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Hey allI have a Miller CST 280 purchased it from a repair shop quite a while ago. I haven't used it much. Im finding the machine wants to stick while running 7018 on either the soft or stiff setting unless I run pretty hot. I have a new ground clamp set up for the machine but no time to run it for a few weeks. The old ground lead was too small for the clamp (it didn't tighten up enough in the clamp) and the spring was weak.How much does a bad ground affect an inverter? I have had horrible ground leads and clamps on transformer and engine drive machines without major issues.Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:Hello Newfie, I have a couple of questions for you since I am not real familiar with that particular model of Miller Inverter. Are you running your machine on single or 3 phase power and are you running high or low input voltage? If you're on single phase, low voltage input power you will generally always see the need for higher amperage settings in order to achieve "similar" results to many other types of machines. Also, I believe that your machine has an "arc control", increasing the setting of this control should aid with the prevention of sticking (while you are welding if the arc length gets short the machine senses the drop in arc voltage and automatically raises the amperage to whatever degree the control is set to). There is a possibility that by not having a proper ground the machine's ability to compensate via the arc control feature could be impeded. Just a few more items to consider. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:Yeah I understand how arc force/dig works. The cst 280 has the dig pre set you can choose from 7018 soft or stiff and 6010 soft or stiff. with the 7018 on the soft or stiff setting the arc still seems to want to go out while capping a pipe, im running the machine on 220V. On the lower settings the machine is plenty hot and should keep the electrode going but it just snuffs out. Im thinking it was the bad ground. These inverters seem to be much pickier about grounds. Id rather cap with the soft setting but even with the machine set to what feels like 90 amps it will still sometimes stick. 90 amps + should be plenty for a 3/32 7018Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:what your describing is what both of my 150 stl have done. It's like there worn out. Fortunately, my cst 280 hasn't done that yet. I never use the soft setting, i leave it on stiff all the time no matter what i'm doing. i take it you have the other switch set at xx18 , and not xx10. If you had insufficient input, it would go into a default on initial arc strike (being thats when must juice is needed), and the blue light would blink, and reset itself in about 5 seconds. If i have a bad ground somewhere, it ususally don't work at all, or hear or see it arcing or something. Well, hopefully I'm wrong, but considering where it came from, and being a miller inverter, it don't sound real good. I'm guessing the thing doesn't have the gusto left in it to fight off the molten slag in the weld puddle w/ 7018. My guess is if you did some vertical up, you'd see some improvement. i have 4 miller inverters, and won't be buying a 5th
Reply:123weldIts interesting you say what you say. Because that's my fear that this machine has lost its balls. It was a repaired machine when I purchased it used. I usually always use the stiff setting myself. The miller maxstar 200 machines at work seem to weld better than this machine. The machine will keep a 3/32 7018 lit while capping in 6010 mode though. The machine should be able to run a 3/32 7018 down to 75 amps or so on the 7018 stiff setting. The calibration seems to be off as well. Although I don't think the shops around here even know how to calibrate a machine. Worked at one shop the guys came in and calibrated the old Miller Dialarc 250, I set up with a 3/32 7018 and had to set the amperage down to 50 on that particular machine to keep the rod from burning off in the stinger, but yet the guys who calibrated it claimed that machine was fine. Maybe time to buy another 305G and call it good, my old one was a great welder.I don't care who says what a new machine always welds way better than an older repaired and calibrated machine, once a machine is well used toss it and get a new one. The only old machine that was well used, that I have welded with and was any good was the sa200 I had.Last edited by Newfie_1986; 08-25-2015 at 05:18 PM.Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:i agree w/ your theories. 305g sounds good. i've gotten spoiled by the potable friendliness of something thats 200-280 amps and weighs 35 lbs though. it goes on top of roofs, sissor lift, baskets, i'd hate to be w/o it. when my cst goes, i think i'll buy lincolns version of the same thing. Some times I pull up to a job, they look at the truck and say, "wheres your welder" in an alarmed tone , i calmly say, "it's on the front seat." they usually just then stare at me for a extra second and say nothing
Reply:Id think twice about buying a Lincoln and thinking its any better than the Miller. When I purchased my old Ranger new the first one they sent me was DOA. Lincoln wanted to send it to a repair shop here, I told my LWS no way. So they sent it back to Lincoln. Turned out they forgot to hook up the brushes on the generator, so the engine would start but there was no power generation. One would think quality control would check the function of the machines before they leave the factory ? Once I got my working 305G it was great. I may try the Everlast Powerarc 280sth, atleast its cheap and in a few years when it craps out I can toss it and buy a new one, I already had a powerarc 200Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:Originally Posted by 123weldi agree w/ your theories. 305g sounds good. i've gotten spoiled by the potable friendliness of something thats 200-280 amps and weighs 35 lbs though. it goes on top of roofs, sissor lift, baskets, i'd hate to be w/o it. when my cst goes, i think i'll buy lincolns version of the same thing. Some times I pull up to a job, they look at the truck and say, "wheres your welder" in an alarmed tone , i calmly say, "it's on the front seat." they usually just then stare at me for a extra second and say nothing
Reply:Originally Posted by Newfie_1986Hey allI have a Miller CST 280 purchased it from a repair shop quite a while ago. I haven't used it much. Im finding the machine wants to stick while running 7018 on either the soft or stiff setting unless I run pretty hot. I have a new ground clamp set up for the machine but no time to run it for a few weeks. The old ground lead was too small for the clamp (it didn't tighten up enough in the clamp) and the spring was weak.How much does a bad ground affect an inverter? I have had horrible ground leads and clamps on transformer and engine drive machines without major issues.
