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Miller Suitcase Welder 12VS (help)

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Lance, May 24, 2006.

  1. Lance
    Joined: Apr 20, 2006
    Posts: 13

    Lance
    Member

    I borrowed a Miller Suitcase welder from work to try and use it for some of the body work on my 53 Dodge Truck- floor panels cab corners. This thing has got me beat. Welds like crap. Problem is no one at work remembers using it. The last guy that used it can not remember the setup for it. I downloaded the ownwers manual and it is not much help. I need to be sure I have it set up right and the correct settings such as the CC switch. Does it run on positive or negative DC. I got it to weld but I do not like the results. I got the right gas mix, set it up like the welders at work use on their machines. I feel good about the gas mix 80-20 and flow. Problem is I can not get a repeat good weld. Tons of splatter. I am using clean new 16 gauge metal , .035 wire alredy installed. New tips, It is hooked up to a Lincoln 225 AC/DC Welder. I have no idea where to set the amps on the Lincoln or the wire speed on the miller. I am almost ready to take the Suitcase back to work. The Suitcase is like new, may have been used one time. If you can direct me to proper setup maybe I can get it to work with pratcice. Note: I was a amature welder but know what a decent weld looks like due to being exposed to an industry that has alot welding application-mostly 7018 welding applications. Seems we weld almost everthing with 7018`s. Anyway Help !!:confused:
     
  2. Dooce
    Joined: Apr 13, 2006
    Posts: 161

    Dooce
    Member

    if your people at work are running 7018, they are using stick, not MIG, so you cant use the same amps as them. 5/8" 7018 usually runs about 160, and your .035 should be higher than that. i've never welded with those suitcase's, but i think they would be the same. you want to be in short arc. you are probably trying not to run too hot (spray transfer), but are still running too hot, putting yourself in between short arc and spray, known as globular. you never want to run in globular as it is an ugly, inconsistent weld with lots of erratic spatter. try turning own your amps until you weld and hear a hissing sound. i wish i had the time to explain everything and draw you some pictures, but at this time i dont. email or pm me if you have any questions. oohhh, make sure your gas is on. that produces an ugly weld, too. good luck
     
  3. Lance
    Joined: Apr 20, 2006
    Posts: 13

    Lance
    Member

    At work they mostly stick and tig weld. Tig weld the root pass in on boiler tubes, then stick weld the final pass. We have several mig machines which are rarley used except for bench work. The mig welders at work are 3 phase or I would borrow one of those rigs. The Suitcase gets power from the stick welder stinger lead. I just came back from the shop trying a new aproach. I ended up with the amps on the stick welder at 65 DC and wire control speed at 450 with the Suitcase set on CC. before I had the wire speed at 250-275 and it did not weld good at all. It seems the .035 wire will not arc good less than 65 amps comming from the stick welder. I ran a few test while ago and ran several good beads at 65 amps. I tested again at 75 amps and 450 wire speed and it was way too hot. I may be getting close on the settings, but not sure, it seemed like too much heat. Also while ago I was welding on 1/8 metal plate. I did not have any scrap 16 gage to use at this time. Is .035 wire to big for 16 gauge sheet metal? I would love to get this suitcase to suit my needs because it is loaned to me for as long as I need it.
     
  4. Dooce
    Joined: Apr 13, 2006
    Posts: 161

    Dooce
    Member

    .035 should be fine, just dont get it too hot. sounds like your getting the hang of it. good luck
     

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