For almost a year now EVERY time I go to use my 250, as soon as the arc strikes, the wire immediatly burns back to the tip and I have to break it loose, clean the tip and start over. This has also caused the ruin of several NEW tips

Before I get the " you dont have the amps right....you dont have your feed speed right" blah blah blah. Let me say I am a certified welder and have been welding for several years as part of my job.

Now for the REAL problem. I go out today, turn the machine on, start my first spot weld and as usual BLAMMO, wire melts back to the tip....however this time I get NOTHING when I hit the trigger ! No wire feed, no gas flow nothing. NOW for the kicker. The wire stays hot. Hot as in current constantly running to it despite no response from the trigger being pulled. With my limited ( very limited) electrical knowledge I'm GUESSING there is a short in the circuit board? Machine stays powered up,internal breaker has not been tripped. WTF? I have heard the 250 series have been problematic but until this last year mine has been great, other than an unusually harsh arc since new.

When I first start up my Millermatic 135 for the first time, I prime the gas by setting the wire feed speed to zero. Thus I assume that the gas has evacuated the entire line since the welder was sitting unused for perhaps weeks or months since my last welding.

So you don't hear anything when you pull the trigger? When I pull the trigger on my 135, I can hear a click and the gas flowing. No click or gas flowing sounds? Also with the tip off, you've made sure the wire is not bound up in the tip and the feed mechanism isn't turnig?

Spoke

I Have a Hobart and very near the same thing happened, The repair was replace the circut board, That was 1/3 the price of a new welder.
If it more than a couple years old replacement circut boards can be hard to find, I was told by the repair shop that fixed mine.

Was that just the FIRST time you pull the trigger when you turn the machine on or EVERY time you pull the trigger? (I'm assuming that you have been able to weld with it and not just burn the wire back into the tip every time you pull the trigger.)

That sounds odd. I have only had that problem with too slow wire speed or too many amps (or both).

I don't know what to suggest to you except doing some web searching to see if other Miller users have had similar experiences.



Your latest problem sounds odd. You are saying that the wire is at welding potential but not feeding all the time now? Is the gas valve on as well?

Have you tried unplugging the two leads to the trigger (perhaps a bad switch or shorted leads in your guide tube/liner). I had a pair of trigger leads break in my last guide tube and ended up having to buy a new gun/guide tube/liner. The new liner/guide tube has 2 pairs of trigger leads. (I suppose one set is a spare).

I hope the board does not go out in my welder. It's over 20 years old.

Some of the newer models have a A-B settings switch on the gun for daul range settings.



Ya my dads old Miller Tig/Arc welder ( 30years old) works great. .

Well it seems that the 250 series has been plagued with problem. It just took 7 years for mine to get bad. The harsh arc since new is actually one of the chief complaints people have had. It seems at this point that either my board has a short in it or the contacts have fused together. Either way I will be seeing a well known repairman near one of the the shops I werk at this week I have also decided to sell my antique (1963) AC/DC welder in favor of a newer and much SMALLER tig setup ( looking at the Miller Dynasty 200dx) as the monstrosity I currently have SUX at low amp tigging. It is however a freeking beast with stick or higher amp tig work. Nontheless I need to sell some serious stuff. Anyone need a kidney ?

scottybalwaysbrokeinva