Wednesday 18 April 2012

Cigweld Transmig 130 twin- Repair

I picked this mig up for a song but was really after the other trinkets it came with.
Previous owner said it simply "stopped" and needed a new "card."
This is the burned component that fell off the card.

I googled about and found the AUD90 (!!!!!) replacement card. when i stood back up i had a re-google and saw that the burned component was the only part that ever failed. It was very consistently asked about on welding forums.It is a wire-wound resister, they fail quite commonly in a lot of DC-DC power supplies
I used a Jewellers eyepiece to read the rating (3.3ohms and 7watts)and was ecstatic to find that the component was locally available for AUD1.80. A nice little saving.


I actually got a 10watt as it takes more heat. The repaired card (below) was whacked into the mig and now sweeps through its range and at all power settings.

A little note, even the higher wattage resister is getting too hot to touch while welding, it obviously is heavily loaded so I can see why the original would burn with prolonged welding. Allowing it to cool between short welds would be prudent.
Most of the smaller "hobby" migs are very similar inside. The resister is a different rating from make to make but the principals are the same.
Hope this helps somebody, in all I've got about an hours repair time in it and a couple of hours search time. Thanks to Lilly, my assistant

Saturday 14 April 2012

G'day

G'day and welcome to Bodger's Paradise
That's the name given to my backyard workshop where i do my thing.
Inspired by the plethora of blogs and websites made by amateurs and professionals, Ii have decided to share the things i have learnt and hopefully help others like i have been helped.
I am an Australian and hope that any international visitors to my Blog will understand that laws and practises vary from country to country.
I am an Electrician by Trade and have experience in both maintenance and installation work, domestic, commercial and industrial.
Most of what i post will be me fixing things that others have deemed too far gone. Usually when an appliance or tool has stopped working it is considered (often correctly) that it is too expensive to have it professionally repaired. i have been lucky to have received a few quality tools that have stopped working and were on there way to the bin.
I'll update this blog from time to time with tool repairs or upgrades and also a few automotive projects that i am involved in.
Hope you enjoy my ranting and attempts and infotainment!
Triker_Chewie