Dynasty 200 dx help??

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I am fairly well schooled in various procesess so my frustration begins like this. I recently bought a Dynasty 200dx (not the first time I've used one) and am hoping someone can help.Got about 30 minutes of welding on it with good visual results on both aluminum and 304L ss although it really struggled to initiate the arc on both. Those good results slowly dissappeared. In this I mean the welds on the 304L ss became grey no matter what I did. Now after about 2 hours of acr time on it the damn thing welds like the gas is turned off. (its not though  ). But hey, the arc initiates immediately now.My trouble shooting consisted of the following:To start, the terminals are connected correctly. I thought contaminated Argon but have tried 3 different bottles (one 80, one 125 and one 250). Tried not 1 or 2 flowmeters but 5. (one off-shore, 2 Linde, and 2 Smith) The off-shore and both Linde flowmeters are brand new. Thought maybe a pin hole on the torch so I soaked my lines but found nothing. Tried changing the flow meter-machine gas line to be sure. Tried not 1 but 3 different brand new torches, both air and water cooled. Tried connecting the gas line from the torch directly into the flowmeter. Also thought maybe contaminted tungsten so I also took one box of Lanthanated and one of Ceriated sharpened them in duplicate, tried them to confirm the issues, labelled them to assure no mix up, took them to work with the same material, stuck them in the same two torches from home with the same tungsten and the damn thing welded flawlessly! I even sharpened a piece on the diamond wheel we have but it made no difference.  Did also disconnect the gas line from the front of the machine and seems there is lots of gas coming out. As per the Miller rep suggested I removed the cover and inspected the inners I did notice that the cylindrical body of the solinoid is loose and dont think that is correct?   So now as you can imagine I have jobs on my bench that I have to tell guys that, sorry my brand new machine has to go in for service.It is now to the point where it looks as though the gas is almost entirely off (can here gas flowing though). Also dont know if it matters but the tip of the tung has now started to become abnormally bright, almost as though it is trying to reverse polarity. Oh and yes I am running straight polarity EN on SS and AC on aluminum.Please if you believe you can offer some useful insight?Last edited by journeyman; 03-31-2012 at 05:20 PM.
Reply:Sorry forgot to mention I tried everywhere from 10-60cfhAnd yes I do know that I shouldnt have to be much higher than 20cfh.Last edited by journeyman; 03-31-2012 at 04:32 PM.
Reply:It sounds like you are quite sure that you are getting no gas coming out of the torch.Try this. Just uncrack the backcap to pull the tungsten. Remove the cup, collet body and collet. Inspect that the collet is not crushed and blocking the gas flow. Then look into the torch to see that the backcap has not covered the gas port. Sometimes the collet body gets loose and backs out and you are screwing the backcap in to far.In cases like this I like to comfirm gas flow with my portable flowmeter at the ceramic cup. http://weldingdirect.com/gasflowchecker.htmlWeld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:The cylindrical body of the solinoid is electromagnet portion and may float a bit.Still sounds like a gas issue.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:ThanksI have all new parts multiple back caps and there is plenty of gas coming through the gas lenses or collet bodies. Sorry if I was a little unclear but there is plenty of gas coming through the torch but I have the appearance of no gas. Is there a was to test gas other than my O2 sensor (which told me that the gas coverage was kosher) and my nozzle flow meter for verification of flow at the torch head compared to the flowmeter on the bottle was confirmed?Last edited by journeyman; 04-01-2012 at 12:23 AM.
Reply:Absolutely I thought the exact same thing. It totally looks like lack of gas or gas contamination and I would think that if I hadnt had access to numerous bottles all from different suppliers, filled at different times.Collets, collet bodies and so on are mint. I had my son help me resoak the entire gas system ( poor kids been dying to try her out) while pressurized directly connected to the flow meter to no avail. I've also repeatedly connected my other brand new torches just to be sure.This technology is still relatively new to me but I'm wondering if the machine has an issue somewhere between the IGBT and the Output Rectifier pathway?It looks like a gas issue but I believe my multiple courses have eliminated this possibility.
