Miller Syncrowave and UK wiring

[HughF]

I'd recommend you get 5356 in 1.6mm for ali filler wire. It seems to run a bit nicer than 4043 in my experience. We used it exclusively at my old work place, it colours up nicely when anodised/alocromed (sp?) unlike 4043 which goes black.

Don't listen to people who recommend the newer ceriated or lanthanated tungstens and use them on ac and dc, I would recommend you stick with nice radioactive Thoriated (red tip) for DC and Zirconiated (white tip) for ali.

The thoriated are bastard hard and will hold a nice sharp point even when you really dial in the amps. Not uncommon to weld 200 amps on a 2.4mm thoriated.

Zirconiated seem to run very nicely on ali and hold their shape well.

Hugh

 

[weldequip]

The grade of the Ali rod depends on the grade of Aluminium to be welded; 5356 = general purpose, sheet etc. & 4043 = cast & wrought aluminium. The Tungsten issue seems to be a personal thing; I supply the 'all purpose' Ceriated to Rolls Royce Aerospace contractors so they can't be that bad.

 

[HughF]

We should really have changed ages ago at my old workplace to ceriated but for some reason we stuck with Zirc and I really like them, they will hold such a hard point for so long. Maybee HSE will make moves to bring the new rare earth tungstens to the fore...

I hear what your saying about filler rod, I just assumed malcolm might be welding sheet more than cast, and I found it easier to run with, guess it's whatever you get used to welding with most! I know some folk will swear by one brand of 6013 whilst others love another brand...

H

 

[poor farmer]

Looks like you have a "gem" there, Syncro's were built in the US, later I think some were made in Italy - quality not quite as good, that one looks American.

Most Thyristos/Sat' Reactor control AC or AC/DC MMA TIG's are termed as single phase input that means they either require 2 Lives or 1 Live/1Neutral input plus the earth.
If you have the 208v input tapping as you say then it will be fine on your 240v supply (which in the UK is now 210v I think).
BUT REMEMBER...Lowering the input voltage means it will pull much more primary current, in your case roughly double. Is your installation beefy enough to handle the additional loading, if its domestic - probably not. The inrush current on these is very high - they love popping standard MCB's.

 

[malcolm]

I think it is American. My electrical friend had a look inside and found a circuit board dated September 1979, so it's an old one.

On full power I think it would draw 110 amps, but the supply to the farm is only 80 amps! I've wired it in to a dedicated circuit with a 30 amp trip which should be OK for low output current. I think we are 230V +/- 10% in the UK at the moment.

The lights all went off when I switched it on in the workshop for the first time - takes a lot of electricity to fill all those enormous transformers and capacitors, and the trip switch does trip maybe 1 in 5 times on switch on.

 

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Malcolm, sorry to state the obvious, but I think your best bet would be to either acquire one of THESE (perhaps through eBay?) or BUILD YOUR OWN

 

[poor farmer]

Glad its from US, they where better quality.Have you installed a 'D' type MCB, these are designed to cope with higher inrush currents. By limiting the primary current you can operate quite safely, it just means you will not be able to pull the max' output.

 

[malcolm]

I had no idea there were different types of trip switch. I'll pick one up in the electrical shop. Would save me a walk as the trip that trips is in another workshop rather then in the consumer unit in the workshop where the welder lives. Odd because the closest trip switch is rated at fewer amps.

I like the idea of a flux capacitor though. Would save a lot of work if I could time travel straight to the end of the project. Looks like this at the moment:

 

[cobminor]

The UK has been 240v for a long time, try a meter on the mains and it usually comes up 239.?

 

[bump]

A D curve breaker is the correct one to use, provided that your earthing is up to it. They are comonly avaliable for Hagar and Wylex boards.

 

[poor farmer]

Malcom I've seen this before, when the remote Breaker/Fuse blows before the local one with a lower rating, in some cases the remote breaker is the main "incomer" which feeds other circuits, this could be very near its operating limit so an overload generated by the machine is reacted too, faster than the local device.
The UK used to be 240v + or - 10% guaranteed I think, the "board" changed this a few years ago.
The type of MCB you use has nothing to do with the earth circuit.

 

[cobminor]

What did 'the board' change it to then, it is now 240v = or - 6%, and I believe it has been for years.

 

[malcolm]

What did 'the board' change it to then, it is now 240v = or - 6%, and I believe it has been for years.

You are right - it seems we changed the standard from a nominal 240V to 230V to fit in with euro standards, although the actual voltage has not changed - it's still about 240V. Just some jiggery pokery adjusting the standard to suit what we were doing in the first place.

According to the wiki page lightbulb manufacturers are very upset about all this.

 

[cobminor]

Malcolm,

I was refering to the spec, it is 240v. Oops, no it's not, the supply is 240.

 

[poor farmer]

If you have something approaching 240v your very lucky, I seen it as low as 204v in areas were a lot of equipment has been installed, then you get into the area of power factor correction units. This slighly higher input voltage just means that your secondery output is a few volts higher, shouldn't be a problem to your machine - its built like a brick "s___house".
Peering through the cobwebs in my head I have a thought that the European machines used Aluminium windings not Copper, I may be wrong, but not to worry as you have one of the best TIG's ever produced.

 

[bump]

According to the wiki page lightbulb manufacturers are very upset about all this.

Tell me about it, I'm working for a lighting firm now and trying to explain to customers why the cheap non-branded non UK imported lamps fail so quickly is part of the daily grind.

MCB and earth; my memory fails me on this, but according to the industrial sparkys that we supply, the earth on a D curve MCB will need to cope with a potential 10kA load over a 6kA load from a B curve.

Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[poor farmer]

They are the guys that know about this, I guess your earth system should be adequate for the total potential kW in the circuit irispective of the type or level of protection.The different curves basicaly allow a slightly higher amount of 'I' to flow for a few 'mS' then return to normal operating protection level.

 

[18yrswelding]

I'm new and I know this is an old subject, but I sold a brand new syncrowave 250 ac/dc tig to a customer in January 07. When they are supplied by Miller uk they are multi tapped and the brass tags inside the m/c must be connected to either 1ph and neutral 240v or 380/415v 2 phases. The maximum current draw of each machine is on the rating plate along with duty cycle so if used on 240 volt input flat out you would need a 100 amp supply. on 400 volt input you would need a 50 amp supply.

The syncrowaves are good old fashioned reliable machines which now have a microprossesor control panel rather than all of those levers to move, and match up hf with the correct type of current.

However technology has moved on and yesterday I was welding at 220 amps AC current on 8mm ali with a pointed THORIATED tungsten with the narrowest of arcs like on DC, and deliberately dipped the tungsten in the weld pool, the tungsten then reformed its own point !

 

[kahn]

hi ive got a miller 300p from your pics it looks the same as mine, ive only got single phase, cant match the serial number to a manual, it says 208volts single phase inside the side of the machine with the panel off- how did you wire yours up? i can see L1, L2 and ground connections, i got some thick cable max 40 amp from the local wf electrical and a breaker 32amp d curve, where do i put the live and nuetral wires?

 

[shenion]

live/neutral should go to L1 and L2.

It may be jumperable to 220 (here they have 208/220 for 3-phase or 1-phase respectively.)