Welding Tips and Tricks

I have been tig welding with my syncrowave 250 for years, I recently needed to do some stick welding, I changed my settings for stick but it will not strike an arc. I got my manual out and double checked my settings (it has been years since the last time I welded with a stick,) and still no luck, double check and the tig works but not the stick. does anybody have any ideas?
Thanks for any suggestions.

Hey,

If its anything like a mig with a stick function, the contactor switch may be faulty. This is the switch that turns the electrode from cold with a switch/button/foot pedal to live with stick electrode. Also 'turns off" gas solenoid.

Mick

Robert, try unplugging or turning off your remote.

robertjr14 wrote:I have been tig welding with my syncrowave 250 for years, I recently needed to do some stick welding, I changed my settings for stick but it will not strike an arc. I got my manual out and double checked my settings (it has been years since the last time I welded with a stick,) and still no luck, double check and the tig works but not the stick. does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any suggestions.

Robert,

I use 250's at work. If you haven't sorted it out by Monday, I'll set one up for stick (been a while for me, too) and see what is and isn't obvious, and see if I can sort out what can go wrong.

Steve S

Welcome to the forum robertjr14.

I have a 250 @ work, about 5 years old. The third or forth light should be blue for stick welding.

I think the selections are

stick-PNL-ON-Off

robertjr14 wrote:I have been tig welding with my syncrowave 250 for years, I recently needed to do some stick welding, I changed my settings for stick but it will not strike an arc. I got my manual out and double checked my settings (it has been years since the last time I welded with a stick,) and still no luck, double check and the tig works but not the stick. does anybody have any ideas?
Thanks for any suggestions.

Wow, being my first time using this forum I want to thank everybody for their quick and great responses!

Mike wrote:Welcome to the forum robertjr14.

Thanks, it works!

WerkSpace wrote:Robert, try unplugging or turning off your remote.

robertjr14 wrote:I have been tig welding with my syncrowave 250 for years, I recently needed to do some stick welding, I changed my settings for stick but it will not strike an arc. I got my manual out and double checked my settings (it has been years since the last time I welded with a stick,) and still no luck, double check and the tig works but not the stick. does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any suggestions.

Thanks WerkSpace, I had been turning off the remote, but your suggestion to unplug the remote and I also flipped the arc control switch back to on not remote and it is working. I know I have some more work to do (i did ohm the toggle switch for the remote and it seems to work,) do you have an idea were I should look next for a complete repair, so I do not have to unplug my remote to switch back and forth. I was thinking I would start and the pedal. Thanks again!

Otto Nobedder wrote:Robert,

I use 250's at work. If you haven't sorted it out by Monday, I'll set one up for stick (been a while for me, too) and see what is and isn't obvious, and see if I can sort out what can go wrong.

Steve S

Got it thanks!

robertjr14 wrote: Thanks WerkSpace, I had been turning off the remote, but your suggestion to unplug the remote and I also flipped the arc control switch back to on not remote and it is working. I know I have some more work to do (i did ohm the toggle switch for the remote and it seems to work,) do you have an idea were I should look next for a complete repair, so I do not have to unplug my remote to switch back and forth. I was thinking I would start and the pedal. Thanks again!

With the remote plugged in, put it in TIG mode, amps and on/off set to remote, and see if the blue "on" light stays lit. This indicates a short in the on/off circuit, probably at the switch itself, which may prevent you from switching to "current on" in stick mode.

Alternatively, if you have a 14 pin remote, there may be a jumper (in the plug) that tells the machine the remote is attached. This can be cut/removed and solve the problem. The 14-pin only requires 6 wires, three for the amp control, two for the on/off, and one "ground" for the cable shield. If there's a short wire jumping straight from one pin to another, cut it, and your problem should be solved.

Steve S

The remote switch should be in the 'ON' position to disable the High Frequency and gas control.
It uses the 'Remote 14' position when actually using the remote foot pedal for TIG welding.
If the remote is not being used make sure that the OUTPUT contacter switch is in the ON position.

For stick welding,
The CRATER TIME switch should be OFF.
The SPOT TIME switch should be OFF.
The OUTPUT contacter switch should be ON.
The ARC CONTROL switch should be ON.

Your remote pin outs are as follows,
Pins A,B - are your remote switch, (Pin A has 24 volts AC on it.)
Pins C,D,E - are your potentiometer connections with D being the center common. ( 0 - 10 volts DC is used.)
Pin K - is your chassis common ground.

http://www.millerwelds.com/service/loca ... WAVE%20250

robertjr14 wrote:

WerkSpace wrote:Robert, try unplugging or turning off your remote.

robertjr14 wrote:I have been tig welding with my syncrowave 250 for years, I recently needed to do some stick welding, I changed my settings for stick but it will not strike an arc. I got my manual out and double checked my settings (it has been years since the last time I welded with a stick,) and still no luck, double check and the tig works but not the stick. does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any suggestions.

Thanks WerkSpace, I had been turning off the remote, but your suggestion to unplug the remote and I also flipped the arc control switch back to on not remote and it is working. I know I have some more work to do (i did ohm the toggle switch for the remote and it seems to work,) do you have an idea were I should look next for a complete repair, so I do not have to unplug my remote to switch back and forth. I was thinking I would start and the pedal. Thanks again!

Hi Weldmonger,
You wrote that the remote pot uses D as the common, middle lead of the rheostat.
The manual states that as well.
However the PDF on the foot controllers seems to show E as the common. ?
Which ever is the case, I’m also not sure which lead is C or D. When the foot pedal is not being used, one side of the Pot will have 0 ohms and the other will have max ohms. Is C max or 0?
I’m going to adapt my Hobart remote and thought I’d ask before I experiment to figure it out.
Thanks,
Herb

What is the serial number on your machine?

herbkanis wrote:Hi Weldmonger,
You wrote that the remote pot uses D as the common, middle lead of the rheostat.
The manual states that as well.
However the PDF on the foot controllers seems to show E as the common. ?
Which ever is the case, I’m also not sure which lead is C or D. When the foot pedal is not being used, one side of the Pot will have 0 ohms and the other will have max ohms. Is C max or 0?
I’m going to adapt my Hobart remote and thought I’d ask before I experiment to figure it out.
Thanks,
Herb