I recently purchased a used Miller Maxstar 150s. I also purchased a air cooled tig torch with a gas valve. I have hooked the power lead to the negative pole and the ground to the positive pole to achieve reversed polarity (I think that is right). I am running between 15-20psi of argon for sheilding gas.
The problem: I can be welding along and all of a sudden the arc will stop for no apparent reason. I can then reach down and scratch start it again and it will start up again... maybe run for awhile or just a little bit and stop again. My 220 supply has a 40 amp breaker and I know it is not tripping that... is there something inside the machine that is causing the arc to stop? I know there is a built in over temp device but I had someone watch that while I was welding and it never came on.
Also... I tried to get down in the 10-15 amp range to weld some sheet metal... sometimes the arc seams hot and sometimes the arc will not even start a puddle. ( I think I figured this out though... I needed to scratch start it a couple of times to get the arc established)
Is it a problem with the machine? I don't think it is my welding style as I am keeping the tungsten about 1/8 inch or a little less away from the material.
What gives?
The problem: I can be welding along and all of a sudden the arc will stop for no apparent reason. I can then reach down and scratch start it again and it will start up again... maybe run for awhile or just a little bit and stop again. My 220 supply has a 40 amp breaker and I know it is not tripping that... is there something inside the machine that is causing the arc to stop? I know there is a built in over temp device but I had someone watch that while I was welding and it never came on.
Also... I tried to get down in the 10-15 amp range to weld some sheet metal... sometimes the arc seams hot and sometimes the arc will not even start a puddle. ( I think I figured this out though... I needed to scratch start it a couple of times to get the arc established)
Is it a problem with the machine? I don't think it is my welding style as I am keeping the tungsten about 1/8 inch or a little less away from the material.
What gives?
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