Mm175

[moe1942]

Does the MM175 have copper or aluminum windings. Have been to the Miller site but they don't say or I didn't see the info.

[DDA52]

Moe
Not 100%, but I'm thinking it is alu..I might have seen it on Hobart...it might have been from ROCK, too.

[ASKANDY]

Moe,

The MM175 has Aluminum....why, do you have a preference?

Aluminum windings have been used for years in many of our products and actually handle the heat better and run cooler than copper units. As long as you upsize the aluminum windings to handle the current, they will perform as well as copper transformers.

A-

[moe1942]

Thanks for the replies. Guess I have been brainwashed, like most ,into thinking copper is better. I have great respect for the info I get here, so I will continue to enjoy the great performance of my MM175.

My question was based on curiosity, not performance.

[hankj]

Nothing wrong with Al widings, plus there's the added benefit of less weight.

Hank

[Teeps]

I was wondering the same about service entrance cable!!!
It's also aluminum.
I guess that's way I'll be using 4/0!!!

[ASKANDY]

10-4 TEEPS.

As long as you upsize to compensate for the conductivity, you are good to go. We still tend to use copper in our engine drives because of space issues in the stator and rotor but many of our other units have used the Al windings for many years.

Have fun

A-

[ShieldArc]

So why did miller raise such a big stink when lincoln used some alum in a sa-200 in 1973 during the so called copper shortage? I remember the miller reps going around saying their big40 was 100% copper! A friend of mine that worked on the Alaska pipeline said miller shipped a bunch of big40s up there for people to try, he snickered and said you would be surprised how many of them ended up in the landfill. When they had probs with one they would just toss it away. When the pipeline was done he picked up a couple sa welders up cheap and sold me one of them when he got back. I used it for 16yrs until i sold it and got a redface.

[harcosparky]

So why did miller raise such a big stink when lincoln used some alum in a sa-200 in 1973 during the so called copper shortage? I remember the miller reps going around saying their big40 was 100% copper!

Probably said it to make a few sales. Not the first time a marketing tool like that was used.



Nothing wrong with aluminum windings so long as they are terminated correctly.

Aluminum gets a bad rap unfairly due to problems with AL wiring in houses years ago. To be honest the problems were not with the AL wiring itself but with installation issues and at times with connectors.

As ASKANDY has said, aluminum windings run cooler. I believe it is because they shed heat faster.