Problem with Eland welder

[sparkymike]

I have dragged out my Eland 175 mig welder that has been in dry storge for five years or so. On high settings, no problem and decent weld but I can not get it to work well on lower amperage settings. On setting five and upwards ok, but four downwards seems to be lack of power. At the low settings it is just spattering.
I was wondering if one of the diodes has gone bad.
Any clues would be handy.
Mike.

 

[waddycall]

We had the same machines where I used to work. Really nice welders that are worth fixing in my humble opinion.

 

[sparkymike]

I am now wondering if it could be the contacts in the rotary amp power switch. It has been standing for some time and I could try rotating the switch several times to see if that makes a difference.
This is the second one of these that I have had and they were as you say good welders. Got a feeling they were made in eastern Europe before the wall came down in Berlin . Maybe East Germany.

 

[eddie49]

In post #7 of this thread there are test results of measuring the mains input resistance at various settings of the power range switch:

Sealey 180 supermig v3

My uncle has asked me to look at his Sealey 180 V3 but it looks like someone has been in there playing as some of the wiring looks (from the supplied schematic from sealey) to have been messed around with. One quick question, there is a sort of ferrite ring bolted through the base with red and...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

The first results from 1 Ohm ( Pos. 1 ) dropping to 0.3 Ohm ( Pos. 8 ) are with a basic DVM across the mains plug, with the Contactor held closed by pressing the operating button manually.
The second set of results are with a precision Ohmmeter directly across the transformer tappings, bypassing the rotary switch.

I believe the Elands were originally a Murex design. Production was transferred from UK to Hungary. After Eland dropped them, I think the Hungarian company carried on making and selling them as their own product. I had three Eland 175, one was stolen, still got 2 left ( plus a baby Eland 130 ).

 

[sparkymike]

Now ran a check on the rotary switch with power on and measuring dc volts between the torch tip and earth and got the following results from 1 to 8.
17.2v/18.7v/20v/21.8v/25v/26.5v/29.6v/33.5v. So looks like there is nothing wrong there. Guess I just need more practice on thin stuff ,which I have not done on this welder, only heavy gauge steel up to now.
Mike.

 

[eddie49]

Your output voltages are similar to mine. I measured with a slight load - 3 x 12volt 60 Watt H4 car headlanp bulbs in series - the results are: 16.4v ....17.7v ....19.2v ....21.0v ....23.0v ....25.5v ....28.7v ....32.6v

 

[Barking Mat]

You've checked the earth lead I assume?

 

[sparkymike]

I will check out the diode bank connections . I have known terminal connections to be slightly corroded and this might stop low amps from getting to the correct place.