any electricians on here? if yes I need your help!

[mike 109444]

If it's Relay R1 then YES !!!! probable caused by connecting the wrong wire to it. If you "fix" the track use a very thin (single strand of wire) and solder it to the pcb following the shape of the track with the wire to stop it shorting on other tracks. AND FIND THE CAUSE.

 

[Mark Robinson]

Yeah it is. Why didn't I think of this before hand?! It was quite grotty behind there tbh so giving it a good clean and the soldering iron is heating up as we speak

 

[Mark Robinson]

Repaired that and it's still not pulling in

 

[the snooper]

is that the only one damaged ? the small one next to it doesn't look good from the picture or is this the one you repaired if so check the continuity of the longer one

 

[Mark Robinson]

Just checked that as I thought the same! Im going to check them all and any that aren't too good Ill bridge. Just a quick noob question, The relays on the PCB, The one nearest the front of the machine (Wire feed?) sparks when the trigger is released but the other (gsv relay) does not. Am I right in thinking that this should spark also?

 

[Mark Robinson]

Edit to the above post, The other relay DOES spark upon releasing the trigger but only when the contactor is pushed in.

 

[Mark Robinson]

Just moved wire numbered 44 from A2 to A1 and now when the contactor is manually pushed in and I pull the trigger the gsv works on its own, Now just to figure out which wire goes where to make the thing pull in on it's own! either that or get another contactor

 

[Mark Robinson]

FIXED GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for all your help

 

[Mark Robinson]

still not arcing up but contactor is pulling in

 

[Mark Robinson]

@mike 109444 any ideas? It isn't flowing gas nor arcing up but is feeding wire and the contactor is pulling in when the trigger is pressed

 

[mike 109444]

If you look at the diagram in post 14 (which is mainly of the circuit board, the bit in the big dotted box) You will see that one part of the feed for both the contactor coil AND the gas valve come from B1 on the pcb plug and will doubled up on the contactor. So if you follow the wires from the gas valve (2 wires) they should/will go to the contactor coil connects A1 and A2. That should work the gas valve.
The power output may be a wrong connection on the output of the contactor!

 

[Mark Robinson]

This welder is really getting on my nerves now, Either the contactor will pull in and release upon pressing the trigger, But gsv doesn't operate, OR the gsv operates but contactor won't pull in, or the gsv operates, the contactor pulls in but will not release! I now have a new multimeter, Is there anything I can check to maybe give me an idea if whats wrong? And if any, what readings should I be getting?

 

[carbon]

No sure about the no release part but I fitted a replacement contactor in a machine a few months ago The replacement one was made by a different manufacturer and was a direct replacement, but contacts were rated at a slightly higher current than the original which was no longer available. After approx 20 mins of running the machine would not restart. After a lot of checking of voltages and currents I found that the new contactor required more current to operate the coil and the step down transformer that was used to provide the power for it was being overloaded as a result. Not saying that this is your fault but it may be worth checking the voltage at the contactor coil to make sure it is correct

 

[Mark Robinson]

Thanks for the reply, As far as I'm aware the contactor I have is suitable. Think I'm going to have to pay someone to look to be honest, the PCB had a lot of bad points which I have re-tracked but I'm unsure if anything else has gone kaplunk!
When the contactor pulls in (and stays in) the machine makes a buzzing sound, which it doesn't when the contactor operates as it should. The contactor you replaced, Was it on the same welder as mine?

 

[carbon]

No it wasn't on a welder, but check that the voltage is correct across the coil just to make sure that it's not an issue

 

[Mark Robinson]

Making a bit of progress thanks to Dave (NotANormalCoder) :-)

Just a quick question too see if anyone on here may know as I understand Dave is a busy man, The wire to the fan (in my case wire no42) should this be linked to the neutral wire? (N is also a wire no42 but it is a heavy wire)

 

[Pennychew]

Why don't you post a pic of the contactor as it is wired up now and say which wires you think are in each terminal, unfortunately i don't know that much about welders but control circuits and contactors in general aren't usually that hard to configure with a bit of tracing and testing.

Wrap a little bit of white tape around each wire and write the number you think it is as well as this will help

 

[Mark Robinson]

Okay I will do, The wires are already numbered and labeled

 

[Mark Robinson]

The welder is now fully working guys!
Thanks to all for your input, And special thanks to @eSCHEn for pointing me in the direction of @mike 109444 ! Mike, You were great. And @NotANormalCoder for his expertise via email!

Thanks again. (sorry I haven't tagged everybody who contributed their help.)

 

[mike 109444]