I apparently hit the duty cycle on my Miller 175 MIG today, running .035 and CO2. The yellow light came on, and it quit welding. I just let it run on fan for about fifteen minutes. The light went off about ten minutes into it.
Is there any harm in this? Should I cycle it less in the future? I was just so into it, getting my trailer done that I went nutso.
Steve
I had that happen with an old Dan-Mig welder, so I put a couple of big
8" computer case fans (220volt) inside and never ever reached shut down after that.Gunner
It just means the overload protection thermostat works. This is a good thing, but try not to make a habit of it. Overheating takes a toll on internal parts like electrical insulation on the transformer coils.
I did some more yesterday, and paid attention to running for about ten minutes at a time. One time, I got carried away, and ran longer, and looked at the yellow indicator, and it was OK, but I stopped, and just let it idle on fan for about ten minutes. I was running it at about the top of the range.
When I do .065". I don't think I even come close to maxxing it out. Yesterday, also, I jumped back and forth to the M225 little AC welder I got. I really like that machine, although I find AC a little harder to get started. And then if you crank it up, you are usually a little high. But once you get it set, and remember the settings, it runs nice. Nice looking bead, too.
I want to get some 7014 just because, and even some 6013, although I have not run much of that at all in my life. I hate to go buy rod anymore, it's so expensive. And it jumps from 10# to 50# containers. I used to have a place that would sell it loose by the pound no matter how little you wanted, but not anywhere around here now.
Steve
Did the fan keep going after it stopped welding? If so, and if the thermostat triggers at a safe temperature, you shouldn't even see the toll described above.
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