Miller Synchrowave 180 Prolems

Big B · Sep 10, 2019

Hello,

I have a Miller Syncrowave 180SD that just quit working. I used it for some stick welding a few days ago and it was fine but today when I needed to do a little bit of tig welding and hit the pedal, nothing happened. The gas solenoid didn't open and the tig torch was dead.

Anybody got any ideas of something simple that I might be overlooking? I've been using it since it was new about 15 years ago and it has been mostly trouble free.

dkmc · Sep 10, 2019

The simplest things to check first would be:

Fuse in control circuit
Loose connections
Switch setting wrong.

Newman109 · Sep 10, 2019

Check the foot pedal as well. Find the pins that send varying resistance to the unit to control output and check for resistance from 0-5K or 0-10K.

Rob F. · Sep 11, 2019

Does it still work on stick mode?
If so foot pedal is most likely suspect, look for dirt in pedal, bad cord or connection to machine is dirty or corroded as a starting point.

Big B · Sep 11, 2019

dkmc said:
The simplest things to check first would be:

Fuse in control circuit
Loose connections
Switch setting wrong.

I didn't know that there was a fuse in there. Any idea where it is or what kind of fuse it is? I'll pull the covers off today and look for a fuse. Thanks for the tip.

Big B · Sep 11, 2019

Rob F. said:
Does it still work on stick mode?
If so foot pedal is most likely suspect, look for dirt in pedal, bad cord or connection to machine is dirty or corroded as a starting point.

I didn't try it again in stick mode but the tig torch was dead. I'll try it in stick mode.

johnfalco · Sep 11, 2019

When I researched welders before I bought my Lincoln, I researched Miller first. It seems that they were knowingly selling units with bad boards hoping that they would last till after the warranty. I don't recall which units they were doing this with but it was a big decision on me buying a Lincoln.

Rob F. · Sep 11, 2019

Big B said:
I didn't try it again in stick mode but the tig torch was dead. I'll try it in stick mode.

If stick works, then check pedal etc. Pedal gets plenty of abuse being kicked around on the ground. If stick does not work then look more at machine itself.
Can you do tig mode with panel control on that machine? (no foot pedal) That will also narrow you search, if panel control is dead look at machine, if panel control works, look at pedal. I would unplug pedal for this test.

Newman109 · Sep 11, 2019

johnfalco said:
When I researched welders before I bought my Lincoln, I researched Miller first. It seems that they were knowingly selling units with bad boards hoping that they would last till after the warranty. I don't recall which units they were doing this with but it was a big decision on me buying a Lincoln.

What would be the point of selling a machine with a known bad PC board? How could a bad board work long enough to get out the door?

I've been on both the Welding Web and also the Miller website forums since around 2006 and nothing like that has ever even been mentioned.

My experience with Miller and Lincoln is that both companies strive to sell quality machinery. Neither company would want to take a chance on selling equipment that would fail.

Sorry, I just do not believe that. All due respect to yourself, could it be a Lincoln representative's tale?

:popcorn:

johnfalco · Sep 11, 2019

@ Newman109
Representative's tale that is certainly possible. Problems pop up all the time after products go into production. Just look at the auto industry and GM with their faulty ignition switch's as one example. Things meet the criteria of testing but fail at later stages from unseen variables, happens all the time. But thanks for a different perspective! I don't have a problem getting different view points. After all that's how a wise man learns and a fool stays in the dark. Have a Great day

dkmc · Sep 11, 2019

Big B said:
I didn't know that there was a fuse in there. Any idea where it is or what kind of fuse it is? I'll pull the covers off today and look for a fuse. Thanks for the tip.

Not familiar with that machine, but have a look around for fuses.

Newman109 · Sep 11, 2019

Big B said:
I didn't know that there was a fuse in there. Any idea where it is or what kind of fuse it is? I'll pull the covers off today and look for a fuse. Thanks for the tip.

I don't have the serial number for your machine, but here is a typical Syncrowave 180 SD manual from 2004. Check the schematic for a fuse. It's on page 25. Good luck.

https://www.millerwelds.com/files/owners-manuals/O360J_MIL.pdf

Big B · Oct 2, 2019

Sorry about the delay in updating this thread. Life got in the way.

I finally got back to the welder yesterday to try some tests that were suggested by others here. I tried stick welding and it worked fine. So I hooked the tig torch back up and it worked fine too. The gas solenoid clicked as soon as I pushed the foot pedal which it didn't do before. I had planned on taking the side covers off and looking for a fuse but now it is working like it always did....for now. No idea what was going on with it but at least for now I have a working welder again.

And if it happens again I have a lot of information from this thread to help diagnose the problem. Thanks again for the help guys.

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