MM211 Voltage & wire speed dials?

[eecervantes83]

The more I think about it the more it bothers me. Id like to know at what voltage I'm Welding my materials. Not just at setting 5/90 etc.
Can anyone tell me if I can add a digital voltage display. And if there's a simple plug & play I can go with.

[Thrutraffic]

What would it matter on this machine?

Turn it up, Turn it down

Come on Ed let's not confuse the issue with common sense LOL.

What the heck was I thinking wanting to learn something.

[Broccoli1]

What the heck was I thinking wanting to learn something.

Nothing wrong with wanting to learn something but what exactly will you learn by having a Volt Meter?

As an example: the chart could suggest 17v/200

Now what?

You set the machine to 17v/200 and weld... ahh crap too hot or too cold.

Walk over to the machine and turn the dials up or down.

Only thing you've learned is that you may like it it at 17.5v/200

Because of the nature of CV machine if you change the stickout from 1/4" to 3/8"
you'll change the amperage quite a bit. Your Amp meter will be going up and down.

[Thrutraffic]

Not asking for an amp meter. An amp meter displays variations in voltage in real time.

I'm interested in learning how to set a machine to a specific voltage and WFS. It would have been nice to afford one with a digital display but that's not in the cards for me. At a minimum I would like to have some close relative idea of what 5/40 or 7/60, etc. is in terms of V/WFS.

Turn it up, turn it down is what I'm doing now (in fact what I did in class too cause the old Miller 250s don't have digital either :-)). I can live with this for now.

I don't think I'm asking for that much. I don't have to have digital display. Miller could resolve this simply by offering us a conversion factor for the increments presently displayed on the dial. Even my $500 Hobart XL 135 has amperage numbers on the adjuster.

One of the downsides for Miller is that this topic sent me (and likely others) looking at other manufactuer's machines. No, I haven't found any in this category but one of the very last things Marketing wants is to have reasons for customers to be investigating competitor product lines.

[big mike]

What the heck was I thinking wanting to learn something.

I wasn't bashing anyone for trying to learn I just don't see a reason to over think numbers/letters on the controls when they don't really mean much.

[Cgotto6]

Gotta say I agree with broccoli, seems like a frivolous thing to want. The old school knobs work, always have, always will.

[RAyJ]

Easy enough to fix. Get a voltmeter and remove the tension on the drive roller. Pull the trigger and measure the voltage from stinger to work lead. repeat for all voltages around the dial. Then reapply wire tension, set to lowest setting, run wire for 6 seconds. Measure wire in inches and multiply by 10. Repeat for all numbers on the wire speed dial. Get some masking tape and write all these numbers on the welder. Done.

[Broccoli1]

Not asking for an amp meter. An amp meter displays variations in voltage in real time.

I'm interested in learning how to set a machine to a specific voltage and WFS. It would have been nice to afford one with a digital display but that's not in the cards for me. At a minimum I would like to have some close relative idea of what 5/40 or 7/60, etc. is in terms of V/WFS.

Turn it up, turn it down is what I'm doing now (in fact what I did in class too cause the old Miller 250s don't have digital either :-)). I can live with this for now.

I don't think I'm asking for that much. I don't have to have digital display. Miller could resolve this simply by offering us a conversion factor for the increments presently displayed on the dial. Even my $500 Hobart XL 135 has amperage numbers on the adjuster.

One of the downsides for Miller is that this topic sent me (and likely others) looking at other manufactuer's machines. No, I haven't found any in this category but one of the very last things Marketing wants is to have reasons for customers to be investigating competitor product lines.

What is a Hobart XL 135? I can't find it on the Hobart website to look at the manual

[eecervantes83]

I think a voltage meter would be helpful. Those numbers do mean something they get you in a ball park setting ..
Me for instance I weld different thickness in various metal in a day I could be mig welding mild steel then aluminum then flux. For whatever reason. From 120v to 220v. On my. 211. I'm just asking a simple question where could I get a plug and play "voltage meter".

[Broccoli1]

I think a voltage meter would be helpful. Those numbers do mean something they get you in a ball park setting ..
Me for instance I weld different thickness in various metal in a day I could be mig welding mild steel then aluminum then flux. For whatever reason. From 120v to 220v. On my. 211. I'm just asking a simple question where could I get a plug and play "voltage meter".

So does the provided chart and the current numbers on the dial.

You are asking for a Precise meter to get you in "the ball park"

That is the part of this quest for a Voltage Meter that doesn't make sense to me.