Miller Bluestar 2e Sat for years and wont weld

[mverdon]

I just bought a Miller Bluetar 2e (S/N: JG027414) it has the Tecumseh on it. I was told it worked when put away years ago but hasnt been touched since. I have little experience fixing welders but I have heard that if they sit the magnets will loose their magnitizim and they have to be recharged somehow by using another machine or a battery or something of that sort. Does this sound correct or does anyone know the procedure to do this? The generator seems to work just fine when its on the power setting, but it wont spark or try to even strike an arc when its on weld. I tried to plug a lamp into the plug you can use while welding when in the weld setting and it tried to come on (it was flurecent) and it just flashed a couple of times.

Any help would be great,
- Matt

[mverdon]

Update: after work today I pluged my grinder into the weld outlet and it works fine. I removed the cover and i noticed two things immediately. First on the right side (if looking at the control panel there is a part about 6" long and has a spikey texture and 3 male spade connectors and there is nothing on the far left one. I also noticed one of the wires is not connected to the left knob to adjust current (one of the 8 or so current setting wires) Im going to connect it tomorrow.

[ccawgc]

Look for numbers on the wires. check against the diagram and make sure you put then in the right place. Find your slip rings they may need a little cleaning. Check the large corn cob resisters. Some times the metal bands that can be moved for adjusting. Will rust and loose contact. Move clean and put back in the exact same place.

[brandonday87]

the field coils are what causes the magnetic feild. the process u are trying to describe is called flashing the armature . buy a commutator stone and stone the copper bars where the brushed touch the commutator. also make sure the brushes make contact with the commutator. if that doesnt work can start checking pc boards and that sort of thing .

[ccawgc]

The power weld switch is 4 switches ganged together. All have to work in order to get weld power and AC power. Wires 7 and 33 Go to the rheostat
The blue star is a AC alternator and uses slip rings. A DC generator uses a commutator.
If your welder make 115 volts and runs a grinder. Then it should produce weld voltage.
Just check the weld / power switch and the weld voltage switch. Make sure they are all good.
The switches all need to be moved once and a while to keep the contacts clean and usable.
Take the weld / power switch and flip it about 20 times. welder should come to life and last long enough to get a job done. Then order in and replace the switch. Be careful it has lots of connections.