Volt digital reader swap out?

[Beavertooth]

Hi guys, I have an R-Tec 180 might welder. The welder is fine, but the digital reader screen does no show voltage until the machine is running. I've been using it for years, but it's just frustrating. 1. Does anyone have this machine?
2. Can the voltage read out be changed to one that shows what voltage you have set before you start welding?

The photo shows what I set it at, about 4.5 marks on the sticker behind the nob.

Any advice welcome.

 

[carbon]

I don’t have the welder, but looking in the manual shows this to be the correct operation

5. The LED display will show actual welding amperage when welding (Display will show 000 when not welding)

 

[voipio]

The LED meter on the R-Tec 180 displays the welding current only whilst the arc is struck, and 000 at other times. That is normal operation for this particular welder. It does appear to be an awkwardly implemented feature. The R-Tech 181 display shows wire speed and voltage, (or welding current set for MMA), before the arc is struck. Maybe time for an upgrade?

 

[Mark 2]

1. Yes
2. No
Welding without a safety net.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Mig is a constant (fixed) voltage process.
The better the welder, the better it will hold the voltage steady.

The only thing that changes during welding is current (amps) based on the length of the arc. This changes according to technique, weld puddle behaviour and the wire feed speed.

You can't measure current if it's not flowing hence why all welders only show the amps while you are actually welding. (Some have some gizmos that show things like average current used after you stop welding and so on)

I don't really see why you would want to see the voltage. You can see it is set to 4.3 by the position of the knob and that won't change unless you twiddle the knob to a new position.

If you just like information on a digital display when not welding you could take a dmm and see if you have a variable voltage (live torch) between the mig tip and ground lead while not welding.
Or probe the back of the voltage knob switch/other points inside the welder.
If either of those show voltage that changes when you adjust the knob you could fit a voltmeter onto them.
The amp gauge on that machine looks like a generic panel mount thing. I expect you could find a voltmeter to fit that hole instead.

A more useful gauge might be one fitted across the supply to the wire feed motor.
Most of the welders that show wire feed speed have some sort of electronics to convert into a reading like meter/minute. I don't recall seeing anything like that available but might be worth a search. Or I'm sure it would be possible to program an ardrino (type thing?) to display that for you.
Even knowing the voltage might be handy for a reference point like Weld 3mm with 10.8v showing. Weld 4mm with 11.2v on the display.
You'll have to decide if having a digital version of something the position of the existing knobs already shows you is worth the time involved in messing with it!