help,clark 150te wire feed motor wont work

[minexplorer]

last time i put my welder away months ago it worked fine.now ive gone to use it again and im getting no response every time i press the trigger other than a click of a switch opening and closing inside the machine(the fans running and the green on switch is lit).ive looked inside,the brushes on the motor are fine and no corrosion on the wires.its not seized up either.the switch i can see opening and closing is in a transparrent casing.im stumped, wld appreciate any suggestions.are there any diagnostic tests.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

have you looked for any loose connections around the main board and motor?

Have you tried it without the welding wire loaded incase that's jamming the feed roller?

You could connect a voltmeter to the wires going to the motor to see if there's a voltage there...

disclaimer after someone zapped their meter! please ensure that it's switched to volts and not amps. If there are multiple sockets on the meter make sure you connect to the 'common' or '-ve' and the 'volts/ohms' sockets.

Also I'd suggest you start on maximum volts AC and wind the meter down step by step until you get a reading. If nothing on AC then switch to DC (I assume it'll be around 12 volts DC if the circuit board is switching the motor on).

Regards
Peter

 

[weldequip]

You can test the wire feed motor by running a couple of leads to it from a car battery, if it runs it's fine & likely to be a faulty circuit board (got them in stock here at Chez weldequip ).
weldequip

 

[jaylo]

clarke 150 te

Can anyone tell me , please , is my new Clarke 160 t actually suitable for welding the body panels on my vw campervan ? I am having trouble with blowthru , though i have reasonable welds on new 1 mm sheet in the workshop , and it`s great for bigger stuff.
I use .6 mm wire , argoshield , "minimum 1" setting , and 4-5 on the wire speed , and i scrupulously clean the metal .

BTW , I simply don`t know how to start a new post or thread on this (excellent! ) forum !
jaylo

 

[malcolm]

For starting a new thread - from the forum home page click on one of the category links on the left side of the page. There you'll see a new thread button above the list of threads.

The 160 should be fine for thinner metal. I used an earlier version of that welder for years. Though you might want to use the thin metal technique. I use it all the time on 0.8mm (If I'm lucky) Renault panels. Post some photos of your welds if that doesn't work - might be something else going on.

 

[malcolm]

Oops - sorry forgot about minexplorer. The contactor can get a bit dirty with a idle time. A temporary measure that might work would be to pull the clear plastic cover off the relay and use fine sandpaper to clean the contacts a little.

Roughly how much are the replacement Clarke circuit boards weldequip? From Clarke they seem to be as much as a new welder which seemed a bit much for a £2 circuit board. Though their new torches were new welder prices too.

 

[jaylo]

clarke 150te

Many thanks ,Malcolm , I eventually found the thread starter following your advice , guess i am as bad at pooters as welders . Must be good at something , i suppose .:full
As for thin metal welding , i follow all of your advice tutorials etc , good stuff , and my welding has improved immensely . i use a modified technique from yours , in that i "pop" ( pulse/stop/start) but also give the gas a wee squirt to cool the weld for half a sec , the clarke is good for not switching on the power until the trigger is fully squeezed , this allows another pop without too much heat.
And i still get holes .
jaylo

 

[jaylo]

clarke 150 te

oh, and btw again , the best wee car i ever had was a renault 4 , took hay , carried goats , pigs , calf , climbers , furniture with it ,and even rescued a land rover in deep snow ! jaylo

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

sounds like you have a fault with the welder.

If you have a voltmeter try connecing to the tip and earth lead, with no welding wire in the welder, and measure the voltage at each of the settings. You should see definate steps up and '1 min' should be the lowest.

I'd say that with my Clarke 150TE I'd have gresat difficulty blowing holes in car body on minimum settings (yes I know yours is a 160, but they both have the same spec for maximum thickness so they should be close all along the range).

Just one other point, I tend to run my wire-speed at 7 for car bodywork...i guess this may vary from one welder to another.

Regards
Peter

 

[jaylo]

help ,clarke 150te

Peter and Malcolm , i checked the voltmeter readings , with wire in but guide roller "disconnected" , and got the following :

1 min ---volts 42.0
1 max---........46.4

2 min---.........51.5
2 max---........57.8

3 min---.........65.9
3 max---........76.3

There seems to be also a residual reading of c.45.0 volts on the meter before the trigger is pressed each time -- ?
So , there is a gradation , but should it be so high ? jaylo

 

[jaylo]

clarke -----

forgot to say again , mine is a clarke 160 , new. j

 

[malcolm]

Is your voltmeter accurate? Those voltages are way too high. You should be seeing something between 17V and 28V when you measure between the torch contact tip and the earth clamp (while not welding).

I'd check a 12V car battery with that voltmeter. If you get somewhere near 12V from that take advantage of the guarantee on the welder quickly.

Edit - Ahh - you say the meter is not accurate. That's a relief. Shoulf point you towards the posting photos tutorial so we can see the weld troubles you are dealing with

 

[jaylo]

help, clark

malcolm ,will check meter tomorrow , ta. jaylo

 

[shenion]

You need a load to measure the voltage.

My miller measures 28V when set to 17V with no load. Filter caps on the rectifier will be charged by the peak voltages. Under load, they come down to an RMS value.

Two 12V brake light bulbs in series make a good test load. A 150 ohm 5-watt resistor will do also. 100ohm, 10-watt will do also.

 

[minexplorer]

re the clark 160 that just stopped working.thanks for the advice guys i will keep suggestions in mind if happens again.as i am happy to say it just started working again after 3 days sitting indoors.could the damp of my shed had anything to do with it i wonder

 

[Woody.v8]

There maybe a dry joint on the PCB somewhere.

 

[bigdaddyadd]

Hi all sorry to hi jack this thread but I have a problem which is a variation on this original post. I have a 150A clarke mig with bottle. It has been given to me as a non runner. I have been looking at it today and when the trigger is depressed the plnger on the gas works fine and the electrical switch makes contact. But there is no response from the set. I have had a bit of a probe with the multi meter and found a realy which does not appear to have continuity through the coil which explains why it makes no switching sounds at all. Has anyone else had this problem or know if a spare can be obtained?
Cheers guys.

 

[shenion]

The coil may be more than 200 ohms. Try the 2k range on the meter.

weldequip might be able to source a board. If not you may have to find a similar relay.

 

[weldequip]

Got replacement boards off the shelf, PM me if you need one
weldequip

 

[malcolm]

Or alternatively (sorry weldequip) there might be a relay on the board that has a removable plastic cover. The contacts can get all clogged up if it's been arcing. Try a sand with some fine sandpaper. The surface of the contacts is made from clever stuff so don't sand too much or you'll remove the surface and they won't last a minute, though at least you'll know that was the problem.

If that was the problem a bit of sanding might help for a while, otherwise a new relay, or a new board from Captain W up there should sort it.