Miller Maxstar 175 Voltage conversion

[deese]

i think i can get a deal on two miller maxstar 175's i have been wanting to try to convert a three phase inverter to run on single phase for some time now.i have done several repairs on inverter arc welders and have a pretty good understanding of them.just wanted to check to see if anyone on here has done it before.i want to figure it out because this type of welder is becoming very affordable mainly because nobody uses 460 volt three phase.any kind of help will be appreciated,thanks.

[MAC702]

The manual says it is a 3-phase machine. It is not designed to be converted. You'd need to feed it with 3-phase power, and while Miller doesn't recommend it, you might research phase converters.

[deese]

one reply wow this is an amazing forum

miller electric boat anchor business

[tailshaft56]

3 phase stuff goes pretty cheap because of the dimished market place.

[johnny_waz]

It will run on single phase! You just won't have full power, something probally around 60%.

I'm currently running a lincoln r3r-300 (3-phase) off of single phase, and it works flawlessly. I've even hooked my AIRCO mig unit to it and it works AWESOME.

I hooked 1 leg of 220V to L1, and the other leg to L3. Then I jumpered from L3 to L2 with a piece of wire the same size. Only thing I heard, is that you have to make sure your cooling fan runs off of single phase. Supposedly some don't(mine did).


Best part is, welder only cost me $50.00.

[tailshaft56]

The Maxstar is an inverter ( I think ). Not sure but I suspect single phase might be a problem for them.

[Brasco]

I converted my maxstar 175 back in july of 05. (Maxstar 175 converted to maxstar 152) check out my post for the details. Miller uses the cooling fan as a fan and step down transformer to power the control board . Miller has provided the taps on the fan to change from 480 to 230 VAC they just dont tell you that in the maxstar 175 manual and only list it as a 3 phase 480V welder. The 175 and 152 are inverter welders and can be run on single phase. Looking over the maxstar 152 diagram I found that the boards are the same and you only have to change the jumper listed in my orginal post. As best as I can figure the maxstar 175 converted to 230 v single phase will have maxstar 152 specs and since the 175 was a higher power welder on 480 V 3 phase it will be a lot less stressed on 230 V single phase. The lift arc works fine SMAW and GTAW switch just fine , the only thing is the amp control is calibrated for the 175 and needs to be derated to 152 specs. This is a great mod and works well. The only thing I might change from my orginal post would be to increase the wire size coming into and going out of the power switch to handle the higher current on 230 V single phase , but it has not be a problem for me. The power switch is the same for the 175 and 152 rated at 40 amps. Happy Convertin.

[johnny_waz]

Just as I suspected!

[Brasco]

I would change the taps on the Fan/Transformer from 480 to 230 because the fan runs slower and the transformer voltage to the controll board would be about half of what is required if you just Connect 230V to L1 and L3 . The reduced control voltage could cause problems with pulse widths driving the MOSFET's. The #47 jumper on the board has to do with weld current limiting and should also be changed when going from 480 to 230 V

[Pumpkinhead]

Johnny, Brasco (oh, that's funny), Tailshaft, et. al, methinks the Deese is too impatient, and we won't hear from 'em again, though your info won't be wasted if the next person requiring this information just used the search function.

[Brasco]

We are all Good Felles , Deese should not disrespect the "Weld Talk Board"

[spawacz]

Hi, Brasco. I got a Miller 175 with Snap Start.

I converted my maxstar 175 back in july of 05. (Maxstar 175 converted to maxstar 152) check out my post for the details. Miller uses the cooling fan as a fan and step down transformer to power the control board . Miller has provided the taps on the fan to change from 480 to 230 VAC they just dont tell you that in the maxstar 175 manual and only list it as a 3 phase 480V welder. The 175 and 152 are inverter welders and can be run on single phase. Looking over the maxstar 152 diagram I found that the boards are the same and you only have to change the jumper listed in my orginal post. As best as I can figure the maxstar 175 converted to 230 v single phase will have maxstar 152 specs and since the 175 was a higher power welder on 480 V 3 phase it will be a lot less stressed on 230 V single phase. The lift arc works fine SMAW and GTAW switch just fine , the only thing is the amp control is calibrated for the 175 and needs to be derated to 152 specs. This is a great mod and works well. The only thing I might change from my orginal post would be to increase the wire size coming into and going out of the power switch to handle the higher current on 230 V single phase , but it has not be a problem for me. The power switch is the same for the 175 and 152 rated at 40 amps. Happy Convertin.

Hi Brasco. Wonder if you would send me more information on how to convert the maxstar 175 to 152.
Thanks.
Gregory Krajewski.

[Ketoduo]

Can you please send me a link to the conversion on the Maxstar? Thank you!