Hobart welder surges while welding

[Grand_Wag_85]

I've got a Hobart 135 and I've noticed the last few times I've had it out that while laying a bead it has the tenancy to surge, kinda like vapor lock. There's a good clean ground, nice tip and the wire is feeding no problem but the arc physically cuts in and out in a rhythmical pattern that increases in frequency with speed. The welder is on a dedicated breaker with no extension cords between the outlet and the machine.

What do you guys think?

[Tad]

How old is the liner?

[Grand_Wag_85]

It's original to the welder with maybe 5hrs tops on the machine if that and 2.5 spools of wire thru it so far. Bought the whole thing new 3 years ago.

[Tad]

OK, rule that out.
Do you have a pressure adjustment on the wire feed rollers?

The only things that usually go south to effect wire speed are the tips and liners with the rare exception of a bad motor.

Is it still under warranty?

[Grand_Wag_85]

Probably still under warranty and there is a pressure adjustment on the wire. When it's acting up the wire is still feeding out like normal. The line speed never changes but it just quits welding and it's cyclic.

[jaber]

I was running into this the other day. The lug that bolts to the ground clamp has been fraying for a long time on mine, and it had been a week or so since I had inspected it. It would start ok, then turn to a weird blob. Turns out my ground only had about 1/4 of the strands in the lug.

If thats not it, you might take the cover off and look inside for any hot spots.

Just a thought. I know I tend to get in a hurry some times.

[haminawag]

Cycle your mains circuit breaker on and off a few times, if the welder starts acting normally then replace your mains circuit breaker with a new one. Check the busses inside the breaker box, be sure the returns are a minimum of 12 ga. wire (for a 220 VAC setup).

[whsii]

Just a thought.

Are you running it off of an extension cord? Check the voltage at your plug, if it is low...

[Grand_Wag_85]

No extension cords and the wire for the ground clamp is crimped and bolted in place.

By mains circuit breaker do you mean the one on the house or the one on the welder? This welder is a 120V. I tried it at a buddy's house down the road and am getting the same issue.

[Mexdsk]

While welding the wire continues to feed but you lose the arc
I am not an expert but it sounds to me like possibly the transformer is resetting.
I would suggest contacting a Hobart (repair shop).

[haminawag]

"Mains" always means the 117/220 service that comes into your house/garage from your power company, but...since it's doing the same thing at your friends house...

If it's under warranty I wouldn't open it up, but if it's not then I'd disconnect it from power, open it up and check all connections for positive contact, proper grounding, and to see if anything inside has gotten real hot, too hot, if it has a built-in breaker I'd check that out as best as you can. Otherwise I'd return it to Hobart. Have you found any chatter on the web about that model having troubles?

[VOX]

so what was wrong with the welder???

[Grand_Wag_85]

They're going to take a peak at it Friday. Hoping for something simple.

[REDONE]

It's a Rectifier Board, and the hobart cost's twice what the board for the same spec Miller does, even though they're both made by Illlinois Tool. It's a known problem with Hobarts but they're still real good machines. It's commonly suspected that it's done on purpose to keep commercial users from buying Hobarts instead of Millers for production work.

[Grand_Wag_85]

It's a Rectifier Board, and the hobart cost's twice what the board for the same spec Miller does, even though they're both made by Illlinois Tool. It's a known problem with Hobarts but they're still real good machines. It's commonly suspected that it's done on purpose to keep commercial users from buying Hobarts instead of Millers for production work.

If that turns out to be the case how much are we talking about? Any way to keep it from burning out again in the future?

[REDONE]

Last time I had to have one replaced it was a company machine (not my own) and it cost about $300, done by Central Welding Supply in Mt. Vernon, WA. If you look at weldingweb.com and search their forums there's lots of discussion on it, but nobody I know of has successfully made their own or anything. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you're using your Handler at a production pace continuously. They really are good machines, but it's usually the rectifier board that goes out ( erratic arc, burns wire back to the nozzle one second then pushes the wire cold into the work piece, then flashing a big arc and so on), or the drive motor just quits. Those are the two biggest issues with Hobarts of all sizes, but they are still great machines for on and off use.

[Nutz-n-Bolts]

Wow, who knew? REDONE that's who! I always love your insight.

So glad I decided to go blue now. I considered Hobart when I found out they were the "same" but went with Miller since my gas supply co. sells them.

Good luck with your problems Grand Wag 85, and let us know how it turns out.

[REDONE]

Wow, who knew? REDONE that's who! I always love your insight.

So glad I decided to go blue now. I considered Hobart when I found out they were the "same" but went with Miller since my gas supply co. sells them.

Good luck with your problems Grand Wag 85, and let us know how it turns out.

They share a lot of similar components and I don't fault Illinois Tool at all for there logic. They have to compete with so many entities, some reputable like ESAB and Thermal Dynamics, and others that are straight rip offs like Speedway and Harbor Freight. Whatever they have to do to keep there products competitive and domestic I'm all for it. I'd have Millers at home if I could justify swinging that kind of scratch around, but I just can't. All their machines, even their "Hobby" level machines are Pro grade, ready to be run at their cycle 8 hrs a day or more, 7 days a week...or more. I can't justify that and most others can't either. Don't get me wrong, Miller shows that you get what you pay for and Miller offers the best. I got my home machine which was built in Ohio for half the price, but I know full well when it fries a board or the drive craps out I'll either be scrounging ebay or homebrewing the repair. With Miller, the parts will take forever to fail, but when they do, they'll be available, from the factory. Two weeks ago our MIG gun at work finally cut through it's wire liner. I don't have a pic, but it's obviously proprietary. It looks like a caulk nozzle except it's threaded on the outside in order to screw into the MIG gun. This MIG gun is at least 20 years old, as it's hooked to a Miller Sinc 300 with NO LED display, just knobs and switches. Since Miller embossed the PN for the gun into the plastic body of the gun instead of just printing it onto a sticker that falls off after a year, I was able to reference the MIG gun I needed the wire liner for. Now, many may say that $20 for a caulk nozzle with threads on it is expensive, but after 20 years of faithful service, with a replacement cost of $600, $20 is pretty cheap, and that's where a Miller pays off.

[haminawag]

Wow, who knew? REDONE that's who! I always love your insight.

So glad I decided to go blue now. I considered Hobart when I found out they were the "same" but went with Miller since my gas supply co. sells them.

Good luck with your problems Grand Wag 85, and let us know how it turns out.

They share a lot of similar components and I don't fault Illinois Tool at all for there logic. They have to compete with so many entities, some reputable like ESAB and Thermal Dynamics, and others that are straight rip offs like Speedway and Harbor Freight. Whatever they have to do to keep there products competitive and domestic I'm all for it.

Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that they're aware of a design flaw and are releasing it anyway, that makes it an unreliable POS in my book. After all, a plane can be made from top quality parts, but if the wings are put on backwards it ain't gonna fly. Who wants to spend $$$ on a welder knowing that it might start acting up? Sounds like the manufacturer needs to get their act together.

[Grand_Wag_85]

Hobart seems to think it's the control board and that the machine is feeding way too much wire. My machine is now 3yrs old(ALREADY?!?!) but they'll warranty the board as long as I can find the sales receipt.

I do have to give Hobart some well deserved credit. There's an 800 # on the welder and when you call you're speaking with a real live person after only one ring with no endless computerized death prompts to follow.