350 with integrated cooler

I found out that the plastic seal on the cooler tank cap disintegrated and some pieces fell into the plastic coolant tank. There is also a brown sludge all over the inside. What a joke. Especially when the rig
has less than 30 hours on it, being 10 years new, as well as being purchased new.

The brown sludge identifies that somewhere there are steel fittings in the cooling system.
The plastic seal in the vented fill cap should have not disintegrate.

I have some questions emailed directly to a individual at the Miller Tech Service department.
My attitude is not to take it out on him, but with the cost of these machines I think a good
deal of scorn should be placed on some guys out there at Miller.

If anybody has run through this before I would like to hear what you did.

[Cgotto6]

Are you running miller coolant?

[bluesky]

I just found that the the two fittings on the top of the coolant tank are not brass. They
are gold zinc plated steel. These are the fittings for inlet and outlet water connections.
The plastic tank was probably contracted to an outside source and they screwed up on
the fittings not being brass. But Miller decided to use it anyway!

[H80N]

Could you give us the serial number..??

[bluesky]

Could you give us the serial number..??

LE476802
The coolant motor has a date code of 11/10/2004.
Machine purchased 12/15/2004.

[H80N]

LE476802
The coolant motor has a date code of 11/10/2004.
Machine purchased 12/15/2004.

So... we are looking at an 11 year old machine..

how often has the coolant been changed..??

What are you complaining about??... sounds like it is doing rather well does it not??

[bluesky]

So... we are looking at an 11 year old machine..

how often has the coolant been changed..??

What are you complaining about??... sounds like it is doing rather well does it not??

It's not the years but the mileage.
A water system should not rust out due to bad design issues like steel couplings.
Plastic filler cap that disintegrates within cooling tank.

If you do not understand these issues then feel free to read somebody else's thread.

[H80N]

Getting Real..

It's not the years but the mileage.
A water system should not rust out due to bad design issues like steel couplings.
Plastic filler cap that disintegrates within cooling tank.

If you do not understand these issues then feel free to read somebody else's thread.

I have no problems understanding the problem..

The factory suggests YEARLY coolant change regardless of hours..

And this appears the first coolant change you are performing in 11 years..??

Sounds like this unit is holding up remarkably well..

There are sound reasons for the intervals of PERIODIC Maintenance on these machines..

See Section 6-2. Routine Cooler Maintenance on page 52 of the manual..

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o363f_mil.pdf

That all you are seeing is a little bit of sludge after 11 years of neglecting the PM is rather remarkable..

Maybe you should be commending the engineers rather than griping..??

Being Realistic...Anticorrosive & Preservative additives will deplete over time regardless of use... Plastics and rubber will oxydize and degrade.. these are just the facts of life..
Whether it be a welder or a classic car that is put in storage..

[Cgotto6]

So not miller coolant?

[WillieB]

I have no problems understanding the problem..

The factory suggests YEARLY coolant change regardless of hours..

And this appears the first coolant change you are performing in 11 years..??

Sounds like this unit is holding up remarkably well..

There are sound reasons for the intervals of PERIODIC Maintenance on these machines..

See Section 6-2. Routine Cooler Maintenance on page 52 of the manual..

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o363f_mil.pdf

That all you are seeing is a little bit of sludge after 11 years of neglecting the PM is rather remarkable..

Maybe you should be commending the engineers rather than griping..??

Being Realistic...Anticorrosive & Preservative additives will deplete over time regardless of use... Plastics and rubber will oxydize and degrade.. these are just the facts of life..
Whether it be a welder or a classic car that is put in storage..

How about shelf life? I have Miller coolant I bought a year ago when I bought the cooler. Is it OK in a sealed jug?

[griff01]

It's not the years but the mileage.
A water system should not rust out due to bad design issues like steel couplings.
Plastic filler cap that disintegrates within cooling tank.

If you do not understand these issues then feel free to read somebody else's thread.

Now that is good way to get help.

Griff

[H80N]

How about shelf life? I have Miller coolant I bought a year ago when I bought the cooler. Is it OK in a sealed jug?

I would not believe that shelf life in a sealed container is a problem.... I do have a couple cases of the Miller coolant that I bought a couple of years back...
will have to look and see if I can find a "use by date" on the bottles..

Believe the situation to be similar to automotive cooling applications where you would be getting debris that is a wear product of the circulating pump and corrosives and oxydized material that will be neutralized by the protective additives.. that are depleted over time..

Maybe somebody from Miller could shed more light on he subject..

[bluesky]

Now that is good way to get help.

Griff

You are probably right. However I see no need to correct the assumptions that have been made.

Anyway:
I found that the build up sludge is brown in color and particles in it attract to a magnet.
Most probably from the plating on the steel fittings. I will probably have to machine some
new ones out of some my 304 SS. Not going to get some equivalents made in China, no way.

I found out that there are two problems with this cooler design other than the steel plated fittings.
The manual makes no mention but I know about them now.. I'm going to talk with Tech support to
talk with an experienced person.

BTW
The Manual says it's ok to use Miller coolant, Distilled water, or De-ionized water.

If using water then change every 6 months
If using Miller coolant then change every year.

[bluesky]

I would not believe that shelf life in a sealed container is a problem.....

At those prices it is better to believe there is a long shelf life.

[Cgotto6]

So have you changed your coolant or water formula every six months or year? If you had, you likely would have never seen it in the current state of degredation, and likely never would have realized the short cut in the system. I understand you feel miller used the incorrect material on those fittings, but reality is everything manufactured is made to do its job and nothing more. What I'm saying is sure they may be flaking their plating and could be degrading, but reality is its been over ten years and with what appears to be lack of maintenance, and it's still performing. If they chose the top of the line part for every piece of the welder very few of us would be able to purchase one.