Medium pitch hum from S3 in manual MIG mode

[Munkul]

I've been doing some short-arc mig welding recently with my S3, I found it easier to get the arc i wanted in the completely manual mode. Running around 150-170 amps and 21 volts ish.

I've been noticing a tuneful hum coming from the machine in this mode... it starts as I arc up and continues then fades for a short time after I finish. Sounds a bit like inverter resonance. Medium pitch, a bit like a soft TIG pulse around 500hz.

I can't hear it in speedpulse mode.

Is this normal? It's the one i bought a while back with only a few hours of arc time, but it's 10 years old now... would hate to keep using it if there's something wrong that would destroy it.

@matt1978 @Brad93

 

[voipio]

Does the hum change if the current and voltage controls are altered?

 

[Munkul]

not sure actually

 

[Brad93]

Tbh I don't find my S3 welds particularly nice in manual mode so never use it. It's speedroot or pulse for me.

 

[Munkul]

Tbh I don't find my S3 welds particularly nice in manual mode so never use it. It's speedroot or pulse for me.

I remember you saying that a while back and I wondered if i'd find the same thing.

I tried a little with the "normal" synergic mode and couldn't make it run nice in short arc, so instead of taking time to figure it out I went to manual mig/mag and love it Feels as smooth as anything I've used.

Just the hum, I only noticed it last night, it's barely louder than the water cooler tbh.

EDIT: I see Matt hasn't been on here for a couple of weeks, hope he's ok

 

[Munkul]

Had 10 mins tonight so had a play around and I couldn't get it to do it at all...! Strange. Oh well... Never mind...!

 

[Woody.v8]

I'd like an S3 I think ,I've been after a nice little compact (400) amps ish for my home workshop.
I was toying with other brands but have been blown away by my little T220 tig I think I have to stick with lorch now

 

[Munkul]

I'd like an S3 I think ,I've been after a nice little compact (400) amps ish for my home workshop.
I was toying with other brands but have been blown away by my little T220 tig I think I have to stick with lorch now

Feel free to pop by and have a play with mine, if you're ever in the area

I'm now second guessing myself, wondering if the noise was something else... brother suggested the wire feed reel... I was almost certain it was an electrical noise. Maybe i was wrong.

 

[Brad93]

I'd like an S3 I think ,I've been after a nice little compact (400) amps ish for my home workshop.
I was toying with other brands but have been blown away by my little T220 tig I think I have to stick with lorch now

You'd need an S5 if you want 400A, and unfortunately they don't make a Mobil version of the s5.

An S3 does 330A off the top of my head

 

[Brad93]

My wirefeed makes a racket, whether it's the motor or the spook carrier I haven't bothered to investigate

 

[Munkul]

You'd need an S5 if you want 400A, and unfortunately they don't make a Mobil version of the s5.

An S3 does 330A off the top of my head

320 amps
And it has a good duty cycle - 40% at max current at 40degC. Realistically it means you're unlikely to come across duty limitations unless you're flat-out production welding with someone else plating.
The fan is nice and quiet too, and takes a bit more than general bodgery/repair to get it to even start up.

 

[Brad93]

320 amps
And it has a good duty cycle - 40% at max current at 40degC. Realistically it means you're unlikely to come across duty limitations unless you're flat-out production welding with someone else plating.
The fan is nice and quiet too, and takes a bit more than general bodgery/repair to get it to even start up.

Never hit the duty and I've welded 20mm aluminium at close to 300A

 

[matt1978]

The only resonant noise should be in SpeedArc, as with that process there is a low frequency voltage overlay on it.

you shouldn’t hear any noise in any of the other processes (expect the usual different sound on the pulse modes)

Is it still off the conventional mains? I’ve heard of some stories before of strange noises but that was on a rotary converter.

Take the side panels off and give it the once over, make sure nothing is loose or something touching where it shouldn’t be.

If in doubt put it into MMA mode and try stick welding, does it make a noise then? If not then maybe it’s more linked to the mechanical wire drive side of the machine?

 

[matt1978]

Don’t forget also in Synergic mode you still may need to use the arc trim to optimise the Wirespeed and Voltage ratio. Individual bottles of gas and individual torches can make a difference to the actual arc voltage, and reels of wire with batch to batch variation can make a sublet difference, that’s why the fine tune is there.

If you can get a nice value in Synergic mode but not in Manual or if you can get a nice value in Manual but not in Synergic then you need to check the settings because both are purely a relationship between Voltage and Wirefeed rate. That’s as far as it goes in Standard synergic. So what I’m saying if you can find a value you like on one, you should be able to recreate it on the other provided you take notice of the wirefeed and voltage.

only caveat to that is in Synergic mode, the electronic inductance is also adjusted, where as in manual mode it has to be changed independently (it’s called Inductor effect) in the sub menu

 

[Munkul]

Cheers Matt.
I've used a bit since then and not heard anything. Yeah it's off conventional 3ph mains which is very good, the distro box is rated at 26kw continuous input and no other consumers at the time.

I think maybe i was mistaken about the electrical noise and perhaps it was the wire feeder or wire basket making a noise.

I'll bear that in mind, I'll check the inductance values on manual and synergic mode, I'm sure both modes are still on factory default settings. Good to know, thanks

 

[Munkul]

Update
Well I've never heard the same noise again. I think it must have been my ears playing tricks on me. Had 3 different rolls on and off it since I last posted in Sept. Also it flew through a EN50504 validation test no bother, and I used the machine in normal synergic mode to qualify 3 weld procedures. No issues at all.
After using the synergic mode a bit and playing with arc trim, I'm quite happy with it. I still prefer the Miller XMT for short arc, but that's probably more to do with using 1.0mm wire rather than 1.2.

 

[matt1978]

Update
Well I've never heard the same noise again. I think it must have been my ears playing tricks on me. Had 3 different rolls on and off it since I last posted in Sept. Also it flew through a EN50504 validation test no bother, and I used the machine in normal synergic mode to qualify 3 weld procedures. No issues at all.
After using the synergic mode a bit and playing with arc trim, I'm quite happy with it. I still prefer the Miller XMT for short arc, but that's probably more to do with using 1.0mm wire rather than 1.2.

Try it in SpeedArc mode but still in Dip transfer.

 

[Munkul]

Try it in SpeedArc mode but still in Dip transfer.

I don't have speedarc for some reason. It's a speedpulse model and has speedpulse and speedtwinpulse but no speedarc.

 

[Brad93]

I don't have speedarc for some reason. It's a speedpulse model and has speedpulse and speedtwinpulse but no speedarc.

Someone didn't pay for it

 

[Munkul]

I thought speedarc was included on speedpulse models as standard, but maybe that's just later models. I know the other speed processes were optional. No matter