Dynasty 200 is a beautiful welder .... when it's working

[LewisCobb]

Just not my weekend. I finally got back to practicing tig welding - the humidity and temps are a bit more reasonable in this part of Canada these days and it's far more comfortable in the garage.

Some of you may remember a couple of months back I was having a heck of a problem with these "help-1" errors. After a trip to the service shop and a session on the load bank, they seemed to go away but I only really got about an hour on the machine before the summer set in and I was vectored off onto other tasks.

This weekend I got another help-1 error - but only one. Then, just when I'm getting in the groove with my coupons etc. The HF start stopped working !!! Machine went back to the shop this morning. *sigh*

On the upside, I started using the lift-arc feature when the HF stopped working just to make sure I was not doing something wrong and it worked like a charm. In fact, I kind of like it more than the HF start to be honest - it's a more "calming" process for a newbie like me instead of that "spark and bang" effect with the HF. I imagine there are places for both in real welding situations.

Anyway, I'm back to reading about welding instead of actually doing for a short while I guess.

Thanks heavens for 3 year warranties !

Cheers,
Lewis

[Aerometalworker]

Lewis,
Well I feel for you, thats for sure. This does bring up an interesting point though, and one I think is overlooked many times. Basicly electronic components dont like periods of non-use. capacitors die if not used, same with rectifiers and all that family of electrochemical components. Powering up these parts once a month or so will probably greatly extend their life. Now there are some things that age hurts and cant be helped with power cycles. Things like lead migration and tin whiskers affect soldered connections, and are just a fact of life. Hope it gets fixed soon for you!
-Aaron

[LewisCobb]

Lewis,
Well I feel for you, thats for sure. This does bring up an interesting point though, and one I think is overlooked many times. Basicly electronic components dont like periods of non-use. capacitors die if not used, same with rectifiers and all that family of electrochemical components. Powering up these parts once a month or so will probably greatly extend their life. Now there are some things that age hurts and cant be helped with power cycles. Things like lead migration and tin whiskers affect soldered connections, and are just a fact of life. Hope it gets fixed soon for you!
-Aaron

Aaron -
The help-1 error I figured might have been due to a discharge over the period of inactivity so I just powered off and on and then literally left it on for several hours as I was doing other things in the garage. The HF packing it in though seems like it could be an "infant mortality". This machine is basically brand new with probably 5-10 hours on it. You're right though, powering up and "exercising it" from time to time with periods of inactivity is probably a wise piece of advise.

The lad at the service shop here is a friendly fellow and he actually said he's able to take a look at it this afternoon so I can't complain there !

Will update when I learn more.

Cheers,
Lewis

[Aerometalworker]

Aaron -
The help-1 error I figured might have been due to a discharge over the period of inactivity so I just powered off and on and then literally left it on for several hours as I was doing other things in the garage. The HF packing it in though seems like it could be an "infant mortality". This machine is basically brand new with probably 5-10 hours on it. You're right though, powering up and "exercising it" from time to time with periods of inactivity is probably a wise piece of advise.

The lad at the service shop here is a friendly fellow and he actually said he's able to take a look at it this afternoon so I can't complain there !

Will update when I learn more.

Cheers,
Lewis

Lewis,
You might be right. Unless one of the power caps on the HF board just wont charge anymore. That happened to me on a non-miller machine. It sat for 2 years, and the cap failed on the first try. Luckily it was a $2 part from digikey and it didnt harm anything else. Well Glad to hear you have a good service shop.

[Mark Lindquist]

capicator rectifiers

The capacitors are storage devices. As their is a difference of potential they discharge. In the off cycle there is usually a bleed resistor for safetie concerns. A dioede stops current/voltage flow in one dirrection. With a sealed component not being used in dry conditions the component should last indifenantly.

[Aerometalworker]

The capacitors are storage devices. As their is a difference of potential they discharge. In the off cycle there is usually a bleed resistor for safetie concerns. A dioede stops current/voltage flow in one dirrection. With a sealed component not being used in dry conditions the component should last indifenantly.

Some do, some dont. "wet" caps seem to be sensitive. IGBT's also seem to be sensitive to inactivity. At least this is what we have learned on the CB's that we make.
-Aaron

[FusionKing]

So if a NEW welder sits on the showroom floor for an extended period of time could that make it more problematic? For say 2+ years? I know they get fired up at the factory.

Btw, Aaron are you involved in the electronic end of those things as well??

[Aerometalworker]

So if a NEW welder sits on the showroom floor for an extended period of time could that make it more problematic? For say 2+ years? I know they get fired up at the factory.

Btw, Aaron are you involved in the electronic end of those things as well??

