Welding Tips and Tricks

Yesterday i bought a Miller Diversion 165. It has i guess a standerd 230 V AC male plug on the cord. At the plant i work at, we mainly have 480 Volt, 3 Phase twist lock plugs, and the other plugs are twist lock also. Do any of you men know if there is any type of voltage step down devices i could use for my welder. Also, would any of you happen to know if it would be ok to cut the plug that came with the machine off and replace it with a twist lock, or should i just make an adapter? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated and very helpful. Im just tired of it taking an hour to get our synchrowave 250 up on our platforms to do a small welding repair job.

I think I would try an adapter for that. I'll bet you could find a 480 to 230 adapter in the harware store, or online, even though that is quite a leap. I'll even bet you could cut the cord and attach a 480 plug to it, but this would burn up your cord( and probably the machine too) pretty quick.

But is 3 phase power even compatible with that machine??(1 phase or 2 phase?) I dont know if these "phases" have to match up.

but good luck anyway

-Rick

it isn't that easy but it can be done. you would have to buy a step down transformer, then make an adapter that picks up only two legs of the 480 3P to connect to the transformer then plug your machine into the output of the transformer. I can give more info if you really want to do this but i suggest you get an electrician to help you.


Martin

Rick and Martin, thanks for the info guys. i was able to find a few 230 v single phase drops at work and got it going. however in some parts of the plant there arent any. me and a buddy at work had discussed getting a 460 to 220 step down transformer at work, and putting it in a small electrical box and just running a 220 V plug out of it. so i may try that approach. i wasn't sure if there were any manufacturers of those types of devices out there. im sure they'd cost an arm and a leg to buy one though. just to ensure that i have the right idea, how would you go about wiring the transformer up Martin? Also, if anyone is looking for a nice TIG machine for a decent price that little diversion is great. it only shut off on me one time, but i had been welding for 30 minutes straight on 70 Amps. it also says the max thickness for metal is 3/16 ". but i welded 1/4 " aluminum with it and it welds great.