Welder running weak. Possible causes?

[norwal42]

Inherited a Lincoln MIG wire feed welder with gas setup - a Weld Pak 100. Dad said at some point it just lost some of its power, like it's running half power or something.

Any common issues with these welders wearing out? Replaceable parts in the electrical control pipeline? Ways to check those parts for malfunction?

I'm not familiar with maintenance details for this unit or welders in general, so any direction on where to start, what to look for inside, etc. could be helpful.

Thanks

 

[Finky198]

Unplug the machine Check the ground clamp make sure it's clean and that wire is not loose on either end. You may also want to check the power cable terminals if they become loose the machine can operate but all out of wack

When you have it open look for burn/ char marks or that good old burnt electrical smell If you see any sort of issue like that I would call lincoln tech support and get replacement part they are very helpful

We have a weld pak 155 those are the only issues I can really think of well Sometime the guns trigger mech gets messed up but there made like **** so you can try to fiddle with it but you would know if that was the issue cause it would not feed the wire smoothly


Best of luck and hope you figure it out

 

[ssdave]

I had that problem with my AC stick welder. The culprit was the ground clamp. The cable where it went in was starting to fray, I cut it off, and re-mounted it, and it fixed the problem.

 

[Rookie2]

Also check over the 120v line cord ,melted plug or cracks in insulation may lead to frayed wires.

also try another outlet circuit.

 

[Spareparts]

Had the same problem with a 110 unit Miller after welding a short time it will loose some power, the problem was the ground cable, to small and would heat up. Replaced it with a #4 welding cable about 10' longer while at it, and it made it a new welder again.

 

[404]

One of the 2 diodes may have failed.

 

[norwal42]

Awesome. Thanks for your quick responses. Sorry for my delayed review. I will check out all your suggestions and report back. :

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Zrexxer]

Also spring for a new contact tip.

 

[383 240z]

I had an issue with one of my migs, sometimes worked perfect, other times, not so much. Traced it to the extension cord. It was in good condition, and proper size. However when it was coiled up and only using a few feet of it, the welds would suffer. If I laid it out, full length, no coils, it worked great. Go figure. Keith