adamm
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2008
- Location
- Kingston, ON
Maytag and Whirlpool are the same company.
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Miller Welder warranty....
- Thread starter JoeE.
- Start date
- Replies 59
- Views 5,264
Maytag and Whirlpool are the same company.
William Payne
Cast Iron
- Joined
- May 29, 2016
- Location
- Wanganui, New Zealand
I will happily buy miller machines, but buying used is always buyer beware. I also would only buy an inverter brand new, never used. All brands have gone far away from the days of the giant refrigerator machines that you can repair with basic parts from the electronics supply store.
Regarding circuit board repair. Honestly I think it is a good idea to find and befriend a highly quality circuit board repair company. Especially with how many are in pretty much anything these days.
Many equipment repair places are extremely limited once it gets to board repair, its black magic voodoo to most places.
Regarding circuit board repair. Honestly I think it is a good idea to find and befriend a highly quality circuit board repair company. Especially with how many are in pretty much anything these days.
Many equipment repair places are extremely limited once it gets to board repair, its black magic voodoo to most places.
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The Miller authorized repair shop called me today and said that they had spoken to Miller, and Miller had authorized them to repair the machine under warranty....and I should bring the machine to them at my leisure.
He also said that "Miller had shipped the parts already"?
The repair shop guy...when he had it last... hadn't done but a cursory examination of the circuit board and hadn't torn into the machine any further... telling me that the cost for him to do it was going to be borne by me....which means he didn't know exactly what was wrong with it. But, Miller already has the parts coming and he hasn't seen the machine since the initial inspection?
That tells me that Miller KNOWS that this problem is a known defect that plagues these machines.
I sent a note with the machine this time, asking, nicely, if after they remove the bad PC board or tunnel... if they would let me have them so if I find someone who can repair the things, I could have a spare.
He also said that "Miller had shipped the parts already"?
The repair shop guy...when he had it last... hadn't done but a cursory examination of the circuit board and hadn't torn into the machine any further... telling me that the cost for him to do it was going to be borne by me....which means he didn't know exactly what was wrong with it. But, Miller already has the parts coming and he hasn't seen the machine since the initial inspection?
That tells me that Miller KNOWS that this problem is a known defect that plagues these machines.
I sent a note with the machine this time, asking, nicely, if after they remove the bad PC board or tunnel... if they would let me have them so if I find someone who can repair the things, I could have a spare.
William Payne
Cast Iron
- Joined
- May 29, 2016
- Location
- Wanganui, New Zealand
Put down the tin foil my friend. If it’s just one board in one piece as one unit. They would have just sent the whole board. The Miller guys aren’t dumb. They have so many of those out in the field that they will know what parts are being replaced most often.
Sort of like a starter motor on your car. One little part of the starter may have failed but they will just send a whole new starter.
Also didn’t the repair shop tell you that it was either the board or the wind tunnel (I need to google this wind tunnel as the repairman’s description sounded ridiculous)
And didn’t you tell Miller what the repairman had said was wrong? So wouldn’t it be logical that Miller send the parts the you were told in the original investigation?
William Payne
Cast Iron
- Joined
- May 29, 2016
- Location
- Wanganui, New Zealand
with circuit boards for most companies it is just remove and replace. Component level repair isn’t done. However there are industrial electronics repair places who do specialise in circuit board repair who are very much worth befriending. Sometimes it is only one little component.
William Payne
Cast Iron
- Joined
- May 29, 2016
- Location
- Wanganui, New Zealand
I just did a google on this machine. Wow is it tiny. I can’t imagine there is all that much in there on the electrical side.
What I'm saying is that the repairman didn't do any in depth testing besides checking for voltage at a few points on the PC board (he told me that on the phone)... the company KNOWS that these two components are the weak point in these machines and are prone to failure, so they don't even wait for him to tear into it in earnest... they just send the parts they know are going to be bad.
And, as I've seen over on a Miller forum on "welding web"... there are a few resistors and one other component that some owners have found to have "popped" on the boards on their broke down MM211 machines. So, if I can get the fixit dude to give me the parts he pulled... maybe I could find the defective components and attempt to replace them so I'd have a spare.
William Payne
Cast Iron
- Joined
- May 29, 2016
- Location
- Wanganui, New Zealand
I think what’s more realistic is that the repair place doesn’t know how to do board repair and that their standard practice is to just replace parts.
I don’t know any welder repair shop that knows how to fix a board or has the equipment to do it.
ChevyCrawler
Plastic
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2022
- Location
- Keizer OREGON
Buy a new board and swap it out. It's easier than it seems. Or. Keep the spool gun and sell machine as not working.
EmGo
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2018
^ Since this rose up out of the grave - halloween almost here ? - did they ever fix your welder, Joe ?
And did you sell it immediately while it was still working and get something reliable?
And did you sell it immediately while it was still working and get something reliable?
dkmc
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2002
He liked your post but he's silent ???
EmGo
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2018
Zombies don't talk much
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
What a bunch of bs. Never heard about that kind of warranty, ever.
I would call Miller customer service.
dkmc
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2002
Customer service is going to have a different attitude? They swim in the same pool I'm sure.
It's the "If you're gullible enough to buy our over priced, over hyped (faithfully beleive its a made-in-USA product), we figure you'll also be OK with our warranty that's not really a warranty"......warranty.
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
I talk to the customer service manager. Avoid the Serfs.
Yes, it's working.
No, didn't sell it and get something more reliable~ because nothing else like it is going to be more reliable.
Cheaper to own, yes... but not more reliable.
When I first got it back, I hooked up the spoolgun and welded a bunch of aluminum.
It worked OK.... no complaints.
I've only welded a little bit of steel with it, haven't gave it much of a workout.
Well, that is exactly their warranty. It's "born-on" date is the beginning of the warranty.... not the date you purchased it.
I feel that me complaining directly to HQ in Appleton that I would do my best to inform the whole world that if a person were going to buy something from a Miller dealer, they should refuse to accept an item off the showroom floor, and they'd better have the dealer special order a real, brand new machine, not one the dealer has been setting on.
Me saying that may have contributed to them changing their minds about doing this under warranty.
jccaclimber
Stainless
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2015
- Location
- San Francisco
While sort of a pain, new car warranties start at the activation date. Sometimes this is the date your car is delivered to you, but other times this is the day the dealer decided to use a vehicle as a demo car. As a result the start cate can occasionally be far in the past, particularly with previous model year vehicles.
Rob F.
Diamond
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
- Location
- California, Central Coast
What about the old board? Did you get it and fix it for a spare?
I asked them specifically if I got to keep both defective pieces... the pc board and the "wind tunnel"...whatever that is... and was told no... they had to send them in.
My original question to them was "how about I keep them and see if it was something replaceable...that way I could have a spare for when the inevitable happens.
