Argon Sollenoid On Dynasty Dx Problems

[TEAMKLR2BAR]

seal on dynasty dx syllenoid belw, it was old i guess, pressure was not too high or anything. Local dealer said that miller only offered the entire sollenoid, they gave me an oring off of a sollenoid that had electrical problems. I replaced it and put the unit back together. It didn't work at first, then it worked for a short period of time, then the sollenoid stopped working at all! I removed the sollenoid and put 12v to it and I can hear it clicking. Here are my questions:

1 the sollenoid says 24v, what kind of signal should be across the two wires that hook to the sollenoid? How do I determine polarity if any?

2 Is that the common test for that type of sollenoid? Voltage across and see if it clicks? Or is there another method?

3 If there is no signal to the wires that actuate the sollenoid what is the part of the welder that must be replaced to fix that?

4 Has anyone else had this problem?

Thank you!

[Too_Many_Tools]

The first question I would have is "Is the unit under warranty?". If it is, let the repair depot worry about it.

I cannot think of any way that a failed O-ring (indicating either old age failure or high pressure) would would be causing the intermitent behavior you are seeing now unless the regulator on the tank is defective and there is a much higher pressure at the solenoid than there should be. Perhaps a much higher pressure would partially jam the solenoid and cause it to act intermitent.

Assuming you need to go further with this, just because a solenoid is marked "24V" doesn't mean that is what it gets for voltage or that is what it takes to work.

I would first measure the coil in the solenoid to see if the coll is electrically open. If it is not, jar the solenoid a couple times and check again. I have seen coils open and close randomly because of a loose connection.

I would also measure the resistance of the coil of the solenoid. Now you need to compare this value to what a working coil of a working solenoid is. They should be close to the same value. Sometimes a solenoid coil will paritally short so the solenoid will sometimes work, sometimes not which can make the diagnosis of the problem component a real pain.

Next you need to check to see what the voltage is that the welder is sending to the solenoid. It can be AC or DC and it should be sufficient voltage to close the solenoid. The exact voltage should be around 24 volts but I don't know the exact value but it can vary with the different solenoids...you really need to measure a working Dynasty DX of the same version and age to make sure Miller did not do a design change that will confuse the issue. The 12 volts that you have applied to the solenoid indicates that the solenoid does open at the lower voltage but that lower voltage may not be sufficient to keep the solenoid open during operation.

The fact that you are seeing different symptoms than before the O-ring problem may indicate that when you disassmbled the welder, you may have loosened some electrical connections that are now causing the intermittent problems which is something to check for. If that is not the case, I think you have more to worry about than a solenoid. The electronics that drive the solenoid may be need replacing. The fact that the solenoid seems to be operating at the lower voltage of 12 volts (reliabily?) would seem to indicate that the valve mechanism is not hanging up.



Let us know how the story turns out....including the cost if you need it serviced.

TMT

[Mike W]

I had to fix mine in my Hobart the other day. It had a slight leak. The coil is 24 volts AC on my mig. I took off the coil assembly and found a tiny piece of crud on the seat. I cleaned it up and it was fine. I did notice a O-ring present. I measured the pressure coming out of the flow guage. It was 30 pounds. Put a voltmeter across it and see what you read. You should hear it click.

[fun4now]

flow gage ?

i would check the flow gage also .
if it is putting out too much presher when you replaced the seal you now have a good seal and the silinoid cant operate with the higher presher..
do you have another flow gage you could try? even if you pulled a gage off somthing else just to run a test.