I just bought a miller 252 for our company. I splurged for the 30' push/pull gun on it and the spool gun for non ferrous.

I owned a miller 251 personally that between me and the guy that bought it from me, ran over 100 of the large (40 or 50 lb) spools with no breakdowns.

We made 10 tacks with it and the wire speed won't adjust. I'm assuming a burnt circuit board. The knob turns but the number won't change. I need to overnight a board in to keep our project moving and miller is saying they won't warranty the board if I don't send in the welder to have them fix it.

Is this my bad luck or can I expect to replace boards often with this machine?

Bad luck.
Mass produced products no matter what they are
tend to have bad eggs in them. No QA team catches
them all.

bad luck......    miller we have is bullet proof

30' push/pull?  Didn't know they made one.  I have a 30A spoolgun.  Wire speed adjusts on bottom of grip instead of at the machine.  Just figured I would point out the obvious in case you're having a brain fart.  May want to check the pins where the gun hooks to the machine.  A pin popping out and not making contact would be a quick problem to fix.

Yes, they are spendy, not many people buy them. The stock lead is 15', the push pull is 30'. It was 2000 bucks for the push pull gun alone, 300 dollars less than the welder but I needed a long lead. I worked for an auto body shop during the winter in highschool that had a push pull gun that i'm pretty sure was 50 or 60' long. It reached across the shop.  

I appreciate the help. I went back and checked all the connections and it seems to be connected fine.

I talked to miller and they are sending a board. I hope it's just bad luck.  My miller 251 was such a great welder all those years I had it. It's around 10 years old now and still chugging along with it's new owner. Last time I talked to him he's still putting about 400 lbs of wire through it every year.

EDIT - I'll give miller the benefit of the doubt. I've got 10 of their portable tigs and a few of their stick welders. I'm still partial to the lincoln ranger for my gas powered units though.

If you bought it from a reputable welding shop, they would give you a loaner and then fix your unit.  

I bought a Hobart that was wired wrong from the factory.  I did my entire project with the loaner, their wire, and their gas.  

And eventually I bought a Miller.  I had one at work and got one for home.  No problems at all, except for undersized wire.

First post yet again .



 

Bad luck.  

Miller is a great product.  But,  like anything else,  you can have a problem in the bunch.