I'm having a problem with my Syncrowave 180, anybody ever seen this?

[cyclepartsmaniac]

I've been the proud owner of my Syncrowave 180 for 4 or 5 years now and I ran into trouble with it. I was welding some 1/4" steel @ about 120 amps, nothing too demanding. I welded off and on for about 10 minutes and then walked away from it for a while. I came back to it and that's when the trouble started.

When I hit the foot pedal I get absolutely nothing. No arc, no gas. When I switch the machine from TIG to Stick (but with the TIG torch still hooked up), I get gas flow while I'm switching it, and when it is switched I can scratch an arc with the tungsten.

I checked all the cable connections, everything is good. I powered down the welder and unplugged it for a minute or so, plugged it back in and that didn't help.

I thought it might be the foot pedal. I tore it apart, it is a 5 wire pedal and there are two components in it. A limit switch and a 1K Ohm potentiometer. I checked the limit switch for continuity, it is good. I checked the resistance on the pot, it changes smoothly from 0-1K ohms across wires 1 and 2, and it changes smoothly from 1K-0 ohms across wires 2 and 3. It seems like this is right.

Anybody ever have a similar problem or have any other ideas? My next step is to investigate inside of the welder but I don't really know what to look for.

[cruizer]

That "Limit switch" is the relay that turns the machines contactor and gas solinoid on and off. It may need to be adjusted if your not hereing the Click when you press the pedal.

[cyclepartsmaniac]

That "Limit switch" is the relay that turns the machines contactor and gas solinoid on and off. It may need to be adjusted if your not hereing the Click when you press the pedal.

My pedal could be different, it is not a relay in the pedal. It is a limit switch.
It looks similar to this one: http://www.alibaba.com/sellinglead-g...showimage.html

It has two wires going to it and they are in the NC position.

I can hear it clicking when the pedal is assembled, so it is switching. That does help that I now know that it controls the contactor and gas solenoid, that's a good place to start when I tear into it.

[Jake SS]

We call them "micro switch" over here.

Never heard of them as being a relay.
But I guess components are referred to by different names depending on which country you are in.

It may be clicking but is it actually working? as in triggering
Have you metered the cable back to the machine?
Checked plug front and back

[cruizer]

The name "Micro Switch" is actually a company owned by Honeywell. There are various manufacturers of these small "mechanical relays".

We all say micro switch, as they were the first to introduce them.

[cyclepartsmaniac]

I have checked the switch in the pedal and it works as it should. Once again, it is not a relay. A relay is an electrical switch that is controlled by an additional circuit. Relays allow you to switch a high current circuit with a low current circuit. They require at least 4 wires. This switch has two wires, one input and one output. My guess is that there is a relay in the welder that this switch controls. Anybody else have any info on this? I'm really only looking for someone to point me in the right direction, or maybe give me a few possible scenarios of what I might find when I get inside the welder.