General welding questions that dont fit in TIG, MIG, Stick, or Certification etc.
Transformer machine
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BillE.Dee
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    Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:53 pm
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Ltec heliarc 306 problem.. won't flow argon. Stick arc weak.
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Mike Westbrook
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    Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:13 pm
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Did you just buy it or have you had the machine and it just started I got mine for a song because seller bought it from a factory and tried to run it on 220 but it was wired for 300 volts had very weak stick and some Tig functions didn't work wired it properly and she's a beast excellent dc on that 300 lb green hulk

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BillE.Dee
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Mike, my cousin just picked it up from a tech school auction. when the machine is set to tig ,, no argon flow.. when it is set to stick, we get argon flow IF we move the HF switch throughout the different ranges. And when in stick mode the arc is very low no matter where the hi/lo switch is.
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Mike Westbrook
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I'll be honest mine is a heliarc 250 hf plus square wave similar vintage tho these are linde arc or English made welders imported by esab and esab owes everything to them they are amazing machines most have about a 6*6 plate on the side where the connection is made with jumpers and wire lugs they accept many different voltages when I here trade school and under powered arc I think improper voltage input I had to turn mine up to around 200 amps to run a 1/8 7018 when I tested it but then I reset the input voltage and wow what a sweet heart it's my go to for heavy stick in the shop loves a 5/32 7018 at around 160 amps DC I've run 5 lbs in a straight shot on a forklift never flinched and before the swap I had no hf on Tig mode esab is great to call you will get an American human on the phone who's happy to give advise try them if the voltage input isn't the issue

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VA-Sawyer
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That is the kind of help/feedback that makes this such a good forum.
No sense dying with unused welding rod, so light 'em up!
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BillE.Dee
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Thank you Mike for information. I'll have Andy look for the lugs and also to get hold of ESAB if the voltage lugs isn't the answer. The machine is just asking squirrely for it not to be working correctly.
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BillE.Dee
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heard back from Andy after making those electrical changes. So far .... up and running. He hasn't tried welding yet, baby sitting til afternoon.
THANK YOU ,, Mike.
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Mike Westbrook
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Sure thing if it's like mine he wanted the 208 voltage for 220 single phase

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