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Welder Question

HWooldridge

Hot Rolled
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Location
Central Texas
This is for anyone who does TIG work. I'm posting it on a couple of boards so apologize in advance if you see it twice.

I have a 10 year old or so Miller Synchrowave 250 AC/DC welder, which has stick and TIG capability. There is a switch on the panel that allows three choices: Hi-frequency start, hi-freq continuous or off (scratch start). Scratch start gives an excellent arc and welds perfectly but there are occasions where I need the start-only feature. When I first got the machine, it started fine but I got a little arc wandering. However, the start feature has now stopped working completely so I am forced to use scratch-start. Does anyone know whether this is related to the points on the machine or a bad switch or something I have not considered?

Thanks, Hollis
 
Most likely the points indeed. Check the manual for the recomended gap between them.
 
Problem solved - the points were pitted and oxidized. I removed all four and wire brushed the bodies, then cleaned the spark ends with emory paper and finished with bead blasting. Coated with WD40 and reassembled at .008 gap. Arc starts fine at about 1/8 gap from the workpiece and welds just fine. MIG and stick have their place but I really like welding with TIG.

Thanks to all for the replies...H
 








 
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