MillerMatic 175 Input Voltage

[ty1220]

I just bought this welder and had to replace the receptacle in the garage to fit the welder plug. After swapping receptacles I put a meter on it and am reading between 252 and 256 Volts. I am worried that this is kind of high for a 230 V machine. I know 240 is fine but is 252 or 256 a little high and maybe going to damage the welder or shorten it's life. I appreciate any advice, thanks all.

[mla2ofus]

If you have one, check voltage at dryer or range receptacles. If they're the same check with Miller if this voltage is acceptable. If Miller doesn't like the voltage, have power co. check the tranformer your home is fed from.
Mike

[GregH]

ty1220,

I agree with Mike that the voltage is high.
Your unit is rated a for 230 volts and the normally acceptable variance of 10% puts the upper limit for your unit at 253 volts.

I'd first confirm your meter is good and then call the power company.
Also, you might want to check the voltage at different times of the day to see if there it changes.

[ty1220]

I agree with you both. I had considered that my meter is new but it is also a really cheap meter. I will try reading it with another one and see what I get. If it reads high again I will call the power company. I also did write Miller and I am curious as to what they will say. Thanks again for posting back guys.

[Hellrazor]

Check with a different meter, sometimes the cheap ones are just that. Is it digital meter?

[ty1220]

Yeah, it's a really cheap digital meter . I got a new analog one and it reads right at 250V. I posted this in several welding forums and a few guys are saying too high of a voltage is ok, as long as it never gets lower than the rated input I will be ok. I knew that too low of an input voltage is harmful but figured too high was worse. Apparently it should be ok. I appreciate the responses and am gonna go plug that thing in now and see what happens :eek: Thanks again.

[GregH]

ty1220,

Another thing to try for "fun".
If you can get someone competent to help, you can measure the voltage while under arc and compare the voltage drop when between a low and high welder output setting.

[ty1220]

:) Thanks again guys.