MAINTENANCE
& SERVICING
General
Maintenance
This welder has been engineered to need minimal service providing that a few very simple steps are taken to properly main-
tain
it
• Keep the cabinet cover closed at all times unless the wire needs to be changed or the driving pressure needs adjusting
• Keep all consumables
(contact tips, nozzles, and liner) clean and replace them when necessary
See "Consumable
Main-
tenance" (below) and "Troubleshooting"
(page 18) for detailed information.
• Replace INPUT POWER CABLE, ground cable, work clamp, or gun assembly when damaged or worn
• Avoid directing
grinding particles towards the welder. These conductive
particles can build up inside the machine and
cause severe damage.
• Periodically clean dust, dirt, grease, etc. from your welder. Every six months or as necessary, remove the side panels from
the welder and use compressed
air to blow out any dust and dirt that may have accumulated
inside the welder
• If available, use compressed
air to clean the liner periodically,
especially when changing wire spools
WARNING:
DISCONNECT
FROM
POWER
SOURCE
WHEN
CARRYING
OUT THIS
OPERATION.
• The wire feed drive roller could wear out during service. Therefore,
replacing the drive roller is required under specific cir-
cumstances.
For example,
if the idler roller and the wire feed drive roller make contact when the correct size Of welding
wire in the groove of the drive roller, the wire feed drive roller must be replaced immediately.
• Check all cables periodically
They must be in good condition and not cracked
WARNING:
ELECTRIC
SHOCK CAN KILL!
Be aware that the ON/OFF
SWITCH, when OFF, does not remove power
from all internal circuitry in the welder. TO reduce the risk Of electric shock, always unplug the welder from its AC power
source and wait several minutes for electrical energy to discharge before removing side panels
Consumable
Maintenance
IT
IS VERY
IMPORTANT
TO
MAINTAIN
THE
CONSUMABLES
TO
AVOID
THE
NEED
FOR
PREMATURE
REPLACEMENT
OF
THE
GUN
ASSEMBLY.
MAINTAINING
THE
CONTACT
TIP:
The purpose of the CONTACT TIP is to transfer welding current to the welding wire while allowing the wire to pass through it
smoothly
Always use a contact tip stamped with the same diameter as the wire
• If the wire burns back into the contact tip, remove it from the gun and clean the hole running through
it with an oxygen-
acetylene torch tip cleaner or tip drill. If the burned-back
wire cannot be removed, the contact tip must be replaced
• A failure mode Of the contact tip is a wom-out hole with enlarged hole size. A worn-out contact tip usually results in unstable
arc characteristics
and difficult arc starting
CAUTION:
KEEP
THE GAS
NOZZLE
CLEAN!
During the welding, spatter and slag can build up inside the gas nozzle. The user must clean the gas nozzle periodically
Failure
to clean and/or replace the gas nozzle in a timely fashion could cause damage to the front end of the gun assembly, which is
not replaceable.
The inaction results may require the replacement Ofthe entire gun assembly.
Failure to keep the nozzle adequately cleaned can result in the following problems:
If the spattering buildup inside the gas nozzle bridges the gas nozzle and the welding torch, it allows the welding current to pass
through the gas nozzle beside the contact tip. This phenomenon
causes erratic welds and less weld penetration.
In addition, it
leads to an overheating of the end of the welding gun and, in turn, damages the welding gun.
TESTING
FOR A SHORTED
NOZZLE
Arcing between the nozzle and the workpiece means the nozzle is shorted
Unplug the AC power source, and use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance between the gas nozzle and the contact tip. If
the resistance is not unlimited, the nozzle is shorted. Please clean or replace the gas nozzle