Help wiring this old welder!!

[therrera]

Hello people,

I am stuck with putting this Hobart back into service. I rescued it from the scrap pile and am almost there but I need some better minds than mine. I know it looks rough, but it is about to be painted in the next few days and is going to look sharp. I just need to get it to weld.

This welder was missing the local/remote toggle switch and also the name plate that contains the specs for it. I found 4 cut wires behind the panel where the switch was with no clue as to how to terminate them. The 4 wires are color coded two yellow, red and green. The two yellow ones go to the panel rheostat and the remote plug respectively. The red one goes to the second commutator from the front and the green one goes to the first commutator from the front. I tried all combinations I could think of to see if it had any effect on the power output of the welder, it didn't. I think it needs to be flashed, but do not want to do this until I have the wiring connected properly.

I ordered a manual for a G-3010 but the wiring diagram is different and instead of 4 wires to the local/remote switch, it shows six. Plus my engine is a Willy's flat head 4 cylinder, the G-3010's I've seen pictures of have a Chrysler slant six. Makes me think that either mine is NOT a G-3010 or my version is earlier than when the ones I've seen pictures of.

I traced each of the 4 wires and drew a diagram so that others might be familiar with what I am facing and know how to deal with these wires. I have tried to test weld with it but so far it refuses to generate welding power (or ac power to the outlets). I don't know if this is because it needs to have the local/remote wires terminated properly in order to complete a circuit or because it may need to be "flashed" (or both). I was gong to "flash" the generator according to instructions in the manual I ordered when I discovered that 4 of the 8 brushes were not connected to the wiring, the pigtails had fallen out of the brushes. I ordered new brushes all around and installed them yesterday. This where I am at now. The drawing shows one connection where the green and white wire terminates at a junction with 7 other wires. I don't know what this part is called but there is a picture of this included that might help figure this out.

The engine runs fine, the welder does not weld. Also the AC ammeters, voltmeters are not working and appear damaged. I am looking for a source for these, but this should not prevent the welder from welding, only showing the power readings.

While I'm at it I need to find a gas cap for it as all it has is a home made cap that sits on the gas filler neck. Does anyone know by looking at the pictures?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Tony

[acwd1950]

Did you jumper the wires in the remote plug? Try this connect red wire to the grey wire and the green/wht wire to the yellow wire coming from the panel rheostat. Bypassing the remote connector all together.

Steve

[therrera]

Hello all,

Well, good news and bad news. The good news is that in speaking with some welder repair techs while looking for some replacement gauges today revealed that I didn"t need the gauges in order to make the machine operational. They are strictly informational. They suggested I simply disconnect them and tape the leads so they won"t short against anything.

This simplified my approach because up until then I was going on the assumption that these gauges played a role in completing the circuits and thus needed to be working.

The bad news is that I closed the circuit as was suggested (and the repair techs also confirmed) with no results. The techs said that this particular model was "self-exciting" therefore not requiring jumping one of the rings with dc voltage to get the magnetism started. In looking at the manual for the G-3010, it makes no reference in flashing the generator whereas another manual for a different Hobart does.

I am not getting AC power to the 110 volt plugs either. This model has separate rings for the welding, the AC power and the self exciting circuit. Therefore, theoretically even though I may not be getting AC welding current, I still should be getting AC power to the 110volt plugs.

This is indeed a setback as the implication is that there is a problem at a more basic level (such as a shorted armature or broken winding, etc.) Is there any information available on troubleshooting this type of equipment. I was able to get a small spark (like the kind you might get with some flashlight batteries) on the ac welding output connectors, . When I put voltmeter to it I got a 1 volt measurement of AC power coming from those connectors and .4 volts on the DC side.

I have and know how to use a volt-ohm meter, I just don"t know the things to test and how to test them. I remember when I was just starting on this project when speaking to a welder repair tech about it, he said that if I got AC power to the plugs, then it meant that the generator was basically sound.

The DC welding current came from a rectifier and that it narrowed down the possible sources of problem. Would anyone know where I can begin trying to isolate the problem? If I had to take it to a repair center I know it would cost me an arm and a leg and I doubt I would be able to afford it.

Thanks for any help, Tony

[acwd1950]

do you have power to the exciter ring on the armature? One of the brushes should have power going to it to excite the armature. you said you have a book for the machine? If I had it I could be able to tell you more places to check. Check for resistance between the rings on the armature and the shaft of the armature. That will tell you if its short to the shaft or not.

Steve