Another welding problem...

[84gmcjimmy]

Okay I went out today and tried welding 2 small pieces of metal together and it wouldn' do it. I'd pull the trigger and just the wire would feed out. After 20 minutes of fooling around, my brain kicked in and found out my ground wasn't on a good piece of metal. So I changed it back to a c-clamp. Then I try to weld, I get 2 skippedd beads and the welder shuts off. I pull up my helmut and notice the wire is stuck to the metal. I go to turn the welder off, and notice somehow the power got cut off. So I fiddle around turning it on and off, and no power. So I thought I might have done something to the plug, so I try a different plug in 10 feet away and it still won't turn on. Now I am stuck with no power to the plug ins I tried, and I cannot practice welding... what happened /forums/images/graemlins/1zhelp.gif /forums/images/graemlins/1zhelp.gif

 

[ben427]

did you check the circuit breaker/fuse in your panel??? Id bet it tripped, and seeing how the other plug was only 10 feet away id also say its on the same circuit. Most mig welders require a 30 amp breaker to operate.

 

[Resurrection_Joe]

I blow the curcuit on my welder all the time. I am going to have my friend wire in a circuit good enough for it.

 

[Hossbaby50]

Ya, you probably popped the breaker in the fuse panel. Just reset it. When you start to practice again make sure to unplug anything from the outlets on that breaker that aren't necessary so you draw less power. Best idea though is to find a breaker that will support the welder.

Harley

 

[sled_dog]

Definetally check the breakers, I have the mig on a 30A breaker I believe, Lincoln claims this is good, I trip it often. Got to learn to not stick, good distance from stock and good power/wire speed are key. Welding takes constant adjustment, I usually just set it and go and I'm fine but thats after lots of practicing on the same types of metal over and over again. Still have to adjust sometimes.