115VAC feeder on a 24VAC power source

[kyoders]

I picked up a XR feeder cabinet and gun pretty cheap, but didn't realize until too late that it is expecting 115VAC on the 14-pin plug, but my power source (Shopmate 300DX) appears to only supply 24VAC. My understanding is that the 115VAC is the older standard for Miller, and all of their newer stuff uses 24VAC. I've seen the Miller boxes designed to let you run 24VAC feeders off power sources with 115VAC (PSA-2), but not the other way around.

Is there an "approved" way to do this, with a step-up transformer maybe (I assume the ones for going the other direction are basically just step-down transformers)? Can I connect up one of the PSA-2's backwards? Looking at the schematic, it appears that, aside from the circuit breaker being on the wrong side of the transformer, it's really just a step-down transformer. Aside from making sure the connectors are correct, would this work?

Can I just hack up a cable/connector and tap in to the 115V input lines and plug it into the wall?

Am I going to run into a problem with contactor control? I hadn't thought of that until just now. Does the contactor closure mechanism at the feeder place whatever voltage is coming from the power supply back for closure, or is it always supplying 115V. For example, if I just hacked up the cable and plugged it into the wall to get 115V for the feeder, is it going to place 115V on the contactor closure lead in the 14 pin cable, or will it be whatever voltage it sees coming in from the 14 pin connector?

[MAC702]

I had the same problem with my older Millermatic 80A feeder. It was originally used with my older CP-200 power source, but I wanted to use it from my Trailblazer 301G, which, like yours, only supported modern 24V feeders. I contacted Miller and they put me in touch with the machine's designers. They had received a surprising number of complaints about it and went back and designed a new PC board for the machine to upgrade (retrograde) to also supply the two 115V pins in the 14-pin assembly. I now have the world's first TB301G with both 24V and 115V feeder capabilities. After that, they made the feature standard to keep supporting the older 115V feeders.

My feeder used the 115V circuitry for the remote trigger.

My recommendation is to call 1-800-4-A-MILLER and get in touch with their engineers who will tell you exactly what you need to do for your machines to get them to work together.

[Brand X]

Maybe the feeder can be setup for closing or 115 contacts? I know modern Esab feeders run on 48 volts and use the heavy-duty 120 volt contactors. My esab 350 mpi and duridrive feeder was setup that way. Take the cover of the feeder and see if there is any info on switching it out.