Minimig 180C Esab? Lincoln?

[julianthegypsy]

Is there anyone near Rugby who could help me fix one of these? I thought it was a Lincoln but the torch says ESAB, curiously. I picked it up before Christmas, with a fault, which I thought would be an easy fix but its doing a good job of defeating me. Basically, if I squeeze the trigger, nothing happens. If I push the main contactor in the wire feed kicks in but that's it. The board is a bit difficult to see in situ but I can't see anything obviously burnt. The small fuse is fine, before anyone asks..unless there's another one I haven't spotted. Any advice welcome and more than happy to hand over some beer tokens if anyone fancies fixing it for me!

 

[chevy2]

Check your torch if its the original one,
i have the Lincoln version and a few years back it packed up,
after a bit of poking about i found it to be a broken spade connection on the trigger wire behind the torch sheath where it goes in the front if the machine.
Also pull the torch apart at the head and check there,
its a bit of a heathrobinson design with a bit if sprung copper that doesn't always make contact that well without a bit of fine adjustment.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Check your torch if its the original one,
i have the Lincoln version and a few years back it packed up,
after a bit of poking about i found it to be a broken spade connection on the trigger wire behind the torch sheath where it goes in the front if the machine.
Also pull the torch apart at the head and check there,
its a bit of a heathrobinson design with a bit if sprung copper that doesn't always make contact that well without a bit of fine adjustment.

Thanks. I pulled the torch apart, I think it's the original ESAB one, it does seem a bit heath robinson but I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with it.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Update. Took it into my local steelyard who took it to someone they use for welder repairs. This genius advised that it needs a new board, at a cost of £200 and charged me £35 for the privilege of telling me. I can't actually see any sign that he's even taken anything apart, but I'm more fed up that this thing is old enough that the board should surely be fairly easy to repair if you know what you're doing. I'd assumed it was something on the board, which is why I sent it away in the first place. Am I wrong to be feeling a bit miffed? If I had the time I'd pull the board out myself and post up some pics. I'm sure with the talents on here it's not beyond us.