work-around for 210 7 position selector switch

[jmm03]

Hello all, I have a 210 MIG that the # 192373 selector switch took a dump on. All the contacts are arc pitted, probably from switching under load or just old age. Smoothed them out as best we could but did not last. No one that I could find has them and they are back ordered with no delivery date in sight, (apparently whoever made them for miller went out of business). Has anyone retro-ed an alternate switch ? I have it hard wired to the setting that works best for now, but it is not ideal obviously. Thanks for any and all help. Jim

[MinnesotaDave]

https://weldfabulous.com/miller-1923...or-7-position/

This is the 1st place I looked, claimes 14 days to ship.

[MinnesotaDave]

This place also shows in stock.
http://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/spi...7C%7C%7C210.16

[jmm03]

Hi Dave, I didn't have a chance to email either of those sources, the weldfabulous one because it said "preorder" and the other I just hadn't gotten to yet. Thanks for the links though. Jim

[jmm03]

neither place has them as of this morning, oh well...

[SweetMK]

If that switch is no longer available, look on eBay for battery selector switch,,
There are thousands of them, possibly one of those would get you close enough?
(maybe 4 or 5 positions, instead of all of them)

I have no idea how many amps you need to switch, but, a battery usually is pretty high amps.
There are a LOT of marine battery selector switch listings.

[ccawgc]

Miller still shows them for sale, but as of today they are out of stock and they may need some orders to get them made. no restock date is listed yet.
MSRP is $283.34

[jmm03]

everybody shows them for sale but when you call or email they are backordered with no delivery date in sight. The battery switch suggestion is interesting,but all I could find so far is a 3 position unit. Jim

[SweetMK]

How many amps does it have to switch?? Do you have any idea??
16 amp switches are pretty easy to find on eBay,,
even 7 position,,

I copied this one because it listed the amps,, and it costs under $20,,

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25476727752...Cclp%3A2563228

Here is another idea,, a kitchen oven switch, Viking is pretty high end,, I just happened to run into it,,

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28437409111...sAAOSwIAxfi2D5

Some of those oven switches are only $20,,,

If you need to switch higher amps,, a solid state relay could be placed into the circuit, that could easily switch 120 amps,,,,
but, you really need to know the amps, to make it easier.

I hate to see a good welder die,, because of a switch,,,

[SweetMK]

One other thing,,,
this is a metal joining forum,, RIGHT!! ??

Why not replace the contact tips? you can find them on eBay, or make the contact tips out of an old silver dime, or quarter,
Cut up the coin, smack it a couple times to make it smooth,, then braze (or silver solder) the new tip in place,,,
The dime, or quarter has to be before 1964,, when they were made out of silver.

I used to work at a company that made large contactors,, we silver soldered, or welded, thousands of tips a day.
We even made contact tips used in electric fork trucks,, very low tech fork lift trucks.
Push the handle, the contacts closed, the truck would go,,
So, our contacts were switching the amps of the big battery in a fork lift truck, those batteries could weigh a half ton,,,
I would bet that was a LOT of amps,, going through that silver tip,,,

[jmm03]

It might be possible to build up the tips depending on the ability to remove them from the plastic ring that they are attached to. The existing tips are pretty small, and I haven't looked at how the main contact point from the transformer is connected. I was hoping not to reinvent the wheel on this, there is little or no room for adding much in the way of SSR's or any large switch unfortunately. Jim

[ccawgc]

The points in this switch are molded into the plastic disk. rebuilding them might be very difficult. You might be able to build up the contact on the swing arm and clean the other contacts and make it usable until you can get a new switch.
Some thing we at our shop have noticed. Along with electronic parts being in short supply, things made out of plastic or use plastics in their construction are in short supply. even knobs are going out of stock.

[smithdoor]

The sell this type of switch on Amazon. You may to move contact cam for right switching.

Dave

FYI I like relays and a simple switch the relays last longer and easier to change.

Hello all, I have a 210 MIG that the # 192373 selector switch took a dump on. All the contacts are arc pitted, probably from switching under load or just old age. Smoothed them out as best we could but did not last. No one that I could find has them and they are back ordered with no delivery date in sight, (apparently whoever made them for miller went out of business). Has anyone retro-ed an alternate switch ? I have it hard wired to the setting that works best for now, but it is not ideal obviously. Thanks for any and all help. Jim

[duramax-rob]

just a question, since this is a tap switch, could you take the low tap and high tap on the welder itself and put some kind of variable switch in-between to make is a variable amp welder?

[jmm03]

Hi Rob, I was thinking along the lines of finding a Variac type rotary that would fit in the existing spot on the machine and give me infinitely variable amp settings but I am not sure what to look for. Jim