Older Syncro 180 Problems

[milwiron]

I have an older Syncrowave 180 SD pre digital readouts, it has very low hours on it.
I was welding some 1/8 aluminum sheet a few weeks ago and everything was fine.
I fired it up the other day to stick some steel together and now have no amperage control. It appears the amperage dial/pot on the panel isn't working.

Neither a foot pedal or finger remote will work, they will start a small arc and control the HF. I do get a small arc and HF but not enough current to weld.
DCEP, DCEN or AC makes no difference.
There's no difference between Stick welding and TIG... almost no amperage.
I have checked my input voltage and amperage, even tried running it off a large generator, still very little output amperage.
Ground, torch, cables, internal connections are all tight and triple checked. Even ran a separate ground.

The amperage adjust dial/pot on the panel just seems to do nothing.

Any ideas on why it would quit working like this? I need to find a cheap fix or it's trash.
Thank you for any help.

[7A749]

I have an older Syncrowave 180 SD pre digital readouts, it has very low hours on it.
I was welding some 1/8 aluminum sheet a few weeks ago and everything was fine.
I fired it up the other day to stick some steel together and now have no amperage control. It appears the amperage dial/pot on the panel isn't working.

Neither a foot pedal or finger remote will work, they will start a small arc and control the HF. I do get a small arc and HF but not enough current to weld.
DCEP, DCEN or AC makes no difference.
There's no difference between Stick welding and TIG... almost no amperage.
I have checked my input voltage and amperage, even tried running it off a large generator, still very little output amperage.
Ground, torch, cables, internal connections are all tight and triple checked. Even ran a separate ground.

The amperage adjust dial/pot on the panel just seems to do nothing.

Any ideas on why it would quit working like this? I need to find a cheap fix or it's trash.
Thank you for any help.

Hate to say it, but you may have board issues. Very hard to tell without having it in front of me, but sounds like that or a Diode MOD or SCR issue. You can check the Hall device, but look to the board or rectifier assy for the most likely problem.

Just a rough guess. www.industrialelectronics.com is a good place to have your board rebuilt if it ends up being the issue. they are roughly 1/3 of new & carry a 90 day guarantee on their repairs.

Here's the Technical Manual. I think it's the right one.

https://www.itwwelds.com/miller/service/tm/ModelFiles/SYNCROWAVE180SD(208230V).pdf

[milwiron]

Hate to say it, but you may have board issues. Very hard to tell without having it in front of me, but sounds like that or a Diode MOD or SCR issue. You can check the Hall device, but look to the board or rectifier assy for the most likely problem.

Just a rough guess. www.industrialelectronics.com is a good place to have your board rebuilt if it ends up being the issue. they are roughly 1/3 of new & carry a 90 day guarantee on their repairs.

Here's the Technical Manual. I think it's the right one.

https://www.itwwelds.com/miller/service/tm/ModelFiles/SYNCROWAVE180SD(208230V).pdf

Thank you for the reply.
Itwwelds.com is password protected, is there a way in? I can't seem to find it.
I was thinking PC board also. I have sent an emil to the company you mentioned.

With TIG I do get a nice (small) stable arc on DCEP, DCEN and not horrible on AC but it only seems to be around 5 to 10 amps. making me think it's just one thing that quit working.
Is there any way to pin it down to the board for sure? I do have some electronics experience just nothing poking around welders. Like I mentioned all the connections are tight and clean, plugs and headers all look to be in excellent condition.
Thanks again.

[7A749]

Thank you for the reply.
Itwwelds.com is password protected, is there a way in? I can't seem to find it.
I was thinking PC board also. I have sent an emil to the company you mentioned.

With TIG I do get a nice (small) stable arc on DCEP, DCEN and not horrible on AC but it only seems to be around 5 to 10 amps. making me think it's just one thing that quit working.
Is there any way to pin it down to the board for sure? I do have some electronics experience just nothing poking around welders. Like I mentioned all the connections are tight and clean, plugs and headers all look to be in excellent condition.
Thanks again.

Rats. Sorry you can't get the link. I didn't think it would lock you out.

Without doing a full check on everything, with the right tools, it's going to be a shot in the dark. If an SCR is bad, you need a specific tool to test it accurately. You can check the caps & Hall device with a meter, I'll have to get the specifics, but I believe all the Miller LEM's (Hall device) should be 1600 ohms between pins 1 & 3. I would have to check later to say that for sure.

You could take it to service, but they are just going to say "the board is bad.." Nothing as to WHY it is. Something may have directly caused it, possibly not. I have to go to work, I'll see if I can copy & paste the trouble shooting guide & email it to you later.

PM me your email address. I have a testing guide from Miller in PDF format explaining how to test SCR's & several other solid state components. I got it free, so you will too. :)