Converting Miller Auto Invision for standard MIG welding

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Hi All, It can be done, I recently obtained a Miller Auto Invision Power source to use as a base for a heavy duty cycle MIG setup. I got a S-62 wire feeder and took them both down to a welder repair shop, after they checked the circuit diagrams and pulled the case apart, they added a Voltage Pot to the front of the S-62, removed the 21 pin connector from the back of the Auto Invision power source (PS), cut off the end of the 14 pin connector from the end of the cable on the S-62, pushed it through where the 21 pin socket was on the back and rewired it up to where the 21 pin socket was connected to the circuit board  near the front panel and 2 hours later I now have a very grunty inverter based 450amp@100% duty cycle mig system which will also go up to about 560amp at 60% should I require it.This apparently bypasses all the robotic functions so I don't get all the bell and whistles and pulse features of the PS, or any of the jog or purge functions on the front panel. But I am happy it all works, although I should have gone for the S-74DX  feeder.
Reply:I see what you did here Ed. I was thinking of doing the same as there is a miller invision on ebay for cheap and I am looking for a strong mig machine. How is your conversion working for you? Can I convert my S52E feeder to the auto invision as you have your S62? Are all auto invisions the same? I see mention of "pulse". That is lost in the conversion it seems. What is pulse?
Reply:

Originally Posted by canonmetals

I see what you did here Ed. I was thinking of doing the same as there is a miller invision on ebay for cheap and I am looking for a strong mig machine. How is your conversion working for you? Can I convert my S52E feeder to the auto invision as you have your S62? Are all auto invisions the same? I see mention of "pulse". That is lost in the conversion it seems. What is pulse?
Reply:Thanks so much for your comments. To me that's exactly what I needed to hear. Frequently we don't know what we bought or aspire to until it's sitting there in the shop and then it's all too clear.The Invision I looked at I did not buy. Turns out it was a 575v model which I could not use. It was $400. Cheap! That's why the price was so low (that and the "Auto" reality). I do sculpture. (www.canonmetals.com) I need 400-400 amps like I need a nuclear weapon. I started with Oxy/acetylene and bought a miller dial arc for tig and stick. I used to have an airco dipstick 160 but it was useless for thicker than 3/16". I've been using an ESAB 352cv which my son bought at auction for $300 with a cart mounted feeder. Wonderful machine. Never fails to do what I need. Lots of heat for what I weld.I have forty years of experience, but, doing sculpture, I lag behind on terminology and application as the heaviest I've welded is 1/2". I do some repair work for clients and it would be nice to have the capacity to weld hot enough that it's a good weld. I'm known in my town and the welding guru and I know enough to stay out of trouble mostly and not violate peoples perceptions of me.I bought a CP250TS. It's old but 250 amps at 100% should do what ever I need to tackle. Mostly I use tig and a gas torch. I discovered this forum by googling Invision and there you were. Think I will stick around as there is much to learn from you and the people who hang out here.Again, thank you for taking the time to respond. Is there a way to know when someone responds? I would not have seen your post had I not visited. No alert was sent.
Reply:Hi Eric, No problem, glad to help out, if you want to know if anyone has responded to your post then have a look at the top right hand corner of the page when you log in, just under your user name  and you will see 2  links in little blue text  that says " Your Threads"  and also "Your Posts", If you click on them, all of your posts and threads will come up and you can see if anyone has responded or not. Another way is, you can ask someone to PM (Personal Message) you and I think you can also suscribe to a thread as well.If you are still looking for a MIG, my suggestion would be for an inverter type unit. They are considerably smaller, more economical and much lighter than the transformer type, but they are also much more maneuverable because of that fact and they pack a lot of welding power in a small box. The Auto Invision 456 that I have is about 65Kg, I would hate to think how heavy an equivalent amp capacity transformer based MIG would weigh, I I would need a forklift to move it around.Some welders don't like to buy inverter welders  because they worry about the circuit boards burning out, and if one does, then they are expensive, but there are quite a few welder repair companies who will fix up components at board level  at a reasonable cost. If it is a reasonable machine and you stick within the duty cycles then the odds are it shouldn't. Technology is improving all the time so hopefully they will get better each new generation. My Invision is at least 10-12 years old and working as new.I am about to buy one of the Everlast Powerpro 256 TIG ( 4 in 1, AC/DC TIG, MMA, and Plasma cutter) units when they arrive in Australia.  They have a 5 year warranty and so long as Everlast are still around to honour that warranty then it will give me peace of mind. Having said that, even large brand name companies are not immune to disappearing or going under, and some of their parts are also very expensive, so I figure that I am paying less than a third new than a name brand, so if it lasts a few years and does the job then I will still be in front. I especially like the fact that the plasma cutter is a 60 amp unit which should be able to cut up to 20mm in short runs.I am also buying this all in one TIG to do some "artwork", as I have sort of retired,  I am now in a position where I feel I just want to do something for fun. I don't have a O/A setup as you do, so any metal that I cut has do be cut by either band saw, cut-off disk or any other way I can think of to do it, therefore the plasma cutter would be great for doing complex cuts.This forum will give you lots of ideas to try out for yourself, sometimes, some the guys can get a bit agro and blunt, and you might need "thick skin" if you post up something controversial or something that someone doesn't agree with but most of them are helpful, others you can ignore.  Seeing as you have actually been welding for a long time then you are probably used to that anyway.By the way, I had a look at your web site and so I am eating humble pie, and here I thought and assumed that you might not have welded for long because you didn't know what "pulse" does. I shouldn't have made that assumption and so I am officially apologizing to you, you do great work. You should post up more pictures of your work here on the forum.Anyway seeing as you are new to this forum and might not have been welcomed yet, let me say. Welcome to the WeldingWeb forum.

Last edited by Ed.; 10-27-2010 at 08:40 AM.Miller Auto Invision 456 + S-62 wire feederC6240B1 Gap bed lathe16 ft3 air compressor16 speed pedestal drillHafco BS-912 Bandsaw
Reply:Thanks so much Ed. You really put out the red carpet. Thank you. I do have thick skin so I'm not too worried about getting blasted. I'm an old dog. There is a lot still to learn. Before the Invision came along I had no knowledge of inverters at all. Amazing what they can do with such small boxes. I do like Miller. My dialarc I bought thirty years ago and it never lets me down. It does seem the arc isn't as hot though, but that may be my experience as I weld much hotter than when I started long ago. I'm sure you will agree that after a while you know what the metal will do so you weld almost with eyes closed. When I got it I never went into the upper range. Now I rarely leave the upper range. Most of my welding is heliarc using a foot control. See you around. Thanks again for writing as you have. Eric
Reply:Nice work Ed. I have a chance toPick up an auto invision for $225.Do you think it will run on single phase at reduced output?