Thread: MIG Welder DOA :(

Just got a MIG Welder which seems DOA (dead on Arrival). Trying to feed the wire through the torch and when I plug in and switch on, basically, nothing happens. No noises, no nothing... Could it be the switch? or have I just missed something completely?

Originally Posted by Dean

Just got a MIG Welder which seems DOA (dead on Arrival). Trying to feed the wire through the torch and when I plug in and switch on, basically, nothing happens. No noises, no nothing... Could it be the switch? or have I just missed something completely?

Gday Dean, good to hear.

Is it a newie?

Can you take the side cover off to see if the wire spool is turning when you pull the trigger/

Can you hear any noise from the machine when you switch the power on, any lights on the machine that should come on but don't?

Originally Posted by martrix

Gday Dean, good to hear.

Is it a newie?

Can you take the side cover off to see if the wire spool is turning when you pull the trigger/

Yep can do that, and funnily enough, after just trying it again, it now starts feeding and shows some sign of life... weird... maybe it needed that kick start spark

Originally Posted by Wood Butcher

Can you hear any noise from the machine when you switch the power on, any lights on the machine that should come on but don't?

Well the wire feed is working now, but the light on the switch still blank.

You need to have the right amount of tension on the little wheel with the groove in it that drives the wire, and the same goes for the spool of wire.

Quick tip:

If at any stage when your welding and the wire stops feeding when you're pressing the trigger.......stop!

Open the side cover and check everything. Wood butcher probably knows this one about the dreaded "Birds Nest"...

Originally Posted by martrix

You need to have the right amount of tension on the little wheel with the groove in it that drives the wire, and the same goes for the spool of wire.

Quick tip:

If at any stage when your welding and the wire stops feeding when you're pressing the trigger.......stop!

Open the side cover and check everything. Wood butcher probably knows this one about the dreaded "Birds Nest"...

Got it tensioned now. Prolly need to pullt he wire out actually and re-wind the spool, coz when i first took wire off spool, well I didn't hold onto it too well and it unravelled itself a fair bit, loosing all the spool tension .. Newbie MIG user problem I guess

Originally Posted by Dean

Got it tensioned now. Prolly need to pullt he wire out actually and re-wind the spool, coz when i first took wire off spool, well I didn't hold onto it too well and it unravelled itself a fair bit, loosing all the spool tension .. Newbie MIG user problem I guess

Same thing happened to me.

Pull all that wire off the spool that isn't tensioned and start again. Make sure the end of the wire is not barbed or sharp. You don't want to cut/damage the liner of the trigger cable while feeding it through to the tip.

The wire on the spool needs to be neatly wrapped and tensioned for it to all work properly.

...quick run, Grahame's here.

Also remove the tip off the gun before feeding the wire through so that it won't catch at that last bit

Hi Dean.
There is only a little info you have given the forum to work with.
Is the machine old or new ?
With out knowing what brand of machine or model it can be hard to say ,but the intermittent nature of the fault indicates a loose connection.

My guess on where that is likely to be is at the trigger wire connections. By law these will be 32 volts.Commonly they are often a tab and socket connection as found in automotive application. They are to be found usually near where the gun disconnects from the machine .They arel ight gauge wires.
A spray and a crimp will fix them up.
The trigger connection operates the gas solenoid,the wire feed solenoid and deliver welding current to the contact tip.

Just the act of moving the gun cable could loosen the connections if they are not stable.
The light that the machine shows is just that -normally a power on/off indicator.If it does not not work and the rest does it simple isn't it. The light is blown.

Grahame

hey men new to the forum it sounds like you got your problems sorted.
anyhows thought i might post a bit of a yarn Im a trade qualified welder and a few years ago i bought a WIA 215s remote wire feeder mig (GMAW) brand new,suffering from new boys toy syndrome brought her home set it up and guess what no wire feed panicked k,ss of cash (hey i was still an apprentice) and its a dud.
Anyway it turns out that thats the first mig ive still seen to this day that when you turn the wire speed right back to zero thats what you get nil wire feed all the transmig 400 and migomag 400,s we had at work still fed super slow.
the point of this yarn is sometimes it pays to check controls before you pull the side off and start checking connections or break all blokes rules LOL and READ THE MANUAL.
Great Forum lots of switched on men cheers bushboily

FWIW, the welder kicked to life and was fine afterall. Not sure what the problem was in the end. It just wouldnt feed there for the first few tries