Just hit 500 hours on my new orbital welder and the numbers blew my mind

I bought a used Miller XMT 304 last fall for a big job in a power plant up in Duluth. The guy who sold it to me said it had 'low hours' but the meter was broken. I finally got around to fixing the hour meter last week and it read 502.3. I was shocked because I figured I had put maybe 200 hours on it myself, tops. That means the unit itself has seen way more use than I thought, but it's still running perfect. The arc is stable, the wire feed is smooth, and I haven't had a single porosity issue on the 2-inch schedule 80 pipe I've been running. It made me realize how tough this old gear really is. Has anyone else had a piece of equipment surprise them by lasting way longer than the hours on the clock would suggest?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper2544d ago

Man, I used to be so hung up on hour meters. Figured they told the whole story on a machine's life. Seeing your post about that XMT running perfect after 500 hours really shows how wrong that is. It's all about how it was treated and if it was fixed right. A high number on a meter just means it did its job, not that it's worn out. That's a solid find you got there.

grant1304d ago

Wait, isn't an orbital welder that automatic machine that does the weld for you? I mean, an XMT 304 is just a really good stick/TIG power source, right? It's the machine you'd hook an orbital weld head to. Maybe it's just me but I always get the terms mixed up too. Still, that's a crazy amount of hours on that unit. It's wild how a simple meter fix can totally change the story of a piece of gear.