably obsolete electronics!

If you're on a tight budget, getting your fabrication business off the ground, or, like me, just a cheap SOB, you've come to the right place. Until 1980, Miller Electric produced many machines for Airco and sold them through Airco gas distributors. In 1980, Miller severed its relationship with Airco and converted all the old Airco distributors to Miller distributors.

This new generation of welding supply people is clueless when it comes to mature welding technology.

The first rule in shopping for a machine is not believe anything the seller tells you. What do they know? The engine has been rebuilt. What the hell does that mean? To rebuild any machine, you replace worn parts, but what if the repair needs more than replacing parts?

The machine has been redone. What does that mean? When someone says work has been done, show me paperwork. Any warranties? Who did what? If anyone repairs a machine, do they warrant (in writing) for the repairs made?

Repainted is not re anything! Welders (and men in general) will go for anything that is shiny or has tits!

----OPINION----

The only reason you have windings, armature, and coil failures is due to cheap

internal manufacturing materials and processes. They never improved their insulation procedure till the end of the production run, approximately 1992.We can update the

original design.

1. Rewound armatures installed in our shop, with a lifetime warranty.

2. Serial and shunt coils in our shop, with a lifetime warranty.

3. Exciter windings and rewound exciter armatures, with a lifetime warranty when installed in our shop

Maybe it’s me, but does it seem like nobody knows anything about anything anymore? Imagine filling up your car at -10F with a 30-mile-an-hour wind blowing in your face, and then the card reader can’t read your card, followed by the printer not working. It seems to be worse by the day.

I understand we have a critical lack of young people with practical skills. There is nothing you or I can do. This means we are all going to have to become technologically self-sufficient. I am 78 years old, and I built this website; you probably can tell. You have to be willing to fail, and fail again, knowing that success is on the other side of failure.