...And yet another Eastwood Mig 175

[vinco]

Well, I picked up an Eastwood Mig 175 today, for... well, let's just call it a song. Per its previous owner, it still welds fine with flux core, but the gas solenoid doesn't work. I got it cheap enough to take a chance on it. He says he thinks it might just be a bad solenoid. I just so happen to have a whole box of 24V solenoids as well as one (1) 110V solenoid, all brand new CEME parts, so I might just have what it needs to fix it.

I'm working right now on getting the necessary electrical supply hooked up in the shop. I have most of a 250' roll of 10/3 romex, and I bought a NEMA 6 male end for the Eastwood cord (he took off his end at time of purchase), and a NEMA 6 female socket with a 4" steel box, as well as a double 30A breaker. So, how do I set up the wiring on the breaker box side? I know that I really only need 10/2 wire to make the circuit for the welder. I guess what I really want to know is where in the breaker box would the green wire hook up (the middle U-shaped prong in the NEMA 6 plug). Is it the bare wire to ground?

Thanks

[Inkydoggy]

Green hooks up to where you have all the bare coppers hooked for your other circuits.

[vinco]

OK, done on the wiring. Thanks for the guidance!

Now, the welder is hooked up, and it powers up fine - fan turns on, switch lights up, wire drive works as it should - everything. Except that the gas solenoid doesn't work every time. It actually does what it's supposed to do, but it seems to only do it when it feels like it . It's GOT to be a bad connection somewhere on the board, because I opened up the machine and swapped out two different gas solenoids (total of 3 solenoids that I've tried), and it does the same thing. The solenoid clicks a second or so after releasing the trigger, due to the gas shutoff delay feature built in to the machine. It does this every time, without fail. What it doesn't do is click every time the trigger is pulled. It only does that very sporadically. So, basically, it shuts off correctly every time, but it doesn't open correctly every time.

I noticed when I was running it with the cover off, the board has 2 LED's on it - one green and one red. The green one stays on all the time when the power is on, but the red one cycles on and off frequently - but un-predictably. Obviously, the red LED is affected by trigger operation, but it doesn't always do the same thing when I pull or release the trigger. I don't know what the red LED is supposed to indicate, but obviously it's there for a reason. Matt M, can you enlighten me on this?

[Eastwood Company]

Hey Vinco,

The lights internally are test lights used during assembly of the circuit boards and the machine. I would check the internal gas hose and make sure it isn't kinked. If all seems ok, shoot me PM and I can try and sort you out a new gas regulator.

-Matt/EW

[vinco]

Matt, I sent you a PM. Thanks

[vinco]

Well, with the cover off, and shining a bright light on it, I can see that resistor # R8 is clearly fried - to the point where I can't even tell what colors the stripes are (were). If I could tell what colors they were, then I'd know what resistor to buy to replace it. It would also be nice to know the "path" of the PCB, so that maybe I could diagnose why it blew.

[vinco]

I'm beginning to get frustrated by Eastwood's lack of communication...

[vinco]

At this point, I really just want an answer from Eastwood as to whether or not they will provide service or parts for the welder. I have not "done" anything to the welder yet, other than to pull the cover off to access the solenoid and look at the PCB. However, if they (Eastwood) are NOT going to sell me parts or somehow otherwise offer to service this welder, then I will likely attempt to bypass the 110V AC solenoid circuit entirely, in favor of installing a 24V DC solenoid on a circuit tapped off of the torch trigger. I want to do SOMETHING with this welder, but I really don't feel I should do anything until I've gotten an answer one way or another from Eastwood.

[soutthpaw]

I hope u r not relying on this fourm that one eastwood employee happens to visit for your service needs. Contact them directly via their website and cust service numbers etc...

[vinco]

I guess I kind of was, since he contacted me through this site and said he would get back to me (presumably through this site.) I do see your point, though I'll follow up directly with EW.

[vinco]

After several rounds of emails with the Eastwood Tech department, I will say that in the end, Eastwood went WAAAAYYY above and beyond what I would consider to be good customer service! I won't say exactly what they did, but I will say that they helped me with what I needed to fix my welder. They did not send me a new machine, but only because I am not the original purchaser of the welder (I told them that right up front.) However, they did assist me GREATLY in getting the help I need to fix my machine. I got all the pieces gathered up today, so I'll see how it works once I put it all back together.

But, frankly, even if it still doesn't work, then I still applaud Eastwood's customer service efforts! They actually DO stand behind their products!

[vinco]

I swapped out the parts tonight, and I turned it on. By all accounts, the welder seems to work correctly. Thanks to Mike Ullman at Eastwood! He really helped me when I needed it!

I think the Eastwood welders would probably sell more if their internals were "open source" so that an industrious owner - or prospective owner - could possibly get it fixed, rather than just throwing it away for a whole new machine. I get the impression that they may be working on this.