What owners do with it
How it is used19 owners said
Paid work63%
Hobby and home32%
Farm and repair5%
Process used19 owners said
TIG74%
Stick26%
Specs
What it does
- Amperage
- 5-130A (120V), 5-160A (240V) TIG
- Duty cycle
- 130A at 30% (120V), 160A at 20% (240V) TIG
The machine
- Weight
- 13 lb
- Warranty
- 3 years
Prices
33 owner reviews
Used them for years. For everyday use around the house and garage. Of course not for prolonged use welding on main steam with 2 1/4 percent chrome 5/32” electrodes. But most jobs its awesome.
We have 2 there 5 years old they’ve been great no issues. Saying they are junk is insane sir I hate your having issues but no one would compensate you for lost time on a job lol
I have one in the shop now, glitchy and won’t weld. Shuts off when it likes. The only way to star it again is to unplug it and wait 30 seconds. Miller is not helpful on the phone, won’t give you service manuals, gouges you on parts like crazy. They put everything in a circuit board that costs half the cost of the welder and is fragile. Go with Lincoln or ESAB. They give you all the info, help you on the phone, you can replace the part that is broken, etc. after fixing welders for a year now, Miller is by far the worst company to work with and not worth the hassle.
I purchased the Miller Maxstar 161 S in December 2025 for a Christmas Gift to myself I use it for 2 hours on the job it’s just a shitty tinks toy we have to crank up the big welding machine and buying from this company don’t allow Refunds 😢
I've had this model for seven years, it's great.
We have 4 of these machines in our titanium tig welding shop. We’ve had them for six years without any issues from any of them. They’re good welding machines.
These little suckers are actually awesome I laughed at it but I welded x ray pipe with it all over an offshore platform and it did great
I have the 161 S and when I bought it I was not aware some of these types of welders can’t weld 6010 so I feel even better about my purchase. I run it off of a Predator generator and it worked perfectly for the job of building a tow bar on location to tow a motor home.
Had one for yrs without issues I dont know man lol I use it for light duty and use my large machine s that have an actual duty cycle for real work
140 and 150 maxstar all models are great never fail with my 3. Had them 10 yrs to 17 yrs now. Rocker switch on the back was the only issues for me. I just hard wired it. 161 hours s junk get 150 if you can find them
Thanks so Much man!! I had the same problem, I have talked to miller, and 4 shops. they say its junk now.. That cheap piece of plastic they used for the torch........So dissapointed..
Sure. I have 2 that are barely functional as a lift TIG and no ability to stick weld with them.
I have a 161 s and i love it. The arc is super crisp and stable. It works as well as a larger machine (in a given power range obviously) Sounds like i make a good call not paying the premium for the stl model
@oldmarketforge9999 it work great just got it to learn how to tig with it, while doing research on it I came across this video and wasn't sure if there the same or anything like that but I appreciate your response back
The 161 is hot garbage. Mine lasted 3 min out the box, only to go right back to the shop for warranty work. Lol
I'm literally learning how to tig with one of these. My welds are starting to get better. I found that it's best to keep ur torch at a lower angle and really try and be as sideways as u can be. I've been getting some rainbow welds and even the occasional yellow goldish welds. I keep my argon low around 15 psi
Well, first of all, when I had staff, we’d have multiple jobs going at the same time. Secondly, this was over a period of 5 ish years so I had to buy another after the last one broke and was unusable.
I took a brand new 161s out of the box the sob will not turn on junk
Mine just stopped working mid weld. Won't power up. Power source is good.
Sometimes. It seemed to depend on which board was bad whether the lift arc function would keep working or not. A few times lift arc wouldn’t work and a few times it would before I took it in to get serviced.
I have the stick only mode and I like it.
They have me using this lil box at work. And it flexs too much I noticed and gets hot and cold. So I been just wanting these their 250 Ranger. 😂
I would be using it and sometimes it would produce an error code but most of the time the high frequency would just stop working. The gas solenoid would start but no arc would initiate. Most of the time I could sort of scratch start an arc but that was just a temporary fix until I could get it to the warranty repair shop. Both machines are now just scratch start machines since they’re both out of warranty and it would cost more to fix them than buying a new machine.
