millermatic 211 autoset failure...help tech people

[nobhedz]

Aloha. First and foremost, if there are rules that one has to post an introduction before seeking help...sorry.

Ok now to the topic.

I have read up on prior posts. .still I am lost.

I bought a brand new

millermatic 211 autoset
Running .030 solid wire
110 v.
Argon co2 mix

Trying to fix before I hand it to warranty department as I can't wait a week with no welder..too busy :-/

Where the wire passes through the drive wheels...and enters the gun cable....the wire is shorting.

The miller approved repair facility said..." never heard of that before".

The local weld supply shop reckons they have heard about it a few times.


Its only started happening since I've been working at this one older house, most likely with bad electricity (old wiring)

Could a lack of amps do this?

So far I have isolated the project from the welder. The project is on a plastic table with rubber feet.

I have removed the gun and cable from welder...cleaned all brass.

I have taken off machine covers, blown out dust and inspected for possible shorts.

I have cut the inner liner back closer to the brass just incase there was a kink I couldn't see. .


My issue is nothing to do with the tension. I'm sure of that.


I have the negative connected to the ground clamp.

Ground clamp and wire are both new and in excellent condition.

My gun wire is ten foot, wrapped in leather for protection.

Any ideas what's wrong? Please help.

I have been welding for years, owned a few machines...this is my first miller....so maybe something obvious is staring me in the face.

[cruizer]

Either you have a failed gun cable, or your drive wheels have shorted out somewhere. I'd try it on a known good input power. The ac lines in the house are likely reversed so the case is live

[labmaster02]

millermatic 211 autoset failure...help tech people

I've heard when the wire spool is wound if the beginning of the wire is too long and it touches the case it may short out. Have you tried a new spool of wire?

[Danny]

The most common cause for this has been running a 4" diameter spool of wire that has a short piece of the wire sticking out past the spool that is making contact with the flat steel washer that the spool tensioning spring presses against. The wire may be hidden behind a sticker.

[Azphiks]

millermatic 211 autoset failure...help tech people

There is a button on front panel to switch from a spool gun to a mig gun. This may be tripped to the spool gun causing your fault

[labmaster02]

millermatic 211 autoset failure...help tech people

Any update on the problem?