Need help... mig problems

[ace4059]

Either way it works now and thats all that I mainly care about is that it works, and not why.
My uncle that lives a few houses down, he said that there have been many electrical surges and spikes.

I hooked it up today to my 98/2 bottle. Yes the PM215 will spray arc. You have to have the extension just right or it wanted to continue in short arc. 030 will spray at tap 7 and WFS at 465. 035 wire would not work for spray. I tried it with WFS maxed out to see if it would spray with 035 and the welding was just very loud. I ran a few very nice beads. I like the no splatter and the beads were very smooth.

So just to set the record straight, Yes the PM 215 will spray arc.

[Mike W]

Well good, my old Hobart Beta-Mig 200 will spray .035 with 5% CO2 with power still not maxed out but it is putting out 195 amps on the last test. I was going to build a 250 amp power supply but haven't gotten around to it. I probably will not use spray very often so I should just forget about it.

[Dan]

Either way it works now and thats all that I mainly care about is that it works, and not why.
My uncle that lives a few houses down, he said that there have been many electrical surges and spikes.

I hooked it up today to my 98/2 bottle. Yes the PM215 will spray arc. You have to have the extension just right or it wanted to continue in short arc. 030 will spray at tap 7 and WFS at 465. 035 wire would not work for spray. I tried it with WFS maxed out to see if it would spray with 035 and the welding was just very loud. I ran a few very nice beads. I like the no splatter and the beads were very smooth.

So just to set the record straight, Yes the PM 215 will spray arc.

For the .035 wire, did you try the wire speed in the 380 - 410 IPM range with V tap 7?

[Dan]

Well good, my old Hobart Beta-Mig 200 will spray .035 with 5% CO2 with power still not maxed out but it is putting out 195 amps on the last test. I was going to build a 250 amp power supply but haven't gotten around to it. I probably will not use spray very often so I should just forget about it.

Mike,

Mike, for most of my needs I could get by just fine with the MM 210. Which tops out around 24 -25 V @ around 210 amps, with only around a 30% duty cycle rating. So, I suspect you' ll probably get along just fine with your 28V @ 200 amp with a 60% duty cycle unit. Oh yeah, and something like 27 V taps to choose from, instead of only 7 like the MM 210 and PM 215 have.

I suspect too, that your unit might be able to do a little better then 200 amps too. Do you have a V/A curve chart available on it?

[Mike W]

Hi Dan, I do and will look it up when I am awake. With the 60% duty cycle I could crank it up more. Years ago a Hobart rep told me that if I put in larger diodes, it would be equal to the Beta 250.

[ace4059]

For the .035 wire, did you try the wire speed in the 380 - 410 IPM range with V tap 7?

Nope I tried it 500-700ipm

[Dan]

Nope I tried it 500-700ipm

.035 being a larger diameter wire then .030, means it takes less wire speed with the .035 to produce roughly the same output amperage level. With tap 7, 380 - 410 IPM of .035 , will roughly have you in the 190 - 200+ amp range, which if it will spray, is going to be around the top end for your unit. I doubt tap 7 will produce a high enough voltage to go much beyond this wire speed range , and still be able to produce a spray arc.

500+ IPM of .035 is pushing the output up into the 250+ amp range. A PM 215 or MM 210 definitely doesn't have enough top end voltage to perform properly at this high of an output.

[ace4059]

500+ IPM of .035 is pushing the output up into the 250+ amp range. A PM 215 or MM 210 definitely doesn't have enough top end voltage to perform properly at this high of an output.

Well, that one of my other concerns. I hate to bring this up now but while im in the problem thread, why not.
It you are right about250+ amps, then something may be wrong. I welded .035 at 570 IMP on tap 7 for about 10 mins just messing around (actual arc time may have been 4-5 mins out of the ten). At 215 amps on the front of my machine it says 30% duty cycle. So I am thinking with 250 amps it may be two mins duty cycle tops.

Just kinda weird that I have never hit the duty cycle once, since I have owned the machine!!! Could that be a problem.

