lincoln MIG welder gun trigger repair

[bp71k5]

The trigger on my Lincoln 3200HD MIG gave up on me during a long weld session. It did get pretty hot. I took it apart and it's just a spring and a little metal contact that all looks just fine to me. The problem it the contacts inside the trigger don't seem to be making contact so the wire only feeds intermittantly or not at all.

Has anyone rebuilt the cheap plastic guns for these things? I know I'd be better off upgrading to a nicer gun, but I'm looking for a cheap way to get back to welding some stuff.

 

[tRustyK5]

It's usually a DC switch. Two wires come up into the handle with a contact, all mechanical and pretty simple. The handle itself should come apart and you should be able to see how it works and why it isn't working at the moment. First step is to jump the contact and make sure the wires coming into the gun are OK...after that it may just be cleaning or slightly tweaking the contact set-up.

Rene

 

[bp71k5]

It's usually a DC switch. Two wires come up into the handle with a contact, all mechanical and pretty simple. The handle itself should come apart and you should be able to see how it works and why it isn't working at the moment. First step is to jump the contact and make sure the wires coming into the gun are OK...after that it may just be cleaning or slightly tweaking the contact set-up.

Rene

That's what's weird. I'm positive it's the trigger mechanism. If I squeeze the trigger super hard I can usually get it to work but i still get moments where it shuts off for a sec and makes my beads even worse than normal. After taking it apart, the thing looks brand new inside. I'm usually pretty good at figuring stuff like this out.

 

[Fordum]

Look hard at the wires and how they are connected. See if the contacts are making contact, and they do not have a film on them that is insulating them like might have come from welding fumes.

If the contacts are good, then its where the wires are connected, or inside the wires themselves.

If there is any motion, the wire can break inside the insulation and look perfectly fine.

If all else fails, post some pics.

Of course, the thread is fairly old, and you may have fixed it already.

 

[bp71k5]

Look hard at the wires and how they are connected. See if the contacts are making contact, and they do not have a film on them that is insulating them like might have come from welding fumes.

I'll take a look at that. Everything inside looks brand new, it's just two wires with a small metal "tip" on them along with a spring. Couldn't be any simpler, but it's still not fixed.

 

[4X4HIGH]

The trigger on my Lincoln 3200HD MIG gave up on me during a long weld session. It did get pretty hot. I took it apart and it's just a spring and a little metal contact that all looks just fine to me. The problem it the contacts inside the trigger don't seem to be making contact so the wire only feeds intermittantly or not at all.

Has anyone rebuilt the cheap plastic guns for these things? I know I'd be better off upgrading to a nicer gun, but I'm looking for a cheap way to get back to welding some stuff.

When I had this same problem I talked with Airgas and they informed me that the liner was probably dirty and would definately cause this. They told me to remove the wire from the gun and blow air through the liner from inside the machine just as the wire would go through the liner, either that or change the liner. I removed the wire and blew through the liner and it fixed my issue so you might want to try that before going any further.

 

[ryoken]

When I had this same problem I talked with Airgas and they informed me that the liner was probably dirty and would definately cause this. They told me to remove the wire from the gun and blow air through the liner from inside the machine just as the wire would go through the liner, either that or change the liner. I removed the wire and blew through the liner and it fixed my issue so you might want to try that before going any further.

hmmmm, good tip!