Miller duty cycles

[dr sportster]

I have a Millermatic 200 or 210 I forget which .After welding for approx. 30 minutes it cuts out and stops feeding wire. Miller repair guy says I may just be exceeding a 20% duty cycle
causing planned thermal shut-down. I was welding patch panels and did not think I was pushing the machine hard .It should weld for two minutes out of ten. I still think it cuts off too
soon . It may be a problem or a duty cycle overuse. Still can't tell. 90 bucks to analyze problem at Miller repair. If I go out to shop today it will work fine for a short while. Then it
will stop feeding for a somewhat long rest?

 

[wore out]

(quoted from post at 07:22:20 03/31/21) I have a Millermatic 200 or 210 I forget which .After welding for approx. 30 minutes it cuts out and stops feeding wire. Miller repair guy says I may just be exceeding a 20% duty cycle
causing planned thermal shut-down. I was welding patch panels and did not think I was pushing the machine hard .It should weld for two minutes out of ten. I still think it cuts off too
soon . It may be a problem or a duty cycle overuse. Still can't tell. 90 bucks to analyze problem at Miller repair. If I go out to shop today it will work fine for a short while. Then it
will stop feeding for a somewhat long rest?

Have you blown the dust out and checked the cooling fan(s)?

 

[mtf]

Wore out is correct, you have some dirt or even dirt dobbers nest to clean out. That is the welder I have, and I can count the number of times it has reached its duty cycle on one hand. Nathan

 

[dr sportster]

On another note --The Miller repair guy. said my machine is a hobby machine [that translates to me it is an inferior non-professional unit . Why does Miller make a hobby level machine .I want pro welds not hobby welds. After forty years of Miller blue it might be time to turn Lincoln red !

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 10:22:20 03/31/21) I have a Millermatic 200 or 210 I forget which .After welding for approx. 30 minutes it cuts out and stops feeding wire. Miller repair guy says I may just be exceeding a 20% duty cycle
causing planned thermal shut-down. I was welding patch panels and did not think I was pushing the machine hard .It should weld for two minutes out of ten. I still think it cuts off too
soon . It may be a problem or a duty cycle overuse. Still can't tell. 90 bucks to analyze problem at Miller repair. If I go out to shop today it will work fine for a short while. Then it
will stop feeding for a somewhat long rest?

hose had a really good duty cycle. You'd have to be welding at maximum heat to shut it off in half an hour.

 

[M-MAN]

Lincoln makes 20% duty cycle machines too. They would go out business if they only sold 100% duty cycle welders. I'll admit they are nice. That's what my stick welder is but I never could afforded it new. Only a business using it regularly could.

 

[Steve@Advance]

I doubt you are exceeding the duty cycle. I've never had one cut off even doing some heavy welding for a long time.

Something is causing it to overheat, if that is the problem. Could be the cooling fan is blocked or it
s dirty inside.

Could also be a failing circuit board, bad connection opening up with heat.

 

[Roger Tomfohrde]

My 180 Hobart was doing that eventually getting worse. It was the liner was corroded part way away from the gun end. Cost 18.00 to fix with a new liner.

 

[gab]

My old Century wire welder would stop feeding wire after about five minutes. I finally took a magnifying glass to the circuit board and found two out of three soldered connections cracked where the board was soldered to the wire speed control, couple drops of solder and it's as good as it ever was.

 

[circus]

Does your fan work? My Millermatic 200's fan kicks in whenever it's worked hard. In nearly 40 years it never just quit on me unless there was a obvious problem. Thankfully minor.

 

[grizz02]

My miller matic 210 has a 60 % duty cycle , look at the label on the back I would bet its more then 20%

 

[markct]

That doesn't seem right, the hobby level millers are branded hobart not Miller, they own the hobart brand and use that as their consumer hobby machines to prevent diluting their professional brand

 

[504]

$90.00 is a cheap price for a repair shop, but I think others have answered you problem. Pull the covers off and look for dirt,also make sure the fan is coming on when it overheats. It may be a bad fan or it may be stuck from just not being used enough. Manuals are online.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Well, if it's shutting down something is getting too hot.

The manual for the Millermatic 210 says it has a 100 percent duty cycle rating at about 130 amps, downgrading linearly to 30 percent at 210 amps. You could be hitting the duty cycle limit if you're welding fairly heavy material, say 1/4 inch steel and not giving it a chance to cool down between runs.

 

[Texasmark1]

If you have the pest by the popular name dirt dobber because that is all thay do all day long every day, steady stream in and out of the shop, have one fantastic navigation system (which would make for a nice top ic in a case study paper at an Ag. school, love to find crevices in anything and everything in your shop...love motors especially. Even can jam up a 1/2HP I had on a drill press and ruin it then this well could be your problem. The little fan in my stick welder is no match for them and I have had to remove the cover and clean them out numerous times over the years. Got to where any time I turn it on the first thing I do is listen for the fan.

