I've had a Airco 250 AC/DC Heliwelder V for about 4 years now. Took it as payment for some work I had done for a friend. It worked for several months fine, and then without warning, it stopped providing amp control when pedal was depressed. HF and gas worked but only provided the smallest amount of current. After spending a day checking everything(pedal, wires, switches,and fuses,etc.) I found the main PCB was the cause. Its an older Airco welder, and there doesn't seem to be alot of support anymore. I wound up sending it out for repair at schneider(SquareD?). Got PCB back, installed it and everything worked fine until today.It has stopped welding again. Pcb repair cost $400 dollars before shipping and taxes. So the question is: should I repair again of get a different welder. I have a synchrowave 180 sd that I use for most of my stainless work(mostly food packaging equip), and the Airco was set up for aluminum most of the time. Most of my aluminum is under a 1/4", but sometimes up to 1/2". I like having the two machines set up for different jobs, it saves time when people come into the shop with broken equipment. Is this a common problem for Airco welders?http://www.weldingweb.com/images/smilies/mad.gif
albrightree
I'm going to go through it again to see if it might be something less serious. There wasn't any serious release of smoke from the welder, just a lack of amps. I was checking the foot pedal today, and the 10K potentiometer doesn't seem right, staying 10K ohms all the time. I was in the middle of a project that I had spent 2 hours prepping parts, had just tacked everything together when it faded on me. I wasn't very happy. I have been thinking about getting a squarewave 200 or maybe a miller diversion, but this Airco does about 300 amps peak. Nice to have when welding aluminum, but not very portable. Fingers crossed.
PS. If anybody has a manual for this please let me know, it sure would help. Its the Red (ESAB) version, not the orange (miller)
PS. If anybody has a manual for this please let me know, it sure would help. Its the Red (ESAB) version, not the orange (miller)
You need to look at the mag amp reactor. If the large cap blew up on the pcb, you have a short to ground.
You will nee to check for a short between the weld circuit to the control circuit and both to ground.
One I worked on had a pile of metal shavings built up and touched the windings. When it arced it was then done for..
You will nee to check for a short between the weld circuit to the control circuit and both to ground.
One I worked on had a pile of metal shavings built up and touched the windings. When it arced it was then done for..
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