Clarke Turbo Weld 100en problem - Loose wire?

[Martin Keene]

Hi Guys & Girls

Newbie to the forum after a google search pointed me at an image which has proved very useful.

I have a Clarke Turbo Weld 100en that I bought, along with a Clarke Arc/Tig set and a load of other bits and pieces from a mate who emigrated to Oz. It has taken me a while to get around to playing with them, and they went unsed for a while before I bought them.

I turned on the MIG set and all I get is a light on the power switch, this is an older set, so I believe this is a thermal overload light.

I figured I take the side off and have a look, and found a loose wire, and this is where google came in, looking at the wiring diagram told me that the wire should be connected in between the two transformers, finding this hard to believe I went looking for a picture inside the welder and found this:

Which confirms the loose wire should be soldered under the insulation in between the two transformers, I tried to solder it back yesterday, but my small gas soldering iron is not up to the job. Has anybody got any clever ideas to help?

 

[PTvor]

I can't quite see what you are trying to solder.

With an electrical connection you need to clean the insulation and tarnish off the wire so you are back to bright metal. Scrape it or use a bit of wet and dry. Then you need to make a good physical connection by twisting the wires together or twisting the wire round a solder tag or other connection. You need flux cored solder intended for electronic work, 60/40 tin lead is best, avoid lead free if possible.

Then you need a soldering iron up to the job, I'm guessing a 30W would do. Cheap ones (less than a fiver) are OK if you only do occasional soldering jobs, but they don't last long with constant use. Instant heat gun type irons are OK if you are not doing anything fiddly. Turn on the iron, tin the bit when it's hot, apply the iron to the joint for a second or two, apply the solder wire to the joint and the iron and watch the solder flow into the joint.

If you are soldering to a single short pin, get a bit of tinned 10A fuse wire. Make a coil of five or six turns by wrapping it round a suitable former, the end of a 2mm welding rod or similar. Slip the coil over the pin, push the wire or wires into the coil and flood the coil with solder.

Other than that you could use an old fashioned iron you heat on a gas ring for a one off, but use proper electronic solder, not tinman's solder and Fluxite. You could also use a screw down connector such as a section cut off a choc block.

 

[Martin Keene]

Apologies, I didn't make it quite clear.

Just to the right and below the middle of the picture there is the wire rod connecting both transformers together, in the middle of this is soldered a small black wire, this joint is the covered by a braided insulating cover.

The small black wire has fallen off in mine, but soldering it back together is proving tricky due to the different size of the components being soldered.

 

[PTvor]

I'm still not quite clear but from what you say, it's the black wire going into the braiding which has come loose. If the black wire is long enough, strip an inch of the black wire , clean up the joint and wrap the black wire round it. Solder the wrapped around wire and original joint.

Or, strip about a quarter inch of the black wire and bind it to the original joint with a few turns of fuse wire, then solder it. Shove back the braid and put a cable tie on it to keep it in place if necessary.

Is the connection from the transformer on the right aluminium? If it is there are special solders and soldering aluminium is tricky. If that's so the easiest might be to leave the original joint undisturbed and reconnect the black wire using a made up screw type connector.

If it's all copper wire, then I'd say your problems are down to using an underpowered iron, using the wrong kind of solder, or not getting the things to be soldered clean.

 

[shenion]

Post some pictures. There should be no "small black wire" between the transformers (left one is a choke.) Anything going to/from the left one will be heavy gauge wire and probably aluminum.