hey y'all, Been having problems with my Hobart Handler 175 It started with the wire not feeding after pressing the trigger, I could hear the relay clicking but wire did not come out, started troubleshooting at the HOBART site found out it was the "PTC1" capacitor, small round yellow ceramic thingamajig that shuts off the gun when overloaded, I replaced that. It was working fine for about 2 weeks, then it started again, this time the relays don't even click. So you wait a few minutes press the trigger, after about 2 seconds the wire starts to come out. Sometimes it does not. When it does not, if I arc it, then it starts to weld fine. Personally I don't want to start learning about welder PC boards or electronics, there is alot of tech help at the HOBART site but they start going into OHM readings, capacitor voltages, etc,....it hurts my brain. I am sure someone has had problems with this before? Any shops or HAMBers work on these things/boards? Its almost to the point where buying a new welder is in store, I know the HH 175 is an old model, as you all know sometimes chasing ghosts will end up costing more time and aggravation that its worth. Advise?
Could it possibly be inside the gun itself? I had a similar situation happen and what it ended up being was a broken wire inside the whip. When you held the gun certain ways the 2 broken pieces would touch and weld fine. its worth a shot. check out the simple stuff first.
Have you installed a new roll of wire? I put on a roll that was .023 and didn't (forgot) to change the feed rollers from .035 got some of what your saying, it would click sometimes and sometimes not, wire would feed at different speeds and also wad up in the second set of rollers sometimes.
I will take that apart and inspect it. that did happen once, but fixed it. how can I test the switch?
damn it I'm going thought the exact same problem with mine same machine has been in the shop three times ,we have replaced all the BIG capacitors the PC board , liner, worked great for about two months and the damn capacitor start arcing out across the terminal screws, will not feed , nothing, just every time you trigger it you can hear and see the arcing, any ideas? Also i have been told to "Kill" a charged capacitor all you have to do is short across the terminals.
I feel for ya, i haven't even started with major problems like that and am already frustrated, 3 times? wow. the word "Kill" kinda scares me, I have no idea how would you short the capacitor how long have you had the machine?
Trigger switch---take gun apart and look for burnt contacts just like old ignition breaker points. You might be able to clean up with a nail board and fine sandpaper for short term, replace contact ***embly if available.
Go here, join the Hobart chat room and ask away. It's monitored by factory Techs and they're really helpful......... http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/forumdisplay.php?f=14
I cant keep from imagining Ben Stiller in "Simple Jack" from the movie Tropic Thunder saying that..." M-M-M-M-my brain hurts"....that cracks me up. Anyhow, I work in the engineering dept here at UT and finding that young kid with the enthusiasm to delve into a "think on your own" project here is harder than you think. Is this what you are asking for?
Do you grind near your welder?most of us do and grinding dust has a sneaky way of getting everywhere inside the machine and even inside the handle and trigger switch.make sure all of this is clean.you can check the switch with a meter by pulling open the side and check the wires first,then pull the handle apart and check the switch itself.remember the grinding dust is mostly metal and conducts electricity fairly well and causes arcing through out the unit.
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