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Need help with Miller engine driven stick welder

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Rix96

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hey all,
So I started up my welder today (~25 year old Miller bluestar 2e ac/dc) and she was welding just fine for the first 20 minutes or so. (I was welding some hog wire panels to steel gates). I ground down where I was going to weld and where I was attaching my work clamp, as the gates are all surface rust. Like I said, the miller was doing great, till at one point it just stopped working. I'm not sure when it happened, but it would barely strike an arc, and the few times it did it was super short and weak, and would only stay lit for a few seconds. The auto-idle on the machine also stopped working at this time, and it wouldn't rev up even when i turned the auto idle off. I tried switching polarities and all that but it didn't change anything. Any ideas? I can't afford for this welder to break, I've only had it a couple months asi'm still in high school working odd jobs so it took a huge chunk out of my savings (i even convinced my dad to pay for some of it as we needed a generator anyways), but he would want his money back if its broken.

Thanks for all replies
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Yes it does. When i flipped the switch from weld to the outlets, my grinder did great. Then i forgot i had switched it and tried welding again, and it worked pretty well. The amperage was definitely not up to what i had it set to, but it worked well enough to finish my work.
So i found out later that the machine does not weld when set to "weld" but welds decently when set to the outlets. When the auto-idle is on, it doesn't rev when i try to strike an arc. Also, when i switch the auto-idle off, the welder doesn't rev up. All help and advice is appreciated
 
#8 ·
Try flipping your course adjust knob back and forth through several cycles of the switch. It could be that corrosion has built up on the contacts and this may knock it off. I have had it happen on that same kind of machine before. If you haven't changed your course adjustment setting much, this could be the problem. You may have to do it several times. The machine does not need to be running when you do it, it won't matter if it IS running either. The corrosion on the contacts will cause it not to speed up too, when you try to strike an arc, because the machine doesn't sense the arc draw, so it won't try to rev up. It won't cost anything to try it, except a few minutes of time. Cycle the switch some and see if it will weld.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Sorry for the wait...
So I tried what you all said, cycling the polarity as well as my amperage knob (thats what i thought you meant by course adjustment knob). Alas, it didn't work. I used some 6013 and went through the polarities, but i still got the same difficult and weak arc, atleast on "weld." When i switched it to the outlets, it worked pretty darn well. Again, the amps weren't as high as I had it set to, but the arcs were pretty good and it got the job done. If I need to dig into the insides of this, I'm fairly handy. But i would rather deal with it like this for a bit than mess up the machine even more, and not be able to fix it.
Any advice on what to try next? :help:

P.S. I promise ill try to get on here more often :(
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
I forgot to mention...
After cycling through the polarity and amps, it welds a bit better (not much, but noticeable) when switched to the outlets. Its still not working at all on "weld."
Also, the auto idle on/off switch still doesn't work. It doesn't rev up when i turn it off (it did when I first got it), but i feel like it revved when i welded and it was switched to the outlets
 
#13 ·
Rix96 said:
Sorry for the wait...
So I tried what you all said, cycling the polarity as well as my amperage knob (thats what i thought you meant by course adjustment knob). Alas, it didn't work. I used some 6013 and went through the polarities, but i still got the same difficult and weak arc, atleast on "weld." When i switched it to the outlets, it worked pretty darn well. Again, the amps weren't as high as I had it set to, but the arcs were pretty good and it got the job done. If I need to dig into the insides of this, I'm fairly handy. But i would rather deal with it like this for a bit than mess up the machine even more, and not be able to fix it.
Any advice on what to try next? :help:

P.S. I promise ill try to get on here more often :(
Click to expand...
The range selector switch is the one I was referring to. The big switch on the front that has specific positions it moves to, like the polarity switch on the side. The smaller infinitely adjustable switch is the fine amperage control, that I do not believe is your problem. Is the range adjust the one you turned or the other? It needs to be turned hard and fast several times to do right. So crank it back and forth a few times and try it again.
 
#14 ·
Your saying it has shown some improvement, so we're probably on the right track here. Don't turn the switch WHILE you are trying to strike an arc, but the engine can be running or not when you do it, doesn't matter. It could be one or both(course adj. & polarity) that have some corrosion on the contacts, so work both back and forth thru a few cycles(vigorously) and try it again. If it get's better but still not quite right it may need a few more turns. Hope this works for you. The welder I learned on was the same as this one and did the same thing, and my Bob Cat has done it once too. It has the same type of switch, and this worked on both of them.
 
#15 ·
From the sounds of it I'd say you've got something wrong in the idler circuit. It could be a bad connection, bad switch, bad idler board, etc. The problem is you're going to have to open it up and do some tests before we can really know. I doubt it's actually revving up when welding in power mode but it'll sound like it because the motor gets loaded and has to give it more throttle to stay running.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Thanks Bistineau,:waving:
I'll get out there tomorrow night and crank the knobs around some!
Irish fixit: i agree with you, i think there might also be something wrong with the idle circuits. How hard is it to change out those parts? Cost? You're right about the revving just to stay going as well.
 
#18 ·
Rix96 said:
Thanks Bistineau,:waving:
I'll get out there tomorrow night and crank the knobs around some!
Irish fixit: i agree with you, i think there might also be something wrong with the idle circuits. How hard is it to change out those parts? Cost? You're right about the revving just to stay going as well.
Click to expand...
If it's only a matter of corrosion on those contacts, and moving the switches clears it up, then that should restore the rev functioning too.
 
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