miller maxstar 200 problem.

[tinman123]

hi all.
perhaps someone could shed some light on a problem im having with a maxstar 200.
first thing that's strange is its a SD one, but it seems to have one more control on it than a standard sd, a sequencer control.
looking on millers site it should only have process, output and adjust.
see photo below.
see here for miller info on it, page three, http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/spec_sheets/DC32-0.pdf

anyway's, that aside, i have a bigger problem.
i bought the welder in an auction, a factory clearout so i cant be 100% sure if its working or not, it definitely seems not to be working at the mo.
im running it off 240v single phase supply.
it switches on, lights up, everything seems to be working ok, readouts and so on, but no arc being generated.

i have an earth lead plugged into the - and the electrode holder in the +.

when i switch it on it has a high pitched hum/squeal off it ( thats about the best i can describe it, sorry) its not extremely loud but you can clearly hear it, now for all i know thats normal for a miller inverter .

and to boot ill admit to knowing nothing more than that about the welder.

if its any help the serial number of it is LH220283L

sorry for the long winded post.

 

[NotANormalCoder]

Just a quickie - second vertical row (from left) of lights shows that you are set for operation via remote control (could be foot control or trigger switch). Make sure you select lowest option marked 'I' as this makes the output live. If using for TIG, earth into positive terminal, torch to negative - will not make any difference for testing on arc though.
Squeal you describe is the inverter working and is not unusual for a Miller. Set up as above, and try measuring DC output across terminals, should be around 80V. If not it's faulty. If it has output, try measuring again as you try to strike an arc. If it drops to zero it's also got a fault.
HTH Dave

 

[knoba]

I believe they may have a "reset to factory defaults" code that you can punch in (normally involves pressing 2 or 3 buttons, simultaneously, when first switched on).

Check out the user manual off millerwelds.com site...

What's on the display, in your pic, may well be a fault code (listed in back of manual).


hth

 

[tinman123]

Just a quickie - second vertical row (from left) of lights shows that you are set for operation via remote control (could be foot control or trigger switch). Make sure you select lowest option marked 'I' as this makes the output live. If using for TIG, earth into positive terminal, torch to negative - will not make any difference for testing on arc though.
Squeal you describe is the inverter working and is not unusual for a Miller. Set up as above, and try measuring DC output across terminals, should be around 80V. If not it's faulty. If it has output, try measuring again as you try to strike an arc. If it drops to zero it's also got a fault.
HTH Dave

fair ball to you dave you were spot on about the "I", she works 100% now.
it felt like amateur hour when i tried it, i should of known better.
there is a warranty repair tag on it, at some stage i guess it was repaired, but i thought it could of been going for repair for all i knew, no history about the machine at all and i didnt like to push it too far in case i fried something.

but i must say, its a powerful welder and im well impressed with it, on the arc side neway.
i just picked up a miller foot pedal from e-bay this eve, so ill pick up a tig
torch for it soon.

i have a xmt 350 cc/cv as well, has a similar tag on it, but id be hoping it was repaired too, both came in the one lot.
ill get round to giving it a spin as well to see how it goes. pic below.

once again, thanks a million for the help, and knoba too

 

[NotANormalCoder]

A pleasure to be of service. When you install the footcontrol, ensure it has 1K ohm (or larger) variable resistor. There were two types of footcontrol, 1K as above for modern electronic controlled machines and 15 ohm for older machines. It will not work if it's the latter.
Dave

 

[tinman123]

A pleasure to be of service. When you install the footcontrol, ensure it has 1K ohm (or larger) variable resistor. There were two types of footcontrol, 1K as above for modern electronic controlled machines and 15 ohm for older machines. It will not work if it's the latter.
Dave

the one i got is an RFCS -14 , i think its the right one, it listed it as an extra on their web site, fingers crossed.

 

[Frosty]

The rcfs-14 is the right one. I use it on both of my dynasty 200 sd and dynasty 300.