TA185 info?

[nikodell]

I just got a TA185 and was wondering if anyone knew what the initial startup codes were? I get 3 different numbers that come up at boot.
The 3rd is the amps but I dont know what the first 2 are.
6.4
423
100

[Jay O.]

I don't know what they mean and so I don't worry about them. The welder can throw out codes that begin E## and those let you know something is wrong like when you turn off the machine you'll see E99. If you look it up its says something about input power, so as long as your machine works don't worry.

[RBryant]

You can download the user manual from Thermodyne and it has the codes in it. It's right here: http://www.thermadyne.com/thermalarc...iterature.html

I agree with previous poster, when powered up they will go through several codes before they settle down, that is normal operating.

[canoecruiser]

Unfortunately only the error codes are listed in the literature. If anyone finds out for sure I'd like to know, but my strong suspicion is that they are software and hardware revision numbers. I work in electronics and have more electronics test equipment than welders and every piece does that as well as all of my employers products, that is those that contain microcontrollers. When I saw the startup codes for the first time I thought "they do it too".

[Broccoli1]

In 2005 the start up # was 5.02, 423

[nikodell]

Unfortunately only the error codes are listed in the literature. If anyone finds out for sure I'd like to know, but my strong suspicion is that they are software and hardware revision numbers. I work in electronics and have more electronics test equipment than welders and every piece does that as well as all of my employers products, that is those that contain microcontrollers. When I saw the startup codes for the first time I thought "they do it too".

Ok that sounds reasonable.

[canoecruiser]

I called Thermadyne tech support and it is as we speculated. The first number is the software revision; the major rev is to the left of the decimal point and minor revs are to the right. The second number is the hardware revision. Minor revs are usually for changes to an existing feature(s) that don't require a hardware bump. That could be for a change in the upper limit of the frequency range for AC TIG or a temperature limit for a thermal cutout (not saying THEY WERE but the tech support guy agreed with those as examples of the type of change possible). Major revs could or could not affect compatibility with the hardware design.

I asked if there was a way to reflash the microcontroller memory with an update and he stated that it would have to return to Sanrex to do that. Given that theft of intellectual property is a huge issue these days it can be virtually guaranteed that the security bit in the memory has been set to prevent the code being extracted. In this case both Broccoli's welder and mine have the same hardware; the software is different but obviously not incompatible with the hardware.

EDIT: My TA-185 was purchased in summer 2010 and shows the same revs as nikodell's.