Now a question for the spray arc. since I am new to that I just though you moved it in a straight line. When I did that, I had undercut on the edges. So do I just need to weld "normal" with the spray arc and move in the ((((((((( postion or go slower or what.

[Mike W]

If you had a Fluke i410 or a similar unit, you can read both AC and DC. That is how I check my Hobart to know what the amps is really running out. Spray arc doesn't give you any time to more than go in a straight line. You need to do some testing to see the actual fusion in your bead. A lot of weld metal is being put down quickly. Look at some cross sections to see the results. Looks can be deceiving.

[ace4059]

Spray arc doesn't give you any time to more than go in a straight line.

Thats what I was thinking. I tried that and I got a bead that was piled high in the center, and the edges had some undercut. Maybe the metal was too thin or I was going to slow causing it to pile up. I did notice that it lays down lots of metal. I did also try the ((((((((( motion and I had no undercut but it was one gigantic bead.

[ace4059]

If you had a Fluke i410 or a similar unit, you can read both AC and DC. That is how I check my Hobart to know what the amps is really running out.

Is that a electric checker. People keep telling me to check the volts and amps but how do I do that.
I have something like the Fluke i410 so how do I/where do I put the ends to check the voltage and amps. Do I clamp one end to table and other to contact tip? Do I have to be welding to check the volts and amps? Can someone explain.

[Mike W]

The voltage can be measured with any meter. Connect one side to any point like the ground clamp or closer to the same point in the welder. The other lead of the meter connects to the lug that that gun gets its voltage from.

A meter like the i410 just clamps around the cable to the ground clamp. The i410 converts the current to a voltage of milivolts. A regular meter reads that voltage as amps. There are other units that the display is part of the clamp on unit. I like the separate one because I can plug it into an oscilloscope and still read the amps as well as see the signal.

You can read the volts before welding. This is the open circuit voltage. When you weld, the voltage will drop. You have to be welding to see any current.

[Dan]

Well, that one of my other concerns. I hate to bring this up now but while im in the problem thread, why not.
It you are right about250+ amps, then something may be wrong. I welded .035 at 570 IMP on tap 7 for about 10 mins just messing around (actual arc time may have been 4-5 mins out of the ten). At 215 amps on the front of my machine it says 30% duty cycle. So I am thinking with 250 amps it may be two mins duty cycle tops.

Just kinda weird that I have never hit the duty cycle once, since I have owned the machine!!! Could that be a problem.

Now a question for the spray arc. since I am new to that I just though you moved it in a straight line. When I did that, I had undercut on the edges. So do I just need to weld "normal" with the spray arc and move in the ((((((((( postion or go slower or what.

The duty cycle rating for your unit, is based on running the unit in conditions were the temperature of the enviroment your in, is around 100º F+. So, if the temperature of the enviroment you're welding in is only around 70º F, your PM 215 is going to actually have more than a 30% duty cycle at 215 amps, how much more I have no idea.

Not being there to actually visually see whats happening, I'm going to have to assume your undercutting issue is due to running to long of an arc length. Try increasing your wire speed to tighten up the arc . You don't want a real long, wide spray pattern, this wastes alot of energy.

[ace4059]

as posted above I have my PM215 working correctly, (no idea how).

I thought I would follow up and tell everyone that not only is it Fixed but I figured out the problem tonight. The Nozzle is copper and has a fiberglass cloth on the inside of it. The on the outside of the fiberglass if has a small piece of copper that has threads on it to screw onto my gun. The fiberglass was melted which allowed the threaded copper part slide 1 inch down towards the end of the nozzle. This was enough to allow most of my gass of escape out the top of the nozzle instead of the bottom where the contact tip is, and to shield the weld bead. This is what was causing ALL my problems. I did not notice it untill I got a new nozzle (which is the same lenght is my old melted one) but I noticed the tip was flush with the nozzle end. My old one when I put it on, the tip stuck out the nozzle 3/4" of an inch, so I could not have it adjusted tight, allowing the gas to escape.

What alot of trouble to go throught for a 10 dollar nozzle. so now my 125ez and Pm215 are working great.
Later
Ryan