Older industrial equipment is often a great option if you’re on a budget, and you might even be able to add some premium features yourself. [Brett] from [Theoretically Practical] has done with his old MIG welder, adding premium control features with the help of an Arduino.
The main features [Brett] were after is pre-flow, post-flow, and a spot welding timer. Pre-flow starts the flow of shielding gas a moment before energizing the filler wire, while post-flow keeps the gas going after the weld is complete. This reduces the chances of oxygen contaminating the welds. A spot welding timer automatically limits welding time, enabling consistent and repeatable spot welds.
The Miller S-22A wire feeder can have these features, but it requires an expensive and difficult to find control unit. All it does is time the activation of the relays that control the gas flow, power, and wire feeder, so [Brett] decided to use an Arduino instead. The welders control circuit runs at 24V, so an optoisolator receives the trigger signal, and relays are used for outputs. Potentiometers were added to the original control panel, and all the wiring was neatly fitted behind it. The upgrade worked perfectly and allowed [Brett] to increase the quality of his welds. See the video after the break for the full details.
Inverter welders can be picked up for ridiculously cheap prices, if you’re willing to live with the trade-offs. We’ve also seen some other DIY welder upgrades, on small and large machines.
Nice hack!
Super cool hack! I appreciate all the details.
I have a old mig welder i was given for parts, this gives me a great idea to replace the driver board with arduino. tks hack-a-day and author.
Very specific to that welder but gives me a few ideas.
For welding aluminium I would like an option to feed the wire 10mm after cutting the volts, so it doesn’t stick in the nozzle.
Great article to keep in mind for this seasons pulse and other waveform related modifications.
Same goes for the more complicated CC and CV methods hacks.
I have a s54e wire feeder and the xmt 350 cc/cv is there any way to add a ipm meter? Was trying to find one IPM meter for the s2212p suitcase welder and see if it works. Miller 092-962 says no longer available