Reply:lincoln can be cocky, pretty hard to beat millers customer service. when i was trying to decide which to buy in 07 i think it was, i was able to get a miller rep to drop off a cst250 at a welding store for me to demo. l couldn't get the lincoln rep to do it. lincoln told me of a place about 100mi away in the foothills where i could go demo anything i wanted. So i bought the cst280. 20 lbs difference is quite a bit, I wonder what they did different in there. If I'm runing 1/8 or 5/32 7018 w/ my xmt350 and cst280, i couldn't tell you the difference. In other words, if i stay below the bottom 2/3 of the rated output on my cst, I couldn't tell you which of the two machines i was using w/o looking. I wonder how similar the two arc characeristics are between the intervec 350 and the v250 or v275s are. By chance, do you have any thoughts about that Dave, or anyone else?Last edited by 123weld; 08-25-2015 at 09:14 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by 123weld I wonder how similar the two arc characeristics are between the intervec 350 and the v250 or v275s are. By chance, do you have any thoughts about that Dave, or anyone else?
Reply:Remember the CST will fault out(Blue light flashes twice. resets after load is removed) when operated on single phase power if amps are over 200 very far. The welder looks at line voltage and current. If current to high it faults out. So if power cords to small that fault point may be lower. This fault does not shut the welder down, just phases back the welder out put to a safe level. when ever you have a problem welding in a certain position or with a type of rod/wire. It is best to contact the machine tech support. Talk not to just the repair guys but the product support guys. Also call the maker of the rod/wire and talk to them about how you are using the rod/wire.Both of these guys may have an adjustment or trick that will make a big difference.I had 1 situation where a machine owner was having a problem with one type of rod.Called the machine tech support and described what the arc was doing and they knew what rod was being used. because they have seen it already and their machine did not like that rod being welded that way.
Reply:Originally Posted by Newfie_1986Hey allI have a Miller CST 280 purchased it from a repair shop quite a while ago. I haven't used it much. Im finding the machine wants to stick while running 7018 on either the soft or stiff setting unless I run pretty hot. I have a new ground clamp set up for the machine but no time to run it for a few weeks. The old ground lead was too small for the clamp (it didn't tighten up enough in the clamp) and the spring was weak.How much does a bad ground affect an inverter? I have had horrible ground leads and clamps on transformer and engine drive machines without major issues.
Reply:Originally Posted by 'StangA bad ground will have the same effect on an invertor as it will on a transformer. Bad arc! As for running 7018 electrodes-I always run them hot. Pull them out of the oven, crank up the amps. I run about 130 for 1/8 7018. Works for me.
Reply:Originally Posted by ccawgcI had 1 situation where a machine owner was having a problem with one type of rod.Called the machine tech support and described what the arc was doing and they knew what rod was being used. because they have seen it already and their machine did not like that rod being welded that way.
Reply:Originally Posted by Newfie_1986The machine is set plenty hot as I said in my other post it should be able to run a 3/32 7018 without snuffing out down to 75 amps, hell the maxstar 200's at work can do it and they are known as garbage stick welders so could the powerarc 200 I had and the Dynastys at the hall. I have always found inverters much more picky about the ground. Ex lets say im welding in a building I could take a transformer machine and ground 100 feet away from me and be fine, do that with an inverter and the arc doesn't seem as stable, and yes I have tried this multiple times. Same thing with rust.As for the power cord its plugged right into the wall. Im thinking its the ground to be honest I will know once I try the new one.
Reply:Well im not even using this machine for work per say just practice at home when I do not want to go to the hall. The maxstars at work and the dynastys at the hall weld better. I find it hard to root with this cst 280 as well, it either sticks like im too cold, and I turn it up to keep it from sticking, and then I can not control the keyhole due to too much heat. I was thinking it was me not being used to the machine and it being new to me. The Dynastys at the hall will run circles around this machine for me with a 6010 root.Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:Hey DoctorBuzz - my ESAB also stick welds awful when switched to tig....must be broken ...good thing nobody saw me, tried to light that rod 3 or 4 times before I switched it back Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Well I have fired up the old CST 280 again with the new ground clamp. Had it hooked up to 30 amps, Sometimes hard to start other times not so much, and the arc going out during welding even at 100 amps with a 3/32 7018, tried some 6013 it seemed to handle those much easier. With a 3/32 7018 and machine set at 100 I should be able to rest the tip of the electrode against the work and let the rod burn itself, but instead I have to be careful and hold a gap. I was running Hobart 418 7018's today, they seem to weld decent ! The machine welds a whole lot better on the stiff setting, but the arc is more aggressive. Maybe that's the answer just weld on the stiff setting ? The lincolns at work and my old Ranger I could turn the Arc force down to soft/smooth and not have any sticking issues if I had the heat. Guess this CST 280 is a different animal. I guess the soft setting on this Miller is really soft ? Stupid tapped adjustment !Last edited by Newfie_1986; 09-04-2015 at 07:12 PM.Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:What's up with the Maxstar 200 bashing?ESAB Rebels 215 and 235, ESAB HELIARC 281i, ESAB ET 301i, Hypertherm 85 and 45XP, Thermal Arc 185, TD 60i, HTP PRO PULSE 300 |
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发表于 2021-8-31 22:29:25