New Here DX 200 HF Arc Start problem

[scratchedup]

Very much a beginning welder. Recently purchased a used DX 200. It appears the HF start is not working.

Goggle tells me that this is a recurring problem. I can hear the points firing but NO arc.

Can the points be cleaned.....found new board on ebay for $350!

All setting are correct and Tungsten is sharp and clean.

Any help here? Is this a re-curing Miller dx 200 problem?

I will be back with specific ser#.....

[scratchedup]

this seems to be the common theme.....

We have an older dynasty 200 as well. Ours is doing same stuff. Needs new board. We tried adjusting gap and cleaning it but no go. Sucks. Newer ones have different hf starting. No way to upgrade either. We wanted a water cooled setup so just got a 280 dx to replace the 200dx.

just wondering if Miller is a "stand-up" company or not.....

This welder was not free...and if it is defective.......from the get-go.......?

[H80N]

There have been a lot of threads on this subject...

you might read a few of them...

welder serial#....?? that will tell us the age and build series.. (there have been 23+ iterations of the Dynasty 200DX)

Did you try it under power before you bought it...??

surely you checked it out and made sure it was fully operational before laying out the money..??

[Cgotto6]

As with any tool, things wear out and break. How many hours and arc starts does the unit have?

[scratchedup]

There have been a lot of threads on this subject...

you might read a few of them...

welder serial#....?? that will tell us the age and build series.. (there have been 23+ iterations of the Dynasty 200DX)

Did you try it under power before you bought it...??

surely you checked it out and made sure it was fully operational before laying out the money..??

Ser# LF099147
Stock# 907099-01

surely I did not....check it out. Dumb on my part. I called the local weld shop (Sidney Lee) and they said for that price buy it! so i did.

The problem is that I did not know enough at the time to test it.

[scratchedup]

As with any tool, things wear out and break. How many hours and arc starts does the unit have?

Point taken however this appears to be a genuine problem with this unit. I would expect a good company would stand behind it.....especially since their stuff is USA made and expensive.

I do not mind paying for quality.

At the end of the day I don't realistically expect much help.

If the HF start board can be replaced with a new one and I could be assured it will give good service I'd be OK with that. I just don't want to throw a bunch of money at it and have it still not work.

[scratchedup]

How many hours and arc starts does the unit have?

How do I find this out?

[scratchedup]

I just heard back from Miller4less-

"Good Morning,

Item #209112 has been superceded new item #230191 3 wk lead time from receipt of purchase $535.69


Thanks,


Dawn"

Is it worth spending $537?

[H80N]

Ser# LF099147
Stock# 907099-01

surely I did not....check it out. Dumb on my part. I called the local weld shop (Sidney Lee) and they said for that price buy it! so i did.

The problem is that I did not know enough at the time to test it.

Your Dyn200 is early-mid 2005... pre "Blue Lightning"

here is the manual..

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o2240k_mil.pdf

In all likelyhood it is not broken..

earlier machines were a bit finicky about arc starts..

there have been MANY threads on the subject.. you might search and read them..

is it throwing error codes??...

what are your settings..??.. and what are you trying to weld??

You may want to reset it to factory defaults and try again...

many times.. too many conflicting settings get entered and the DYN will go into brain freeze... and a reset will clear that.. worth a try..

We have to remember... this is a 9 year old machine...that may have thousands of hours and arc starts... so anything is possible...

[scratchedup]

Your Dyn200 is early-mid 2005... pre "Blue Lightning"

here is the manual..

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o2240k_mil.pdf

In all likelyhood it is not broken..

earlier machines were a bit finicky about arc starts..

there have been MANY threads on the subject.. you might search and read them..

is it throwing error codes??...

what are your settings..??.. and what are you trying to weld??

You may want to reset it to factory defaults and try again...

many times.. too many conflicting settings get entered and the DYN will go into brain freeze... and a reset will clear that.. worth a try..

We have to remember... this is a 9 year old machine...that may have thousands of hours and arc starts... so anything is possible...

Thanks for the input...
I have done quite a bit of research ...that is why I'm (Maybe) a little upset with Miller...it seems to be well known that these early machines had HF arc problems. They should own up...I have yet to contact them however.

I like your idea of a big factory re-set. No codes.

Mostly the machine sat in the back of a truck....I just don't think it was that used.

I replaced the whimpy 14ga cord with a 15' 6ga and cleaned up the inside. It was bought used about 3 years ago. I've used it maybe 10 times.

As far as what I weld...at this point it is just practice on mild steel with a little stainless thrown in. The setting are all the standard of what I'm doing.

The machine does fine with the welding its just the HF start that I'm having trouble with.

[cruizer]

Are you using a foot or hand control?

[H80N]

Thanks for the input...
I have done quite a bit of research ...that is why I'm (Maybe) a little upset with Miller...it seems to be well known that these early machines had HF arc problems. They should own up...I have yet to contact them however.

I like your idea of a big factory re-set. No codes.

Mostly the machine sat in the back of a truck....I just don't think it was that used.

I replaced the whimpy 14ga cord with a 15' 6ga and cleaned up the inside. It was bought used about 3 years ago. I've used it maybe 10 times.

As far as what I weld...at this point it is just practice on mild steel with a little stainless thrown in. The setting are all the standard of what I'm doing.

The machine does fine with the welding its just the HF start that I'm having trouble with.

Here is one of MANY threads on the subject...

worth your while to take the time and read..

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/showthread.php?14651-Yet-another-Dynasty-200DX-HF-Start-thread&highlight=dynasty+arc+start

[scratchedup]

Are you using a foot or hand control?

hey cruiser the folks over on Weekend Warrior Welding said you could help...

I have a foot pedal.

Here is a link to my stuff...

http://www.weld.com/index.php/Weekend-Warrior-Welding-Forum/question/welding-newbee-101.html

[cruizer]

Now the HF, only comes on untill the arc is started then it shuts off, it maybe that your tig torch conduit is worn out, turned green with lots of resistance, It may be that the brass nuts on the backs of the output terminals are loose. Because you have no error codes, its quite likely that the machine isn't the problem,

May have an inferior ground clamp, ie, non brass version. Just cause you may be able to lift sart or scratch start means nothing. Also the unit doesn't like green tungsten. Just doesn't conduct well enough for an inverter.

[scratchedup]

Here is one of MANY threads on the subject...

worth your while to take the time and read..

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/showthread.php?14651-Yet-another-Dynasty-200DX-HF-Start-thread&highlight=dynasty+arc+start

just read the link...I think I;m more depressed.....did not see a lot on the fix....