Diversion 180 - IGBT catastrophic failure

[e30ryan]

Hello all,My Diversion 180 has recently failed in the middle of some light-duty work. It now refuses to power up or shown any signs of life. It is just out of warranty....I opened it up and found that the Q3 and Q4 IGBTs have essentially exploded (on the main PC board). I was able to get a part number of "GP4068D" off of them from the part that broke off.Has anyone experienced this before? Do you recon I could just replace these components, or do you expect other components to be damaged (or at least be suspect) from this? The PC board itself looks a bit "bulged" so I expect some of the traces to be a bit damaged as well.... Does anyone have a schematic of the PC boards themselves?Cheers

[gsims]

Can't add any value answering your question, but will follow this topic as I am planning to purchasing my first TIG and was thinking about the 180.

[elvis]

What does just out of warranty mean? There are many stories of Miller covering parts but not labor on out of warranty machines that are barely out.

[BD1]

As stated above, see Local rep or contact the seller and MILLER.

[bederer]

Miller told me to pound sand 3 months out of warranty when my Diversion 180 popped. I couldn't justify the $1200 fix for the control board and labor when there are other welders (with warranty) to be had in the price range comparable to that fix-it price. Kind of a shame that those Diversions are pretty much disposable! I've been pretty happy with the green box replacement .

[ryanjones2150]

Man, that's sucks. Sorry to hear that. Have you attempted to repair it?

[Aeronca41]

I would definitely get more info before just replacing the IGBTs. If something else made them blow, it would be an expensive repair lesson. Perhaps Cruizer can shed some light on this when he sees the thread.

[H80N]

Miller told me to pound sand 3 months out of warranty when my Diversion 180 popped.....

MILLER Customer service....??? ....or a local dealer..??

[WillieB]

I opted out of my Diversion 180. As a steel welder I have no criticism. I used it mostly on thin aluminum. Its duty cycle drove me crazy. Like using a golf cart as a gravel truck, they are doomed to fail. Look into fixing, but long term, upgrade. I love my Dynasty 280DX! Even maxed on 5/8" thick aluminum, it never heated up. Adding helium was positively nuclear!.

Willie

[bederer]

MILLER Customer service....??? ....or a local dealer..??

I called Miller directly they said no service for you. I called a local authorized repair center, they also said they would not warranty the machine.

[bederer]

Digging back into my Diversion, it appears it's the exact same failure as the original poster - the Q3 and Q4 transistors have popped! My board appears to have swollen at Q4 as well, so it may be damaged as well. For a few bucks, I'm going to attempt to repair it.

[Aeronca41]

In your place, I would not just replace the IGBTs, but you probably already know that is risky. Something made them fail, and even if that was just heat or some other issue, they may well have taken out other components when they blew. Problem is, without data and experience, there's no good way to tell what. Those things are not cheap.

Just my two cents worth. Good luck; hope you find a way to fix it.

[bederer]

I realize something made them fail, or in the process of failing, they damaged other parts. From what I am reading with similar failures on various machines there are a few key things to look for. Unfortunately, it appears there are no schematics circulating for the controller board so it's kind of a crap shoot. I'm willing to throw $20 at it to humor myself trying to "fix it". If I can get it working I'll hand it down to a friend and can use it to practice with until it pops again.

[Aeronca41]

I realize something made them fail, or in the process of failing, they damaged other parts. From what I am reading with similar failures on various machines there are a few key things to look for. Unfortunately, it appears there are no schematics circulating for the controller board so it's kind of a crap shoot. I'm willing to throw $20 at it to humor myself trying to "fix it". If I can get it working I'll hand it down to a friend and can use it to practice with until it pops again.

Yes-the lack of docs makes it really hard. The IGBTs will cost more than $20

[bederer]

Yes-the lack of docs makes it really hard. The IGBTs will cost more than $20

I'm waiting on a return email this morning to verify the part number between two choices, but Mouser Electronics has them for $6.50 each in quantity less than 10, and $5.53 for quantity of 10-25. With estimated shipping it appears it should be around $20 for a couple of them.