Welder question

[Whitetrashrocker]

Sorry can't think of a catchy title to entice you to read this dribble. Lol.

Stopped by my dad's today and he had a guy come drop off a bunch of stuff for a project my dad is doing. Amung the pile of goodies I noticed a blue rolling box. I joked, hey you got me a welder. He said well maybe. The guy dropped it off and said it don't work. He does a bunch of outdoor welding and this isn't what he needs to use but we'll see how it plays out. So I might have an upgrade to my cracker box.

All I know is it's a Miller wire feed that don't work. It's a medium size box I guess. It's not the little intro sized but it's not the big truck bed size. Like 3' tall on the wheels, 2.5' deep and 18"" wide. I'm guessing.

It's been barn kept and has a nice layer of crud. So after I clean it off and out....
What is the usual things to go wrong?
I know I'm of no help but pull out the crystal ball....

 

[Kartorbust]

So roughly the size of the Hobart Ironman 230v. Drive motors can go out, as well as the drive rollers can wear out. Anything on the electrical side that powers the machine, probably capacitors go out over time.

 

[anickode]

It could really be a whole bunch of things... Without a model, and plugging it in and seeing how it behaves, it's nearly impossible to even guess.

First place to start is the simplest... Make sure it's getting the right power.

Trigger switch continuity

Contactor function and continuity.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Yeah, sorry for being vague. Like I said I just saw it there and it's on the to fix list.

I'll have more info later after I can get my hands on it and plug it in.

Was just fishing for info on what the common parts that fail.

 

[Kartorbust]

A few pictures of the machine and even pop open the access panel maybe we can pin point the model.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Well I got a few intimate moments with this welder. A millermatic 252. But I couldn't turn her on. The power cord had a different style than we have in the shop. So I gotta change that before I go on.

Pulled the sheet metal off and exposed the innards. Full of spiderwebs and piles of dirt. The wire spool is rusted. Not gonna run that down the hose.

The business end of the torch looks like they melted the entire thing. Had to juice it well and heavy on the wrenches to get the tip apart. And the insides is rusty.

It was rolled in the cow pens and put away wet.
The circuit boards look ok. No burn marks and all the caps look ok. Couple more days till I can get back to it.

 

[anickode]

Could just be the gun is ruined and the liner is so far gone it won't feed.

 

[Kartorbust]

It will cost a small fortune to get this up and running again, but it could be worth it. https://www.millerwelds.com/support/manuals-and-parts

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Could just be the gun is ruined and the liner is so far gone it won't feed.

That seems to be exactly the issue. I grabbed the spool and tried to wind the wire back up and out of the hose. Nope. Found it was just one with the tip.

Not sure what the liner looks like but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say a new hose and torch head is needed. I don't see any screws to open the head to get to the switch so it might be a gonner.


Thanks for the link kartorbust but I found an owner's manual online free. Those are $15 on that link.

---------- Post added at 07:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 AM ----------

Any of you use this model? Thoughts?

Dad has a Lincoln 200. We wonder what's the better model of the 2.

 

[KartFab]

I have a millermatic 251, which is just an older version of the 252. I can tell you that this is by far the best mig welder I have ever used. Mine was well used at a muffler shop before I got it.

The way the wire/arc starts, is just right, and you can really crank the heat up if needed for thick stuff. I just run .035" wire instead of the .030" I was used to. the .035" works great with this welder. It has two rollers to feed the wire instead of one drive roller, and that really helps out with the feeding issues that the smaller units have (e.g. millermatic 155.

I dont know if you need to replace the whole gun, maybe just the tip and the liner? Also, check those feed rollers, if they are rusty, you might consider just getting new ones to avoid any feed issues. If you hook up gas, power, and pull the gun trigger will the wire feed rollers start spinning and gas comes out of the gun?

 

[Texan]

I use this Millermatic 210 at work, and it works great. Very easy to use, almost fool proof. A few times a year we conduct training classes for customers who will be installing our products. This involves welding, which some of these people have never done. These are the welders they learn on. Doesn't take much before they are laying down some nice beads. We have two of these welders in my department and over 10 years, I have never had an issue with either one.

 

[nbaffaro]

252!id a beast. If you get it working for less than 500 it’s a steal

 

[anickode]

If you do elect to replace the entire gun, I personally recommend a Bernard brand gun, with a Miller connection. I love mine. Much more ergonomic than the Tweco I used previously.

a quick and easy test to see if the problems are all in the gun would be to use a jumper wire across the contacts word the gun control harness plugs into the machine. If the feed motor starts turning, and you read DC voltage from the stinger plug to the work lead, you're off to a good start.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Thanks for the advice Anickode.

I'm not sure about any functions yet as I have t got back to it to put a plug on it. Hopefully a good cleaning and a new nozzle set up will fix it. The drive wheels were dirty and a light rubbing with a brillo pad and they should work. Nice that they are double sided. The Lincoln we have you gotta change wheels to match the wire.

I might get a little more time to tinker tomorrow.

 

[anickode]

Thanks for the advice Anickode.

I'm not sure about any functions yet as I have t got back to it to put a plug on it. Hopefully a good cleaning and a new nozzle set up will fix it. The drive wheels were dirty and a light rubbing with a brillo pad and they should work. Nice that they are double sided. The Lincoln we have you gotta change wheels to match the wire.

I might get a little more time to tinker tomorrow.

You still need to swap drive rollers depending on the wire type, or if you want to run smaller wires. A typical drive wheel in a machine like that is probably an .035/.045 v groove. If you want to feed any type of flux core wire, be it self-shielded or gas-shielded, or a metal core tubular wire, you'll need a knurled roller, and if you wanted to feed Aluminum wire (yes, you can do that using a short stinger with a poly liner), you need U-groove rollers.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Yup.
Got a TIG for aluminum.

 

[Kartorbust]

If you did do aluminum with it, you may look at doing it with a push/pull gun. Feeds a lot nicer than a spool gun and doesn't usually jam up. Though I'm not sure if Miller makes one for the 252.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Some closure for ya.

Bought the tip ends and pulled off the top rusted layer of the wire. Put a plug on the AC side and away she went. Welds beautifully.

It took longer to clean off the muck and cow proceeded hay.

Talked to the owner and he said that he wanted it to weld fence and pipe out in the field. Had to explain why it didn't work for him.
He said well then just keep it there at the shop for now.....

Umm free welder? Why not.