At the shop at school we've got a Miller Synchrowave 250 DX. I was welding some aluminum sheet, had the welder set at 200 amps, used every bit of that to tack, then went slow and didn't use that much when welding. I welded about 3 feet total, in 4 sections, took a little break in between. I went to go weld some more, got as far as sticking the filler in the puddle then it stops. It makes the buzzing sound inside the welder like when you hold the torch up in the air and hit the peddle. I was told the "lead" in the torch was melted. Took the torch all apart and looked in the manual, no lead. everything looks fine. Any ideas what could have happened? are there fuses in the machine I might have blown? Also, a bunch of novice welders have been using the welder without me around, could they have done something? Thanks, Eric
If you dip the Tungsten in the work, or dab it with the filler, you're pretty much done until you grind off the tip and exposed area of the Tungsten and start again(sometimes it's best to just break it off). Also, sometimes they just take longer to strike an arc for some reason. It'll work fine 90% of the time, then all of a sudden it won't strike. Just be patient and keep it hammered and in place, it'll eventually strike. Sometimes as long as 15-20 seconds. If you're not already, long arc the torch(pull it away from the work a bit), this will help you weld a little easier. Also, if the Aluminum is of any great thickness, you might do better if you pre heat it a bit with a torch. 350 degrees makes thicker Aluminum weld a lot smoother. Welding shops carry sticks that melt at certain temperatures, so you just heat it until that stick will melt, then weld away.
I don't think its any of those. If I lost a leg of the 220v would the welder even turn on? And I probably should have mentioned that I flipped the machine to "stick" and tried to scratch start... nothing. So I think it lost a connection somewhere. Everything on the machine seems fine, until you go to weld, then its like its not grounded or something... but I even tried to strike an arc on the ground clamp (probably a bad idea) Nothing still. That gas still flows when you hit the pedal, and the voltmeter starts reading stuff. but no arc.
Check the continuity on the cables with a multimeter. Sounds like an open in one of the cables. jerry
check your ground cable... check it again... mine has pulled out of the machine, but the cover was still on so you could not tell. that is exactly what it sounded like. also check the power lead to the torch, if it overheated it could be the problem.
What is the power lead? I think thats what I was told to look for, but I didn't see anything leady. I also looked in the manual and the was no mention of a lead. I pulled the handle of the torch and there was the blue, red, and black hoses. the red one had a little fitting on it that I undid and the only thing in there was water.
The problem may be the pedel. Try unpluging it from the machine and then put it back in. I have the same machine and that happens to me every once in a while. If that dosent work the pedel may need to be checked out.
The water line has the main lead inside the tube. If somebody burned through it, you would have water all over unless it melted itself back together. I have done this more than once, and it reacts the same way you are describing. The only fix is to replace the power lead.
Try checking the cable at the clamp on the pedal box. That cable gets bent back and forth as the pedal gets moved around from place to place etc. My machine acted the same way and I found that one of the wires at that location was broken. Reattached wires inside pedal and all was ok. Nick
It was the power lead. power lead = power cable. I never made the connection (pun intended) I put the old one and it was good as new. Thanks guys.
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