Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys,

I was wondering if someone with the same or similar machine could confirm if this is normal behavior before I bug Miller. I went to weld some aluminum for a friend today and I noticed that the fan was running often even when I wasn't welding. I don't remember it ever doing that, many times it wouldn't even kick on while welding if for a short burst.

Granted I got it in February so my garage hasn't been warm until today (around 70F today) and the fan isn't running full blast, but some low speed mode. It seems to run for about a minute and a half and off for about a minute. Here I turned it off while it was still running so when I turned it back on, the fan kicked on after 10s. There are no errors and it runs just fine, I'm just wondering if something is on the verge of dying as it's running too hot. Although the air it blows out of both ends is cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSLKzZmOjx0

Thanks,
Dmitry

How good was the power supply you were plunged into? And we're you hooked on a long extension cord?

Not sure how to enumerate good. It's a dedicated 50 amp outlet and an industrial grade 12ft extension. Not sure what difference that makes when it's simply on

My machine doesn't run the fan on initial start up , but does stay in a low mode of "on" time like yours after welding. Kind of bugged me too. Interested to see if it is a bug issue with software or not...have not had much time to weld with it though...only a couple hours. Spent a lot of time and $ to get nice quit tools....let us know what they say and I will send them a note as well.

Will do. FWIW it was chilly overnight, turned it on now and the fan stays off.

The fan on my 280 runs quite a bit, especially on AC. But I usually can't hear it over the cooler

Haha, I like that solution. I need to pick up the cooler, tired of testing my pain threshold on the long high amp AC sessions

My 200DX kicks on and off quite a bit. It doesn't take much welding for it to start up, but it usually only runs for 10-15 seconds after I finish short welds to shut back off. It never runs when not welding, the only noise is the whine of the inverter.

Usually the temperature point that a fan switches on at isn't all that high. Its easier for a fan to keep the machine cool than it is for a fan to cool down a hot machine. Plus its better on the machine if it never gets super heated up. I would say our machine is probably just fine as long as the fan isn't making any noises and you haven't noticed it welding differently. I would take a fan that runs too much over a fan that doesn't run enough any day on any machine!

Called Miller, they say it's normal. There is heat generated even if you're not welding so if it's not cold where the welder is, the fan will kick on low from time to time.