No spark or fusion

[Ryan C]

Morning,

I've got a Clarke 90En gas-less just to do a few auto repairs. Im new to welding and thought I'd get stuck and see how it goes.

It wasn't going too bad initially and I appeared to get nice fusion on the lowest power setting and a slow wire feed speed but then the welder began to play up.

What happens now is when the wire makes contact with the metal there is no spark or sound, and the wire just turns orange and then just sticks/melts partially onto the metal like a long curly thin worm!
I've tried turning the power up, wire speed up and down, switched the positive and negative wires over, cleaned the contact areas but running out of ideas.
Attached is a picture of what it comes out like.

Any advice would be much appreciated,
Thanks, Ryan

 

[Jim Davey]

Look for breaks in the torch power cable, in the handle and at the set. Also any joints that are loose or burned in the earth return. After that it's checking relays and switches. Then rectifier etc. start with the simple stuff like leads and torches first and work back.

 

[Ryan C]

Thank you Jim, I've had a good look over it all and it seems to be OK. But strangely it's back working fine again, so it must be a loose joint somewhere!

 

[BrokenBiker]

may have nothing to do with it, but on my sealey i used to get inconsistent power issues and no arc and it was always down to the power cable in the torch becoming loose. tighten the nut up and it would work fine for a few uses then come loose again

 

[Jan]

Another - if not more likely - cause would be an inconsistent earth. The cheap clips/clamps supplied with some welders can be difficult to use correctly and the slightest corrosion can kill the electrical connection.