Tom the difference is if you look at the pic I've posted you can see that machine has decent wheels to wheel it round! It is built more like a scaled down industral machine than the later/newer/cheeper Sip machines that feature in so many of the wire feed mods.
If possible will help you get it sorted. (inbetween sorting brothers car!!)
mine is different to that, mine has twin fans on one side. i fiddled around with the welder yesterday and finally got it working, but went to use it today and the motor wouldnt spin the roller and all of a sudden it would work for a couple of seconds and stop. i have tried releasing the other roller to see if it works with no strain on it but its still the same, any ideas what it could be? the relay still works and clicks when trigger is pressed. i think it may be the motor but im hoping there could be something else that it could be because i dont really want to pay the price for a new motor, just looked on a website and its £240 for a new one!
Have you tried running the wire feed motor independently of the rest of the machine, from a battery or other dc power supply? At least this would tell you if the fault is actually the motor or not.
Tom still not sure which type of SIP you have as there is a lot of difference between the "small" Sip's 130's and similar and the "larger" 120, 150, 220's
See pic of "larger" type
Tom when you say the relay "clicks" do you mean the BIG contactor (as in a Very big relay!) and it should "clunk" quite loudly. Is that what you mean?
Need pic of yours.
Below is yet another Sip 120!!
Tom it sounds like you may just have a bad connection. With out more to go on then I would suggest you check for poor crimp connections / broken wire from the feed motor and back through the loom to pcb. REMBER DISCONNECT FROM MAINS BEFORE STARTING THIS !!!!
If the contactor is pulling in, it could be something as simple as shi*ty contacts in the contactor. In the pic above from mike, right in the middle with the mains cable going into the top, that is the contactor. In older kit, you may find you can remove the contacts and give them a clean (not too sure looking at that one).
Arcing on contacts can be caused by them opening under load and closing causing a build up due to arcing.
If that is the cause then contactors aren't too expensive, I've just got one for mine, a 24vDC one for £13. If you look at yours you should see details for the coil. Mine said 24v 50/60hz (the reason for mine eventually failing, it should have been 24vDC not AC)! Check the coil contacts on the contactor with a multimeter to find which you need. Also the coil connections are across A1/A2 whereas the main contacts will just be a through contact when closed to continue the circuit.
Don't worry about brand etc,as long as the coil voltage is correct then try to find one with a higher contact rating not a small piddly one. There'll be loads on ebay.
Hi Tom.
That is a larger version of my Mig Mate 100. If you look inside the top cover there will be a thin cable leading into the touch 'hose' this on the 100 this has a constant voltage (24 V IIRC) this is connected to a sprung metal switch in the touch, via a push on spade terminal. Pressing the trigger earths the 24V to the main return in the touch, I would test for voltage at the sprung steel switch and before the cable enters the main touch assembly. I recall there are two thin wires (blue and white?) one is unused, anyway take the touch apart and all will be apparent. I would take some pictures but I changed the original touch for a Parweld touch early last year when my gas line split.
yeh i have had my torch apart and checked connections, i dont think its anything in the torch because the relay clicks every time i press the trigger, just the motor on occasionaly works
To check the contactor, push the plunger on its top and get someone to measure across its contacts with your meter set to the ohms scale. You should be looking for an ohms value not much over the value with the meter leads shorted out.
Ok so if the torch is switching, do you have a voltage on the tip when the relay actuates, also take off the sides to get access to the motor (take care around the mains voltages) and measure the voltage at the motor. The 100 had chocolate block connectors for the feed motor so easy to check out. If there is a voltage on the wire feed motor remove tension on the wire feed and try spinning the motor by hand, if it is hard to turn try lubricating it taking care to keep the wire feed rollers free of oil.
If you only paid £30 for it I recon it is worth the effort trying to fix it, good luck.
yeh i have had my torch apart and checked connections, i dont think its anything in the torch because the relay clicks every time i press the trigger, just the motor on occasionaly works
Tom it could be sticking / worn brushes in the motor. On some motors the brushes can be removed for cleaning / replacing. The pics attached are of the motors I work on and as can be seen they have a plastic tab that can be slid out and brush removed. the black specks are carbon from the waring brushes. Even though the output of the motors in migs run slow the motor will run very fast and be droped down by the gearbox. The motor on the attached pic runs at 3000rpm but the output of gearbox is only 48rpm!
The brushes in your motor may not be so easy to get to but should be possible.
If you try the recomendation made by Keith19 and get a battery charger or similar, disconnect the 2 wires going onto the feed motor (NOTING WHICH WIRE GOES TO WHICH CONNECTOR!! AS IT'S A DC MOTOR) Now with wire feed backed off connect the charger to the motor and run it for a good few minutes. If motor fails or stops and starts then motor / brushes are very sus.
A pic of the motor area where the cables connect should allow to guide you on doing the brushes IF needed.
ps the ones I work on have been updated and now we are not expected to replace brushes just chuck motor! theres updating for you. note even these newer ones can be striped and overhauled but we are not expected to!!
sorry i havent commented on this for ages.. i managed to get the welder to work and i think it must have been bad connections becuase it would work and then stop feeding and i will just give it a little kick and it would start again, well usually took a few kicks, but the other day it was really annoying me and stopped feeding and i kicked it a bit hard and it stopped completely, i took the side off and could see that somehow i have broke a soldered component off of the pcb, so im going to try and solder it back on and if that doesnt work i think i will buy a new welder
Sorry to hijack this thread but I have a similar problem.
I have a 130 Turbo migmate that I use as my portable MIG. It has been working fine until recently when I was welding and it stopped feeding. I was in the middle of a run so looked back at the welder and found there to be a tangle of wire. I trimmed it off and rethreaded it into the rollers but now it won't feed.
When I pull the trigger there is a clicking which I presume is the relay/ switch but nothing else happens.
Ideas? I have a meter so can perform various checks, just not sure quite what to do. I did just put it across the terminals of the motor to see if there was power there when the trigger was pulled and it came up with nothing but I may have done the test wrong. What setting should I have the meter on?