Reply:To eliminate the power possibility, Try stick welding in AC and both DC polarity's .If you can maintain a good stable arc The IGBTs and diodes are most likely ok.A good TIG arc will make almost no noise. Any air mixing with the argon will cause it to jump around and make noise. On a syncrowave 180 we ended up replacing every thing including the regulator and hoses all the way through the welder to the front panel socket and gaskets. Never did find what was leaking. At miller factory direction replaced it. It cost them less to do it this way then to spend hours trying to find the tiny leak, that was messing up the arc. See if you can talk them into a loaner to prove your welder really has a problem. You can try your hoses and torch and make sure they weld clean.To get it fixed right the first time with getting charged because the shop can't find your problem, you are going to have to help and demonstrate (prove) the problem to the repair shop or at least your Miller rep. With the Miller Rep. he can make things move faster,  even to the point of replacing the welder.
Reply:Check. I know my Miller rep so he is willing to come to my house to confirm my setup. From your experience is there a possibility for the machine to begin working fine to become progressively worse if it were a power supply issue from the wall? I run single phase 220vAnd thanks so much for all your advice.
Reply:It sounds like you are quite sure that you are getting no gas coming out of the torch.
Reply:Originally Posted by ccawgcIf you can maintain a good stable arc The IGBTs and diodes are most likely ok.A good TIG arc will make almost no noise..
Reply:Again, sorry if I'm not being clear enough. As I said  I HAVE verified that my flow rate out of the torch does match the flow rate at the bottle flow meter with a nozzle flow tester and I HAVE tested the gas with an O2 sensor to verify an oxygen free environment. So I am 100% positive that I HAVE gas flow, accurate rate and verified the gas quality. As I said it strictly LOOKS like lack of gas but gas has been verified.Thanks for the input though guys!
Reply:The arc in DC is almost silent, but you can put the pulse on. It make noise in that mode. It should have a constant buzzing. That should indicate something about the arc. If the power diminishes, do you have to use more pedal?Still think gas or gas flow somehow.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:There are a couple of ways to check out gas flow.If you strike a match, blow it out, the torch will move the smoke around (or if you weld on something that is dirty and starts to smoke... yeah, done that.  BTW, with a gas lens you can really see the column like flow).You can also turn off the gas an see what that does.  It'll eat that tungsten, but I suspect you will _NOT_ have a stable arc and you will immediately know the difference.  Even a little bit of moisture or CO2 will really screw things up.Your initial complaint seemed to be about grey welds on stainless.   If you get oxygen on hot stainless, that's were you get the blues, reds, golds etc..   Depending on the temperature during exposure.   Gray is typically you overheated it.Can you weld on mild steel?  How does that look?Try a bit thicker stainless, tight joint (or just on the surface) and turn the amps down a bit - like 60-70% of what the thickness would normally dictate.  So on 1/4, set it for 140.  Now run a bead quickly, no filler.  If that looks good, brush up on your stainless techniques, your just getting things too hot.  For me, an amateur welder, stainless steel comes out the best when its a 'race'.  Right up to the limits on how fast I can dip the filler.  I also either back-purge, or I do still have a can of solar flux.  I have a second flow meter for back purge + 25ft hose so setting up for back-purge is trivial.  Takes more time to mix the solar flux. Bottom line, grey welds on stainless are not typically shielding gas issues (heh, at least not for me....)  Gas contamination, or lack of gas typically behaves much much worse.Con Fuse!Miller Dynasty 350Millermatic 350P-Spoolmatic 30AMiller Multimatic 200Hypertherm PowerMax 1000G3Miller Maxstar 200DX
Reply:Un f@#$ing real! Not one but 2 bad bottles of gas, filled 2 years apart, 2 different sizes. Had the Miller rep to my house (great guy serving Vancouver area) and he agreed that it looked to be gas. Had my buddy over who is an electrician who helped test all the possible power variables. So I turned back on the gas. Had it tested at the suppliers store they came from and they were both contaminated. That is 3 contaminated bottles in a row from those flipp'n guys. Thanks for your input guys.Knew I wasnt going crazy