 

[Texasmark1]

If you have the pest by the popular name dirt dobber because that is all thay do all day long every day, steady stream in and out of the shop, have one fantastic navigation system (which would make for a nice topic in a case study paper at an Ag. school), love to find crevices in anything and everything in your shop...love motors especially. Even can jam up a 1/2HP I had on a drill press and ruin it then this well could be your problem. The little fan in my stick welder is no match for them and I have had to remove the cover and clean them out numerous times over the years. Got to where any time I turn it on the first thing I do is listen for the fan.

 

[John T]

Hey dr, the Miller repair guy may just be right (close to a duty cycle/heating issue, I doubt those sensors are perfect). If you haven't already, get behind some of the sheet metal and clean out any dust or crud may make a difference. Hole to see you again in the future, maybe next January or February in Florida ???

John T

 

[bc]

Besides the cleaning, get a box or other fan and set it up to blow on the vents. Every once in a while my computer shuts down. Usually find some paper to close to the fan plugging off the air intake.

 

[dr sportster]

Wednesday AM it worked for four seconds . It is now at the authorized Miller repair service. The guy said who , that works here, told you it is a hobby machine. He said it is a pro machine . Whoever said that was wrong. I also suspect the 20% duty cycle comment may have been a guess. He said my problem was rusted .023 wire But I told him I installed the roll and never ran it . It just stops feeding.

 

[DoubleO7]

(quoted from post at 11:22:20 03/31/21) I have a Millermatic 200 or 210 I forget which .After welding for approx. 30 minutes it cuts out and stops feeding wire. Miller repair guy says I may just be exceeding a 20% duty cycle
causing planned thermal shut-down. I was welding patch panels and did not think I was pushing the machine hard .It should weld for two minutes out of ten. I still think it cuts off too
soon . It may be a problem or a duty cycle overuse. Still can't tell. 90 bucks to analyze problem at Miller repair. If I go out to shop today it will work fine for a short while. Then it
will stop feeding for a somewhat long rest?

Open it up and clean out dust and dirt.
Then check every connection inside for looseness.
Or corroded connections.

Come back and tell us which model you really have.

 

[the tractor vet]

Check your incoming line voltage . Last summer i picked up a Lincoln 140 C off a guy that won it in a raffle and did not know how to weld new in the box for CHUMP CHANGE . I was talking to my welding supply house about it and he told me the biggest problem was what it was plugged into and length of extension cord and ga. size of wire . Mine is only a 120 in and jay advised me to run a line for it only from the main and to go to a 25 amp breaker over the 20 and jump up to 10 Ga. wire and if adding in a extension cord also make it a 10 Ga. cord and not to go over 50 feet . He said line loss causes problems .

 

[Dusty MI]

(quoted from post at 07:55:40 04/01/21) Check your incoming line voltage . Last summer i picked up a Lincoln 140 C off a guy that won it in a raffle and did not know how to weld new in the box for CHUMP CHANGE . I was talking to my welding supply house about it and he told me the biggest problem was what it was plugged into and length of extension cord and ga. size of wire . Mine is only a 120 in and jay advised me to run a line for it only from the main and to go to a 25 amp breaker over the 20 and jump up to 10 Ga. wire and if adding in a extension cord also make it a 10 Ga. cord and not to go over 50 feet . He said line loss causes problems .

That's what I did.
I had bought a 120 volt wire welder, and when turned up to near full output it draws more than 20 amps. Wish I bought a 240 volt one in the first place.

 

[dr sportster]

I did open and clean out dust when it first acted up a year or two ago.

 

[dr sportster]

As I suspected the guy who told me 20% duty cycle was guessing Unit has 60% duty cycle at 160 amp { no way was I overdoing the duty cycle tacking patch panel on a truck.] All Miller manuals are on line. The welding repair had about 25 Millers in the yard ,one Hobart and two Lincolns .I said to the guy I think your yard is making me want a Lincoln .lol

 

[MarkB_MI]

I'm guessing they won't find anything wrong. They might replace the fan and/or thermal switch just to say they did something. More likely there's a gap between Miller's claimed performance and your real-life expectations.

It looks like there are two thermal switches on your welder. One is on the stabilizer (inductor), and it doesn't open until 150C (300F). The other is on the rectifier; it opens at 211F and closes at 186F. If it keeps shutting down when you think it shouldn't, you should be able to figure out which switch is tripping.

One thing to consider is that manufacturers spec their products at a standard ambient temperature, probably 70F. If you're welding on a warm day, your welder isn't going to meet those specs.

 

[dr sportster]

higher outside air temp --less duty cycle -- good thing to know

 

[dr sportster]

Millermatic 210

 

[dr sportster]

They will find it does not feed which qualifies as something wrong