Drive motor on Mastercraft MIG welder stopped working.

4spdragtop · Mar 21, 2020

So with some time off I stocked up on beer for me and vodka for the females and figured I would get back to trying my hand at mig welding. A while back I got a bottle of Argon mix gas with new regulator. Got all set up, switched leads inside as per instructions. Literally got 5-10 seconds of welding and motor stops driving the .023" wire. I had also swapped the drive wheel to fit the wire. Everything hooked up properly as best I could tell. I even followed the instructions.
Now the drive motor doesnt work?? Pull the trigger and all I get is a click. No movement. Pull the die for the wire off the motor shaft, still nothing. I think the drive motor is kaput.
I can ( and will) call Canadian Tire tomorrow as that's where Dad bought it for me. Sucks as it would weld with fluxcore wire, but I'm a newbie welder for the most part. Not even 1lb of fluxcore thru it and now motor just clicks.
Just get all setup and I got to amend **** for 10 seconds lol.
Thanks

67Dart273 · Mar 21, 2020

So you can visually see the wheels don't turn? I would access into the machine enough to look for a breaker or fuse internally. See if you can get to the motor terminals and see if they have power. Obviously, crank up the wire speed and make sure it's not just a "dead" spot in the control

Mike 340 · Mar 21, 2020

Are the rollers turning when you hit the trigger?
Maybe you have to adjust the tension?

4spdragtop · Mar 21, 2020

Nope no roller movement. I removed roller and shaft doesnt turn at all.
Heres pic of roller removed. I thought wire was jammed, but removed roller, still nothing but a click. Click sound is normal, the motor bit moving isnt.
Thanks guys.

4spdragtop · Mar 21, 2020

Adjusting wire speed controller made no difference either.

Dave 74 Dart · Mar 21, 2020

I have the exact same welder and we are on the 3rd spool of fluxcore wire. Works great but haven't used the gas yet. As mike340 says, Have you tried removing the spool of wire and seeing if the drive turns? Definitely watching this thread.oops, dis- regard the above...i posted as you were replying.

scott657 · Mar 21, 2020

that clicking noise is probably a relay controlled by the trigger. if you can bypass the common/normally open contacts on the relay without pulling the trigger and the motor turns you have a bad relay, if it does not you have a bad connection to the motor or a bad motor

Tooljunkie · Mar 21, 2020

At this point i would open it up, voltmeter on motor terminals to determine if its motor or source voltage.
My 30 year old clarke gave me trouble, i had welder on bench and piece i was welding touched the welder housing. Blew out the circuit board. Replaced it and never made that same mistake.

all im saying is figure out what is broken and see if you can get parts.

Tooljunkie · Mar 21, 2020

In the manual, should be a parts list. With any luck you can get parts.

scott657 · Mar 21, 2020

cough getamiller cough

Tooljunkie · Mar 21, 2020

C I O.

12 v dc motor is mounted to this.

Tooljunkie · Mar 21, 2020

Looks like 4 screws to remove it...

Hyper_pak · Mar 21, 2020

I have a Lincoln machine and it did the same thing. Inside the drive mechanism there are small gears packed with grease. The housing is die cast aluminum and one shaft cracked at the base of the aluminum case and BINGO, no worky. I can buy a much new bigger Lincoln machine for less than the gear drive costs as a replacement part!

Dfr360cuda · Mar 21, 2020

67Dart273 said:
So you can visually see the wheels don't turn? I would access into the machine enough to look for a breaker or fuse internally. See if you can get to the motor terminals and see if they have power. Obviously, crank up the wire speed and make sure it's not just a "dead" spot in the control

Or a thermal overload

4spdragtop · Mar 21, 2020

Thanks Frank, sucks there is no parts list in the manual. Ill have to check for more paperwork.

Tooljunkie said:
In the manual, should be a parts list. With any luck you can get parts.

Thanks, Ill try and remove that part tomorrow. Hope its that cheap and easy to fix.
Full bottle of gas waiting lol.
Thanks all!

Tooljunkie said:
C I O. View attachment 1715491239
12 v dc motor is mounted to this.

4spdragtop · Mar 21, 2020

The visual circuit breaker isnt tripped and warning light hasnt lit up.
Ill see when I remove the plastic housing tomorrow, thanks!

Dfr360cuda said:
Or a thermal overload

Demonic · Mar 21, 2020

The other trick is to find the two small wires from the switch in the gun at the machine end. On my cheap Hobart 135 they are visible on the top right. A quick jumper with a pair of needle nose revealed a broken conductor in the cable.

Dave 74 Dart · Mar 21, 2020

4spdragtop said:
Thanks Frank, sucks there is no parts list in the manual. Ill have to check for more paperwork.

Thanks, Ill try and remove that part tomorrow. Hope its that cheap and easy to fix.
Full bottle of gas waiting lol.
Thanks all!

Hey Steve, here's a couple picts from my manual, maybe it will help when you make that call?

Tooljunkie · Mar 21, 2020

#29 fuse. First thing i would look at.

4spdragtop · Mar 21, 2020

Frig why isnt that in my manual? Thanks Dave. I'll have to double again lol.
Thanks Frank will check that tomorrow.
Thanks guys!

Dave 74 Dart said:
Hey Steve, here's a couple picts from my manual, maybe it will help when you make that call?View attachment 1715491329 View attachment 1715491330

Tooljunkie said:
#29 fuse. First thing i would look at.

toolmanmike · Mar 21, 2020

Often times it's the trigger switch in the gun. Follow the wires back to the welder and jump between the contactor terminals to diagnose.

dirty white boy · Mar 22, 2020

my campbell hausfeld did same thing after 30 minutes of use...

SLOPAR72 · Mar 22, 2020

A few minutes with the Voltmeter will hopefully figure this out. What I have learned in Manufacturing is electrical goes bad more so than not where things move (Trigger for example.) You will figure it out and hopefully on the cheap and get back to it......

JW

4spdragtop · Mar 22, 2020

Digging a little deeper. Everything appears ok. Quite a few gears! All good thankfully. Peeled apart to get motor out. Best I can tell no voltage to motor? Still clicks as it should and did.
Fuse was good dammit. Took cover off the trigger. All looks good, I havent taken volt meter to it.
Thanks all