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Miller MIG guns w sticky triggers - anyone else?

7K views 17 replies 17 participants last post by  kf4zht 
#1 ·
I wanted to see if this problem is more widespread so I'm starting this thread

Piggybacking off this thread:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7931147#post7931147

I'm not the only one to suffer from a Miller gun w a sticky trigger. I now have an M10 gun and an M25 gun w this problem. Both did it from the time they were new.

I emailed Miller the following:
About 2 years ago I purchased a MM135 to use in places
where my Hobart 210 wouldn't easily reach. The M10
gun that came w the MM135 had a sticky trigger. I
found it annoying, but dealt w it until recently, and
figured it was a quality control fluke. Recently I
bought an M25 gun to put on my Hobart. This gun also
suffers from a sticky trigger. Now I've got one M10
gun and one M25 gun, both w triggers that stick. What
gives? A little research revealed that Miller guns
are known to be problematic. On a shop and tool forum
which I frequent I found comments from other users who
have also experienced a sticky trigger, and the
concensus was that Bernard, Binzel or Tweco guns were
considered an "upgrade" while costing less money. I'm
disappointed as I've always been a fan of
Miller/Hobart. Should I start shopping red? I paid
nearly $200 for my M25 gun when I apparently should
have spent half that on a Tweco. I simply don't
understand why a company like Miller can't manufacture
a reasonably reliable on/off switch.


Miller replied w this:
The Miller Electric Mig guns are made by Tregiskiss and Bernard.

Bernard makes the M-25 gun and it has the standard Bernard trigger in
it.

Tregaskiss makes the M-10 gun and it has the standard Tregaskss
trigger.

Both guns do carry a standard MIG gun warranty through Miller Electric
of 90 days.

Mike Gruenke
Light Industrial_SIMS Service
Miller Electric Mfg.
Phone: 920-954-3499
Fax: 920-954-3435
"

IMO it seems they're not terribly concerned about the problem, altho I have a hard time believing this is the first they've heard of it. He also infers, IMO, that my experiences must be a fluke due to the M10 and M25 allegedly being manufactured by different companies.

This isn't exactly what I'd call pro-active. The 90 day warranty may not help me much at this point as my invoice was dated sometime back in November '07.

So are the sticky triggers a relatively isolated event and I'm just that unlucky? Post up if you've experienced this too.
 
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#5 ·
FWIW, the mig gun that came with my new Hobart I recently purchased is a Miller gun. The switch in it was DOA when I attempted to use it for the first time. I got a replacement switch from the store which I bought the welder from and have been satisfied so far, but haven't put a lot of time on the machine yet.


IMO it seems they're not terribly concerned about the problem, altho I have a hard time believing this is the first they've heard of it. He also infers, IMO, that my experiences must be a fluke due to the M10 and M25 allegedly being manufactured by different companies.

This isn't exactly what I'd call pro-active. The 90 day warranty may not help me much at this point as my invoice was dated sometime back in November '07.
They probably aren't real worried about the problem for a couple of reasons. #1, you're likely talking to the wrong person. I used to field tech support calls and I can't tell you how many times people called up complaining about the design of the product. To which I always felt like saying "I don't give a shit because you bought it anyway and there's nothing that either of us can do about it now is there?" The folks at Miller customer service probably feel the same way.

#2, you should have complained about your problems sooner. I also got a lot of phone calls with people claiming that their problems with their '02 model year product have been ongoing since they bought it. Well, it is 2008 now and the warranty was only 1 year long so why do I give a shit about your problems! The same applies here.

With all that said, if you dislike the Miller mig guns so much, buy something different and quit complaining.

If you really want to continue to complain about your sticky switches, you might try posting on Miller's or Hobart's web forums about it. I *think* that some of the engineers watch the forums, but don't know this for certain. The engineering team would be the ones who would likely be able to make a change, not the customer service dept.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/index.php
http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/
 
#8 ·
MM210, stuck trigger, replaced it, happened again and I got rid of the whole gun. I had a roughneck gun on it for a while(which was WAY to big for tube work) I was on shopfloortalk.com and someone posted that Bernard was swapping brand new guns for the ones on the new MM350P's. I emailed Bernard and said I wish you guys would have had this offer when I bought my machine, told them my story. The next day I had an email asking for me to call them. Before the week was over I had a Bernard gun and tips on my doorstep with no charge to me. All I have to say is I LOVE this gun compared to the stocker MM gun and the roughneck. Its the right size for EVERYTHING. Call Bernard, even if they dont give you a gun, BUY ONE!

D60, you have a PM ;)
 
#10 · (Edited)
The thing about all this is that makes me think Miller just doesn't give a shit.

I woulda been thrilled to hear that I'm SOL 'cause my guns are out of warranty and I waited too long to complain, BUT that Miller is aware of the problem and has taken or is taking steps to correct it. THAT would make me believe Miller is a company I can continue to do business with.

Instead Miller acted as tho I was crazy, or at the very least confused or mistaken about what I've experienced. I replied again to Miller asking if they've taken any steps to address sticky triggers, and they simply never replied.

Clearly from the replies in this thread my experiences were not isolated.

Brad, I'll call Bernard per your PM
 
#12 ·
The H10 gun on my hobart welder ( same as an M10 gun but with the ends to mate up to a hobart welder) has has problems with the trigger sticking but I finally replaced the trigger and it stopped, what I did find out is the switch is sensitive to dirt or debris getting inside the switch.
I'm on my 3rd switch in about 10 years, not too bad I suppose. When I have to change the gun I'll go to a Tweco.
 
#15 ·
EASY sticky miller trigger solution

Bought Miller 250 in Sept 2015. Used it for less than an hour and the trigger starts sticking. After replacing the sticky trigger with a new one, I thought I would look at the old one to see if I could figure out why it was sticking.
Solution..1-Make sure machine is off and unpluged from power.2-Take the trigger out of the gun. 3-Push the brass pin that allows the trigger part of the switch to pivot and carefully remove the trigger piece. 4-Bend the metal piece that actuates the switch up (may have to it a couple of times). Push down on the piece of metal until you here a slight click and then release the metal piece and listen again for a slight click. If you here the click both ways then re-assemble. If not, bend the metal piece up a little more until you can here it click both ways. Should work fine when put it back together.
Give it a try. Might save yourself $25-$30
 
#16 ·
I bought a new Miller 252 mig and after little use, the trigger fell out of the gun. Looks like one of the plastic locking tabs broke off. It was passed their "90 day" parts warranty on the gun (or so the rep says so)

I have a skinny tipped Tweeco gun now with a 25' lead.
 
#17 ·
mmm, my 175 just started having trigger problems, but opposite of sticking. I pull the trigger and nothing for about 1-2 seconds. Very annoying when working with sheet metal. I figured I got some grinder dust in it. hopefully its easy to take apart and clean.

I've put about 4 or 5 spools through it over the years and lots of tac tacs while plating a Cherokee Uni-Body, so it has quite a bit of trigger use.
 
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