So I'm pretty clueless on this one. I have a Northern Tool 240v MIG welder, which I'm told is made by Hobart. It has been rock solid for 10 years, but yesterday when I fired it up it started feeding wire without triggering. At first I thought it was the stinger button, but when it happens there is also a fault light that comes on.
Having never repaired a welder before, I was wondering if there is an easy answer, like "oh yeah, the [insert part] is fried."
Check the continuity of the trigger button. Maybe it is stuck on.
Does the fault light have an error code associated?
Does it feed wire if you unplug the stinger lead?
Gonna guess that the trigger activates a relay of some sort. I would start by finding a wire diagram on line and see if there is a relay to poke a multimeter at.
I assume you have done the Youtube search to see if others have had this issue. If there is an error code, there must be printed words somewhere that explain what it is.
brandonsmash said:Does the fault light have an error code associated?
Does it feed wire if you unplug the stinger lead?
No error code. It's just an LED that comes on when it's malfunctioning.
Next plan is to pull the stinger to test that
I'm not familiar with that machine at all but I've seen that problem caused by a damaged/shorted torch lead (at 10 years old it's probably due for replacement) and a stuck relay on other machines.
I think some Northern Hydraulic welders were made by Century, so check that out if you can't find info on a Hobart that matches.
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