Miller Welders

What kind of windings does Miller put in their machines? I use a Syncrowave 250 at work and it seems to have a very harsh welding pattern. I also have a Lincoln Pipeliner and I know it has copper windings and is much softer and smoother. The Miller machine also seems to be very touchy sometimes when changing amps and at time I can't seem to tell the difference. I may have a problem with this machine but it may just be the characteristics of this machine.

What I would suggest is checking all of the electrical connections on the output side of the welder such as: ground clamp / ground lead / ground terminal on welder & stinger / stinger cable / stinger terminal on welder. Unless your employer has a preventative maintenance program for the equipment, you'll be amazed at how loose the connections can get with time and the effect it was on arc quality.

PS Miller has used different (aluminum / copper) winds, if you go to their site and download the manual for the machine in question, it may state in there. Also the machine you are using is most likely a 3 phase rectified dc output. Where the Pipliner is a DC generator that is know the world over for its arc quality.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have checked the leads to the machine and had to put new clamps on as there was a pigtail on the positive side chopped off and a bare spot on the ground side but I think what I'll do is replace all cables and stinger.

[Shade Tree Welder]

Syncrowave was built primarily as TIG machine. They tend to have a more driven arc as the welder can control amperage as he is welding. The windings are copper in all Syncrowaves.

The Pipeliner is built to be a stick machine.

Main difference.