Broken Welder

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Hello from WV, new here. I was welding yesterday when in between welding, a strange sound came from my welder and I assumed something burnt out. It was still humming but I didn't try to use it again because something wasn't running, maybe just the fan? I was in a hurry to get a part fixed, so went to a friend's place to finish job. If it's just the fan, would it hurt it if I tried to see if welding function still works? Thank You Aaron
Reply:Open her up, and look for burnt marks, and use your nose to sniff out the problem.
Reply:It would really help to know what welder you are talking about. Make , model (full name) and code numbers. My crystal ball is all cloudy right now.
Reply:could it be diodes?Miller thunderbolt 250Decastar 135ERecovering tool-o-holic ESAB OAI have been interested or involved in Electrical, Fire Alarm, Auto, Marine, Welding, Electronics ETC to name a just a few. So YES you can own too many tools.
Reply:Originally Posted by ccawgcIt would really help to know what welder you are talking about. Make , model (full name) and code numbers. My crystal ball is all cloudy right now.
Reply:An AC-225 does not have diodes, AC only welder. You just have a line switch, transformer and range switch.And cooling fan. Unplug, pull the back off and look at everything. If no output look at the range switch for burnt contacts. Check elsewhere for broken wires.
Reply:Finally took it apart and starred in disbelief for awhile on how this welder is grounded! Kept looking thinking I was missing something, one little ground wire to the housing  Only thing not working is fan, looks fine but cleaned connections and put back in and wouldn't work. Reason I hadn't tried welding after it quit was because selector switch froze. After I had it apart and couldn't see anything burnt up, I turned a little harder on it and it moved. Put some lube on it and tried and welder works fine. Thinking with all the different size fans I have in building, why can't just wire to 110 and use one of them