Haphazard arc/feeding issues

[secretsmoker]

Hello again,

Just thought I would run this problem through the forum before I contact the supplier as I am still fairly clueless about this type of thing...

At first I thought it was due to something I am doing but ever since I got it, this Xcalibur Eurostar 150 sometimes seems to have a problem initiating when I press the trigger. Every other press of the trigger or so results in nothing more than a click from a relay; no wire feeds out and it would appear no power to the tip.

I now have the feed tension set up correctly and the thing will work just fine when it works. Whilst I am trying to do tiny tacks in quick succession I am finding it rather annoying that it sometimes takes 2 or 3 presses of the trigger before the wire feed actually engages. I am often not expecting it when it finally kicks in as a result of this and have often moved too far from the workpiece by this time causing burnback, fusing of power supply and a torrent of expletives.

It is not the case that the wire is simply stuck to the tip. This has happened a couple of times but the problem I am having is a separate issue as I am testing with the tip removed and watching the feed roller itself. Something definitely happens every time when I press the trigger but when it falters I only get the sound of a relay clicking.

Anyone have ideas as to the cause? Please don't just say China Haha!

 

[secretsmoker]

Meh, looks like a trip back to the shop tomorrow to have the problem verified. Need some more gas anyway. Don't seem to be having much luck with my choices so far!

 

[mike 109444]

When you say you get the "click" of a relay, do you mean the clunk of the contactor (which is a big relay!) or just the smaller relay on the pcb? On most welders the small relay operates the contactor and may also operate the gas valve and feed motor. You may have weld power but if the wire is not sticking out enough (or being feed out) the there wont be any wire to create the arc so will give the apperance that there is no feed + no power, where as you may just have a problem with the setup of / or the mechanisam of the wire feed. I've not used a machine with burn back so not sure how this gets setup. Try turning burn back right off and see what the results are.
ps been following your posts and you do seam to be having some fun
Was going to sugest when you first said what welder you had got that you might like to do a review of the machine from the "Out of the box " ect but think that might be a bit upsetting now
And welcome by the way

 

[secretsmoker]

Thanks for the input.

I should have been more clear when talking about 'burnback', the machine has no choke/inductance control, it is a fairly simple unit. The burnback I am talking about is the newbie habit of getting the tip too far away from the workpiece when I am not expecting it after several trigger presses, vaporising the wire back to the tip when it finally engages! At the moment this is a bit unpredictable and quite annoying.

I haven't used many different MIG machines (this is the 4th to be precise) but none of the others have had this problem and having gotten a new machine I was at least expecting that the wire should feed each time the trigger is pressed!

Sounds like it may be the contactor relay of which you speak engaging. I am not fully conversant with the inner workings of MIG machines but the main sound is less of a click, actually more of a dull clunk and hum which sends a wave of vibration amplified through the casing. This happens every time I press the trigger. There is also the click of a smaller relay to be heard in there at the same time.

I am going to speak to the guys at the BOC store tomorrow. I am actually quite happy that I bought it from there as I got the impression that they will look after me hopefully! Worst case scenario is the machine behaves itself perfectly as soon as I get it back to them! Perhaps there is some sort of weird invisible field in my garage which causes MIG machines to malfunction!

I would say I am very happy with the machine apart from this issue though and I reckon it will probably be a nice little plant once all the bugs are worked out. The one I got was a display model and I have no idea how long it had been sitting in the shop. Not that that should matter mind but I suppose we will figure it out between us tomorrow.

 

[secretsmoker]

Oh and many thanks everyone for being so welcoming and helping a new guy out! I know it must be fairly exasperating trying to get to the bottom of badly explained issues only to find that it is often actually something that has been covered already many times before.

This forum is an absolutely awesome resource full of very sound folks who definitely know their stuff. Hopefully I will run out of questions soon and feel ready to upload some pics of what I am up to!

 

[secretsmoker]

Off work again today so been down in the garage again. I will still be going back to BOC to see what they say as I need a refill anyway. The main conclusion I have come to though this morning is that the problems are all caused by me and/or power supply. The machine is probably fine(... EDIT: MYSTERY SOLVED! Please see the Eurostar mystery solved thread for gutshots!)

Tips about moving further away before I release the trigger to avoid burning back to the contact tip has helped immensely.

I have come to the conclusion that something must trip temporarily inside the machine after burning back to the tip which prevents wire from feeding out the first few times I press the trigger even after I have freed it up and gotten everything unstuck and ready to go again. On the attempts when I managed to end the arc with wire still protruding it seems to be fine the next time I press the trigger.

Only one more problem though which may be due to underpowering/extension lead from other threads I have read. The wire feed seems to be very stuttery and I can't seem to find a sweet spot regarding speed anywhere on the scale. Feeds out perfectly fine with no arc.

If it helps I am using argoshield light and 0.8 wire. Power is coming from a rather long branch off of the central heating circuit in the house (at least 12 metres from MCB) then through an extension lead.

I will try some different sockets closer to the MCB if I can find somewhere else that's away from anything flammable!

I now understand what my college tutor was saying about welding at home on hobby machines being a world away from using the industrial plants at college! I will get there though and am still not feeling too discouraged by my lack of skill. On the plus side I received my C&G Level 1 certificate though the post! Trying to decide whether I can afford to go back for level 2 MIG or level 1 TIG soon...