@alextremo7853 some more thoughts for you: First, you have the right mindset and a valuable set of skills. You’re smart by wanting to learn more, because more knowledge is a good thing. If you haven’t had much experience with aluminum that’s a definite skill to add to the tool box. You would be shocked at how many people I have met that are awesome welders that are afraid of (or can’t weld aluminum). There is nothing to be afraid of, in many respects it’s easier to weld it than even steel. It just welds different. It can take a ton of power to weld too, but even that can be bypassed via preheating the aluminum. There is no question the dynasty is a better tig welder than virtually everything else out there. The question is how much does that matter. My honest opinion is not as much as you would think. On aluminum I find a very small group of settings are optimal (60-150hz, 90-60% ac balance, square wave waveform, etc). I could weld everything from boats to turbo systems with those settings, yet the dynasty can go far outside of those parameters and even pulse. The honest fact is most of what higher end tig welders can do aren’t super useful to the average person. I did a huge amount of work with a Lincoln tig 200 which is considered by many to be garbage, yet most of the welds for that are indistinguishable from my dynasty. The main benefits of the dynasty were super low arc starts, more stable ac arc, adjustable pre/post flow, and ability to run programmable lift arc. Those are real world useable benefits, being able to run pulses above 200 a second aren’t in my opinion. If I were you I would focus on buying a solid tig machine with a water cooler. A 200 amp class machine will smoke the tig torch without a cooler, unless you buy a giant air cooled torch. Ac puts so much heat into the torch that they don’t hold up well, and even 1/8th aluminum takes a ton of amperage to weld. Without a cooler you a 15min aluminum job will take 2 hours unless you burn up the torch lol. Based on what’s out there i would consider a stand alone tig machine from everlast (do not buy their all in ones) or definitely a HTP. Both machines will give you a ton of capability and with a cooler will give you tons of ability to weld aluminum. Once you have gained enough experience with aluminum tig you can make the decision if the dynasty is worth buying, or if you even need it. 90% of the cost of tig comes on the AC capability end. A miller maxstar 161 sth welds every bit as good as my dynasty does on Dc, and those can be bought for 1600$ used, same thing with a maxstar 210 (around 1900). It’s the ac end that separates the new dynasty from most other welders.
@MillerWelders Thank You for the reply, I bought one and notice it do not weld better that the 211, I set it up to 160 Aps and when I start welding it goes down to 45Amps is this normal? I upload a video for you to see, https://youtu.be/YL_s3MF4WVc Please let me know if this is normal. Thank You
My does the same thing it's normal
I purchased a max star 161 and it works great for steel railings and stair pans. It also works with a 220v adapter and can be used sparingly to do heavy duty welding. I’ve seen it used on 220 to put tack welds for structural steel and fillet welds no prob (up to 3/8 1/2” thick)
Unboxed one today at work at used it for a few hours. Didn't notice the sound you're talking about, but there's a good amount of noise going on around me, so it's possible I couldn't hear it.
we use them om commercial jobs to tig weld schedule 10 stainless sometimes. i actually did today on a job. and also used for 6010 - 7018 gas lines. its a good little welder for 3/32 and 1/8th rod. you can get by with it to make some decent welds in field.
@sbranham86 I use mine strictly to weld pipe coupons to stay brushed up while not at work. It's lift arc only so thats the disadvantage if you're looking for a foot pedal. But it's been welding fine for me so far.
I have one . It makes a kind of clicking/gurgling sound while on but not welding. There doesn't seem to be any defects in the welds ( I'm an amateur ).Anyone else have this issue?
Been using the Stick welder for about 8 months now at my car wash. It’s by far the most versatile welder I’ve used. I love it. Never stick welded in my life. Picked it up.. and haven’t put it down since. Great machine.
I have to use this machine at work to tack stainless steel small tubing. When I was training with a similar machine I could tack very fast with small chrome circle tacks. I cant seem to get the same affect with this machine. My tungsten goes bad sooner and tacks look shiny but not solid chrome.
Review videos
Miller Maxstar 161 ReviewMay 18, 2023 · YouTube ↗
Maxstar 161 Product OverviewJan 26, 2017 · YouTube ↗
Don’t buy the Miller Maxstar 161 STH TIG welder!Jul 8, 2023 · YouTube ↗
Tiny Blue Welder Rebuilding an 80-Foot Steel Schooner | Miller Maxstar 161 ReviewSep 14, 2025 · YouTube ↗
Miller Maxstar 161 ..... The Trailblazer Killer?Nov 17, 2018 · YouTube ↗
Miller Maxstar 150s Review & Demo - Jimbo GarageApr 16, 2015 · YouTube ↗
