Question about leads

admin

Not for sure if this question should be asked here, electrical, or in the Miller sub forum so we’ll start here and move it if need be.I’ve been playing around with a new to me x-treme 12vs non digital model for the better part of the day. I haven’t been able to get it to run right to save my life, it just doesn’t seem to get hot enough to penetrate the way it should.Im running it off of an early 2000’s model bobcat225.you can hang up welding in cv mode all it wants to do is spit,sputter and ball up you can dang near knock the glob of weld off the metal with a pair of pliers.in cc it does a lot better but still not right.on the bobcat adjustment it goes from 17-28 which the adjustment says (1-10) assuming 1 is 17 and 10 is 28 give or take a few volts one way or the other.anyhow I finally put my multi meter on the leads with the machine dial on 10 the meter is reading 27-27.5v but as soon as I start welding the meter drops to around 17-18v.my leads are old they do have a few hard spots I’m them and when you cut the insulation off the outer part of copper is black but the center is bright and shiny. just a guess but I’d say I’m running 75’-100’ of lead on each side.at the moment I don’t have another set of leads to try, but I figured I’d ask here to see what y’all think the issue could be. not for sure what size leads they are I’m guessing somewhere around 7/16”-1/2” in diameter
Reply:Mig welding is real fussy regarding the ground or " earth" connection. That black on the outer part of the cable can cause plenty of issues.
Reply:A little information about the wire type, size, and polarity your using would help. Myself, I've run voltage sensing feeders from a Bobcat using mostly flux core and dual shield wire, never any hard wire. In my opinion the CV tap on Bobcats sucks donkey balls, I always went CC and usually had to crank it high and twiddle with the wire speed control to dial it in. On the other hand my TB 302 and 325 do excellent work on CV with the 12VS and 8VS feeders. Any of my leads that aren't brand new have that light black oxide on them, if your lugs/terminals are tight and not heating up you should be ok.Oh yeah, that VS clamp likes a clean spot for a connection. If it's not reading voltage properly you will get sputtering.Last edited by 12V71; 4 Hours Ago at 11:51 PM.