PowerTig 250ex not working...

I bought my powertig 250ex about 5 or 6 months ago and it didn't come with a plug end so I went out and bought a NEMA 14-50P to go into a hottub receptacle. The receptacle says 230V but when i try to weld with it I only get a very very tiny spark when i touch the tungsten directly to the aluminum. I also don't hear the high freq. kick in until about 15 seconds after pushing the pedal down fully. There's also no gas flowing whatsoever. I have no idea why these things aren't working. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

so have you actually verified the voltage at your outlet you are plugging into? has this welder ever worked? or has it been sitting in the box for 6 months?

Its likely one leg of power isn't working. Check your connections. This symptom has usually a poor or weak input at the root cause.

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Originally Posted by performance

Its likely one leg of power isn't working. Check your connections. This symptom has usually a poor or weak input at the root cause.

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Why do I get the feeling that the red 3 phase wire is hooked up in that plug somehow??

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Originally Posted by cmd

or has it been sitting in the box for 6 months?

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Oh, say it ain't so!
I'm waiting for mine to get here. It will be fired up before the UPS driver even has a chance to get out of the neighborhood!

I am pretty sure that tiny spark you are seeing is the high frequency itself. Are you sure you have the torch plugged into the correct port? I am sure this is obvious, but I still feel I should say it. Is the argon actually opened up? You should be sure you have the knobs turned correctly, if you are using the flow meter that came with it, there is a second knob on it that you need to mess with, there are two ways to test the gas flow. First, set the post flow to at least 5 seconds, then tap the foot pedal or the button on the torch briefly, then bring the nozzle towards your skin. If it is flowing, you will feel it for sure. The nozzle included has some sort of floating ball thing, when you are feeling for the gas flow, look for the ball to raise.

Geezer,
Yes, that too is a common cause. It wouldn't be the first time.

So am I supposed to just tape off the red wire? And what about the gas flow? (btw I'm an A level welder so I know how to set up a machine and the regulator/flowmeter I've just never had to set up the electrical portion)

Yes, it should be taped off. The flow is in lpm, about half of what cfh is.

So I finally got an electrician to wire up a new 240v receptacle (I needed to get a new one anyways since I didn't want to keep unplugging the hot tub) and it didn't fix the problem with the machine still! Neither the electrician or I understand why I'm supposed to tape off the red wire. Isn't the red wire a hot wire? Wouldn't taping it off make it 110v instead of 220v? This is my understanding of the wires: Red and black=hot, green=ground, white=neutral, Is this correct? I also found that either having the red wire connected or not the amperage was only going up to 195 on the screen and once I pressed the trigger/pedal it would drop down to 66 amps. It's really starting to bug me cause I want to start making some money with it and I haven't been able to do anything with it since I got it (about a year ago). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Chris,
I hope you understand the spirit in which I am giving this advice. I am not trying to berate you or make light of this. I honestly find this alarming. We are in compliance with the wiring standards. I am worried you may damage your welder from continuing to operate it without wiring it properly...

First, Have you downloaded and read the manual from the website? It concerns me because it is addressed in there, as well as other important issues that you need to know about, some of which will save your life.

Second, We have dozens of threads about this. We have discussed it with you here, and it is in the manual. Your electrician sounds like he is not qualified. If it were me, I'd fire him and get a new one that understands how to wire a welder, rather than a stove or dryer. STANDARD wire colors for 220V welders in the US are : White=HOT, Black =HOT, Green Ground. No neutral at all. A neutral is a return path for a 110V circuit such as a clock or something on a stove. (though there are other uses) There is no need for this on a welder. And NO don't wire the green to the neutral...It is a ground....It should go to the ground. Also the back of the panel should be grounded to a dedicated ground attached to a ground rod outside to control HF emissions. Red is only to be used on a dual phase/voltage machine for the 3rd phase. What you have described is EXACTLY what will happen when you have it miswired. Yes, when you press the switch, the machine changes the display to read ACTUAL output.

In other words, you should (for simplicity's sake) wire green to green, black to black, white to red, since this seems to be your input colors.

Third, you should NOT be using the 14-50. The standard welder plug in the USA and Canada is the 50 amp/3 pronged NEMA 6-50...which most brands HAVE the wire colors printed on there just as we have the unit wired.

IF after you connect this properly, you have no improved results, I can only say you have damaged the welder from miswiring it.

Oh wow I know exactly why I did it wrong now. I read the manual I got with my machine and it just says "nema 50 amp". So I went out and bought one to fit where I was going to plug it in (a hot tub receptacle) then I went off of what it says on the nema 14-50 (it actually says right on the plug that white is neutral). Man I'm dumb hopefully I didn't mess up the machine. This is why I'm a welder not an electrician. Thanks for the help! I'll try it some time this week (it's not at my house) and let you know how it goes.

Download the manual on line. Throw the pamphlet away.

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Originally Posted by chris.hindley

Oh wow I know exactly why I did it wrong now. I read the manual I got with my machine and it just says "nema 50 amp". So I went out and bought one to fit where I was going to plug it in (a hot tub receptacle) then I went off of what it says on the nema 14-50 (it actually says right on the plug that white is neutral). Man I'm dumb hopefully I didn't mess up the machine. This is why I'm a welder not an electrician. Thanks for the help! I'll try it some time this week (it's not at my house) and let you know how it goes.

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You can still use that plug, just no wire on the neutral pin/prong. Put the black and white on the two hot pins/prong and green on the ground and you will be fine with the plug. I use 4 prong twist locks all the time for generators, we just have no neutral.