Lincoln 135 Plus probs

[ryankalel]

I hope that I am posting this in the right forum...

I have a Lincoln 135 plus welder a couple of years old, no problems. I am currently running flux wire, anyways I was welding up a bumper and the circuit breaker tripped. I flipped the breaker and went back to work. Once I hit the gun/trigger it tripped it again. I made sure that all of my connections were good and that nothing else was using the power where I had it plugged in.

Went back to welding and it tripped again. Reset the breaker and went back. This time I did not touch it to metal or get ready to weld, held the trigger in mid air and pulled it......click....damnation.

Any thoughts on what this could be from.

thanks all and happy v-day....

 

[Koffer]

Is it the breaker for the outlet in the panel or on the welder itself ?

 

[ryankalel]

The breaker for the house.

 

[Koffer]

The breaker for the house.

The breaker maybe crapping out . I got in my garage thats getting weak and will pop every so often .
Since its a 110v welder try plugging it in somewhere else and see if you get the same thing happen on a different ckt with the same size breaker . That unit is looking for 25 amps and if you got it cranked up near the max your breaker is 20 your overstressing it and its now weak.

 

[nat]

Was there any other appliance running on that circuit at the time?

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Was there any other appliance running on that circuit at the time?

He said he "made sure there was nothing else was using the power..." but thats still a likely culprit. Prior homeowners can do some amazing hack jobs, so double check.

2ndly, a 'tiring' breaker could be it too, but that's a stretch. You were likely running near max amperage for that circuit (assuming 20a for a garage). If it's only 15 amp in the garage ( yep, it could happen) then it would be the most obvious choice.

3rdly, I'd look at the welder's power cord to see if it could have been causing increased resistance. You weren't using an extension cord, right?

 

[ryankalel]

I tried plugging into another plug, different side of the house, had to use an extension cord and it worked. I think that I need to put in another circuit dedicated to running welder, cut off saw, etc. The lights would dim as I welded a little more.

Thanks to all, now I need to find an electrician!!!!

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Be careful using that extension cord. An improperly sized one could make the welder very unhappy. Read you manual, it will give you specs on minimum req's for the cord. Let us know what the electrician ends up finding/recommending.

 

[ryankalel]

Well, I got the first problem fixed and sure enough another problem surfaced.

I started welding, made sure that I had good contact, ground, etc. Mask, gloves, protection on and away we go. I pull the trigger and no wire feeds out. I try pulling the wire a bit with some pliers and then pulled the trigger...nothing.

I opened the door to the welder and the feeding wheel is not turning. I can hear the click of thw welder but the wheel does not turn to feed wire....thoughts? Motor burned out?

 

[ryankalel]

More Problems!!!!!

I tore through the welder and called a few places and the problem is either the electric motor (brushes were broken when I pulled it apart) and some of the welding shops tell me that the PC board goes out. The motor runs on 12 VDC so I put a multi-meter in the leads so when I pull the trigger the motor should turn over.....But, I don't get any voltage across the multimeter.

New motor $110.86
PC Board $289.11

Price of a new welder with a 3 year warranty ~$450.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Poke around E-bay and some online welding forums for used parts before you s***can that welder. It could be worth fixing it for a few bucks as a dedicated FCAW welder, for one example, and get your new welder for primary duty.

By your description it seems like the motor's shot, but there are places that repair boards, as an FYI if needed.

 

[Toyo FJ40]

Try clicking your amperage selector back and forth. My Lincoln did the same thing and I was starting to tear it apart when I switched it to a lower setting and it started feeding. I guess it was slightly between settings.


Kevin

 

[Stumpalama]

I have to wiggle the amperage knob sometimes when going between C and D.