Giant CT-416 TIG/MMA/ Plasma Cutter

Hawkeye

Hawkeye

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I picked up a 2004 CT-416 plasma cutter combo for $250 this evening. It has both the plasma and TIG torches but is missing the stinger and ground clamp. No problem. I have a couple of stingers and a ground cable that use the same connector.

I downloaded a manual, but the diagrams don't show up. Not much of a manual anyway. No mention of settings.

The odd thing is that it's a 220 volt unit, requiring up to 30 amps, but the cord on it is 110 volt, 15 amp. The back panel specifically says 220 V.

Anyone ever used one of these?
 
That's pretty odd. I wonder if the PO didn't know enough about it and thought it was a 110 unit. I would hope they didn't try to run it much. Can't imagine that being good for it.

Wish I could find a TIG unit for that price. I found some plans to build one, but who has the time? It is a pretty involved project.
 
Tony,
Avoid attempting to build one if you can. The price of quality parts and the electronic involved make it much cheaper to buy already purpose built. A bunch of fellows on the welding web site are modding the Asian units, but end up spending more than it is worth from my estimation. Tinkering is way cool, building a high power tool is not a real good way to go. I would even recomend an Asian machine before I would attempt to build one from scratch. Just sayin.....
Bob
 
I hear ya, Bob. I'll never have the time anyway. I would really rather have a Miller Syncrowave 250 anyway. I don't believe I'll go Asian. If I get one, it will get a workout, so I don't mind spending the bucks. I used one of those Millers for a while and really grew to like it.
 
Synchro and Dynasties are the best in my opinion, but I dont push them to the exclusion of Asian.
Bob
 
It's not just a swapped-out plug. The cord has a molded plug on it. I'll open it up and see if it looks like it's been altered. The strain relief on the back panel looks too small for a #10/3 cord, but it's been there for quite a while.
 
Inverter technology ... it probably is missing an adapter for the cord that has a 220 plug on it.... just guessing :think1:
 
I was wondering if the inverter allowed it to take in a wide voltage range. All the manual says is to make sure it gets 220V. No guarantee that it's the right manual for this particular year of CT-416. Some of the pictures I've seen look different.
 
Just taking a break from puttering on the welder. Charley gave me a hint when he wondered about an adapter for the power cord. One of the related manuals says that the cord comes with no end cap on it because they would be different in some countries.

Last night, I took the cover off and peered around inside. The cord looks original, but the black wire wasn't attached to anything. I finally found the spade terminal it was meant to plug onto - right in the middle of the lowest PC board. Had to undo the board and work it halfway out to use a pair of pliers to plug it on.

I made up an adapter to go between my dryer outlet and the cord that came on the welder. The fan comes on and the power LED lights up, but I didn't hear any air flowing from the nozzle. I took the solenoid valve out. There seems to be continuity through the coil - just under 1k resistance. Applying 25VDC to the coil makes the plunger just twitch a bit. I tried to measure the voltage going to the coil, but I can't get a reading on an analog meter in AC or DC and the display on the digital meter just jumps around.

Then I noticed that there was a thumping sound behind me every time I keyed the switch on the torch. I couldn't track it down, but it happened every time. I glanced out the window and saw a mist rising from the ground. (This isn't fiction, guys. This really happened.) When I turned off the welder and the fan stopped, I heard water running. A check of the sprinkler system showed correct time and no zones turned on. I shut off the power to the sprinkler control, but the water kept running.

Out in the valve pit, there was water up to the top of the valves. (More work to do.) Tapping on the top of the second valve shut the water off. Turns out the solenoid on that valve was loose - turning it out more started the water running. I guess it was close enough to going on by itself that the RFI from the welder HF section (cover was off for testing) must have caused the controller to send odd signals out to some of the valves and that one stuck.

Okay, break's over. Time to go back to the weird welder. Wish I could read Chinese. It would help to know what voltage the valve was supposed to get. Oh, well. I did get one solenoid valve to come on.
 
Some of the newer machines advertise auto sensing of the input voltage, I'm guessing this one does not have that function?

I hate to ask, but would you mind posting a picture or two???
 
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