Actually my father is in EE ( electrical engineering ) in a technical role, and has been for about 16 years now, he started in the mechainical group working on the 3.0L engine. As fas as the "old new welder" question, I guess it depends on the design and components used. Personally I would be shy of a machine thats heavy with PC boards, and hasnt been turned on in years. I would at least like to see it run at full power for 20 minutes or so on a "burn-in" table. That should stress any components that are marginal from age.
-Aaron

P.S. OT Yes I still owe you pictures of the skeg jigs!

[FusionKing]

Heck I just figured Merc cooled yer jets

[Aerometalworker]

Heck I just figured Merc cooled yer jets

Ha Ha , no im not union......thankfully. But it seems the company is making a final gesture and allowing another vote due to the gross failure on the union leaderships part to conduct an educated vote on their own.

[LewisCobb]

Just heard back from the shop - the HF is gone for sure. Will update when we sort it out further....probably going to be a replacement board as the HF coil looked to test fine.

While I am typing this - I have a question that someone can probably answer quick for me. I don't have a trigger switch or a thumb control for my torch and I am wondering how to tack up something on the floor (flattest place I have at the moment). I started to envision some jury rigged thing with the pedal up against the wall for a moment but then remembered the spot welding feature. It looks as if I could set up the machine with lift-arc, then the spot weld feature and use that.

My question is - there seems to be no control of the ramp up/down time with the spot weld feature - only full current for a short period of time. Would it be better to use the lift arc feature but not the spot weld, and just lift up the torch to extinguish the arc when the tack is completed? Something does not seem right about this, but again, I am only talking about tacking and will go right back over the spot again once I have the assy up on my bench (which is far from flat - hence the reason for going to the garage floor in the first place !)

Thanks !
Lewis

[popspipes]

Just heard back from the shop - the HF is gone for sure. Will update when we sort it out further....probably going to be a replacement board as the HF coil looked to test fine.

While I am typing this - I have a question that someone can probably answer quick for me. I don't have a trigger switch or a thumb control for my torch and I am wondering how to tack up something on the floor (flattest place I have at the moment). I started to envision some jury rigged thing with the pedal up against the wall for a moment but then remembered the spot welding feature. It looks as if I could set up the machine with lift-arc, then the spot weld feature and use that.

My question is - there seems to be no control of the ramp up/down time with the spot weld feature - only full current for a short period of time. Would it be better to use the lift arc feature but not the spot weld, and just lift up the torch to extinguish the arc when the tack is completed? Something does not seem right about this, but again, I am only talking about tacking and will go right back over the spot again once I have the assy up on my bench (which is far from flat - hence the reason for going to the garage floor in the first place !)

Thanks !
Lewis

Sorry to hear about your problems Lewis..........
I used the scratch start for years with my other machines, just pull the stinger off to stop the arc, it may work on the dynasty as well, I havent tried it though.
I get the help 1 code once in a great while and the help 10 once in awhile but not enough to be objectionable to me. I hope you get yours straightened out soon, I have about 48 hours on mine, so far so good. I leave it on most of the time though maybe that helps...........

[LewisCobb]

Sorry to hear about your problems Lewis..........
I used the scratch start for years with my other machines, just pull the stinger off to stop the arc, it may work on the dynasty as well, I havent tried it though.
I get the help 1 code once in a great while and the help 10 once in awhile but not enough to be objectionable to me. I hope you get yours straightened out soon, I have about 48 hours on mine, so far so good. I leave it on most of the time though maybe that helps...........

I'm thinking that I will probably leave mine on most of the time as well when I am out in the garage and there's even a remote chance I am going to use it. I really only got the help-1 code once last weekend before the HF packed it in.

I downloaded the manual for the Dynasty so I can refer to it while I am at my desk at work ( ) and it appears that pulling the torch back from the work to stop the arc is ok - it's even shown in the pictorial where the lift arc is used with the current profile etc. so there's no issues here I guess.

[Mustang]

Hey Lewis

Miller does sell a torch mounted current control that works very well . I have one and it plugs into the machine in place of the foot pedel and attaches to the torch handle with velcro straps . I use it whenever I have to weld something that forces me to be in an unusual position ( on the floor or up high ) . It sells for just under $200 .

Rob

[LewisCobb]

Hey Lewis

Miller does sell a torch mounted current control that works very well . I have one and it plugs into the machine in place of the foot pedel and attaches to the torch handle with velcro straps . I use it whenever I have to weld something that forces me to be in an unusual position ( on the floor or up high ) . It sells for just under $200 .

Rob

Hi Rob -
I saw those in the product listing but I'm just too tight-fisted at the moment ! If it looks like I will be in an out-of-position state more than a couple of times though I probably will pry open the wallet and pull some of those musty old bills out.....