2012 200dx lost arc but HF works

admin

Its been a great welder so far but suddenly won't start an arc. The high frequency works like normal but that's all. Here is what I tried,..-Clean and gapped the points, they were really clean but had an .060 gap and the nuts were finger tight. I set them to .030-Swapped torch, ground cable, foot pedal with ones from another Everlast and all my parts worked on the other unit too.- The digital readout works to set max amps but only shows 012 during HF and foot pedal does nothing other than trigger HF- Tried lift start,.. nothing. Tried touching electrode during HF and it just sticks or sparks but won't get an arc. - Flipped every switch and turned every knob.I was doing a series of low amp tack welds then the next one wouldn't light up. No odd noises or smells and a visual inspection inside shows nothing.Please HELLLLLLP!!!!
Reply:Sounds as if the control board could have given up.  Call the guys at ext 207 to discuss the isssue.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:For anyone else with similar problems I called tech support and Brett spent time over several calls helping me troubleshoot it. I measured output voltage in stick mode (zero) and checked IGTB's (good). My meter had a loose probe so I went back and rechecked output in stick mode and it was good after all. Tried substituting another torch switch for the foot pedal and got arc. Went back and tested the foot pedal which had a failed pot. Even though the trigger switch was working, the pot was not. This was one of the earlier cheapo pedals and it should be the first suspect you look at. I whined for a few minutes about the low grade pedal then realized its 6 years old and a better problem than replacing the welder which has been a joy to own so far. Now My choice now is to spend $25 for a better pot and fix it, or $160 for a decent new pedal? Anyway hats off to Everlast. I suffered for years with a Miller syncrowave that was possesed by the devil. Even though Miller replaced every circuit board multiple times over 2 years and finally fixed it, I had to fight them and threaten lawsuits to get it done. When Brett said pull the cover off, get a volt meter and call me back, they had a customer for life. Another company would have said ship it back and pay a crazy repair bill when its really only a small problem I can fix. Its a better long term business strategy to spend a few minutes trying to help a customer.
Reply:I'm thinking (because I don't really remember his name but I think it was Brett) when I had a failure with my 275P, I was sooo pleased that Everlast through his recommendation, sent me a complete main central IGBT board direct from the manufacturer which I installed in an hour. I can't stress how important this was to me. I live in Alaska, and sending the unit back would have been rather expensive.  Back in the day, I could send one of my Miller's to Anchorage as they had qualified personnel, now they all have to go to la-la land somewhere and take FOREVER to get back plus shipping. That they (Everlast) will do this is huge. Now, all the naysayers will say something idiotic like, "Yeah, well why did it blow, anyway?" Well, here's a story about some folks here that had a one year old Miller setup (for aluminum) that cost 12K; one day the user sensed something wasn't right while building a boat and looked up at the power supply and orange smoke was pouring out of it. OK, send it back AirLiqiude in Anchorage (under warranty) and a month later they are back in biz - until - the feeder upchucks. Wash, rinse, repeat.