Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi Folks, I'm new to the forum.

I have a Syncrowave 250 from the late 80's that doesn't control the current accurately. All of a sudden it goes full throttle and vaporizes the electrode, even if the current is turned way down and the pedal is barely pressed.

I checked the pedal and the resistance was nice and linear and within the range.

Based on the manual, it supposedly needs a new control board. My board p/n is 122272.

Can you recommend a company to repair the board that is familiar with welders? I found a few on line, but I would feel more comfortable going with a company that folks have experience with.

Thanks.

First welcome to the forum! I would suggest going to your local welding supply and see if they repair machines. They will be reasonable and generally know what they are doing.
If you are confident that this is your problem and since you have the part no already, you could try to fix it yourself. This will depend on how confident you are to tackle something like this.
Some thoughts.
-Jonathan

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear of your machine problem.

Welcome to the forum turboaudi80.

Superiorwelding wrote:First welcome to the forum! I would suggest going to your local welding supply and see if they repair machines. They will be reasonable and generally know what they are doing.
If you are confident that this is your problem and since you have the part no already, you could try to fix it yourself. This will depend on how confident you are to tackle something like this.
Some thoughts.
-Jonathan

No they wont. They'll order a direct replacement from Miller which will cost as much as the machine itself. It too will fail, soon enough.
Miller quit making welders about 1990. Their products suck.

Look around for small electronics repair companies. I used to have to have the mechanical relays etc on the boards for the Miller Aircrafter machines. To buy one from Miller at the time was well over 300 bucks. The repair place used to charge 45 bucks to repair them and they would last as long as the new ones and then could be rebuilt yet again.

Find someone with a 'Huntron Tracker' for testing circuits with the power off. I use this tool for displaying the Signature Analysis of the circuit or component. It's the fastest way of determining what is wrong with a board including hairline cracks and poor solder connections. This is how I fix all of my equipment. http://www.huntron.com/products/trackers.htm

turboaudi80 wrote:Hi Folks, I'm new to the forum. I have a Syncrowave 250 from the late 80's that doesn't control the current accurately. All of a sudden it goes full throttle and vaporizes the electrode, even if the current is turned way down and the pedal is barely pressed. I checked the pedal and the resistance was nice and linear and within the range. Based on the manual, it supposedly needs a new control board. My board p/n is 122272. Can you recommend a company to repair the board that is familiar with welders? I found a few on line, but I would feel more comfortable going with a company that folks have experience with. Thanks.