Hobart handler 140 will not feed wire

[doug45]

Hi i have a 140 and it has stoped feeding the wire when you pull the trigger .The fan still runs but the wire feed motor will do nothing ,any one had this problem thanks

Doug

[Hobart Expert Brian]

doug, you can start by unplugging your gun trigger leads and short the two spade terminals together to eliminate the gun. Also, do you hear the contactor pull in when you press the gun trigger?

[migbart]

I had this same problem (same machine also) today. I called Wesco where I bought it and they told me to bring it in. I unplugged it and wiped it down and was fixing to roll up the leads and I plugged it back in to check one more time. It started working again. I guess the taking off the power did something but I don't know what. Is this a problem that has a fix for it from Hobart?

[Hobart Expert Bill]

There are two common causes of the problem the two of you have described.

If you are welding and the wire feed shuts down in most cases it is the thermostat shutting the weld output down due to the transformer overheating. The thermostat will reset when the unit cools down usually in 10 - 15 min. you must leave the unit on with the fan running. If you turn it off and wait for it to cool you have no airflow and the transformer may take an hour to cool.

If you have repositioned the machine during your welding you may have moved the voltage switch off position the switch must be in one of the four output tap positions or you will not have any weld output or wire feed.

[migbart]

There are two common causes of the problem the two of you have described.

If you are welding and the wire feed shuts down in most cases it is the thermostat shutting the weld output down due to the transformer overheating. The thermostat will reset when the unit cools down usually in 10 - 15 min. you must leave the unit on with the fan running. If you turn it off and wait for it to cool you have no airflow and the transformer may take an hour to cool.

If you have repositioned the machine during your welding you may have moved the voltage switch off position the switch must be in one of the four output tap positions or you will not have any weld output or wire feed.

Thanks for the info Bill.

[HuskerJeep]

I am having this same issue with my 140 but don't think either thing suggested is going to help my problem. When it first happened, I was able to move the hose to get it to work again. A couple times of use after that there was no issue until now. After moving the cord once again to get it to work just to tack a few things in place, it stopped working completely. I've inspected it some to make sure nothing obvious is the problem and didn't notice anything wrong externally.The welder is at least 10 years old and has never been serviced, so I've gotten my moneys worth out of it but would prefer to not have to buy another one just yet. Thanks for your help.

[Roger]

I am having this same issue with my 140 but don't think either thing suggested is going to help my problem. When it first happened, I was able to move the hose to get it to work again. A couple times of use after that there was no issue until now. After moving the cord once again to get it to work just to tack a few things in place, it stopped working completely. I've inspected it some to make sure nothing obvious is the problem and didn't notice anything wrong externally.The welder is at least 10 years old and has never been serviced, so I've gotten my moneys worth out of it but would prefer to not have to buy another one just yet. Thanks for your help.

What hose did you move? Electrode lead? If moving just the MIG gun causes or solves problem that can be the location of problem. Open gun and look for cause like short trigger wires. If it is at welder end problem could be screw retaining electrode lead in welder is loose and arcing.

[HuskerJeep]

Sorry for not knowing the exact technical terms, but by moving the mig gun up, it would start working if the hose where it goes into the welder would be in the right spot. I have looked for loose connections inside and did slide that sleeve off to see if the connection was bad where the two wires are connected going up to the gun but have found nothing. Since the wire and gas are dead now, it would lead me to believe that it is in the mig gun though. I am having a friend of mine who is a little more inclined then me with this stuff, so if we find out what it was, I will be sure to post that back up here for anyone with a similar problem. If not, I'll let Linweld do the repair work and relay back that info also. Thanks for the reply.

[no1fisherman]

Huskerjeep,
Try like was suggested earlier. Disconnect the two wire lead from the whip to the machine. Short the two wires together with the machine running. If the wire feeds, the problem is in the whip.
assuming the wire feed works, put the power pin of the whip in a vice and lightly tighten it. Do Not over tighten. Just use the vice for an extra hand. Some whips you have to unscrew the power pin,( the brass pin that goes into the machine) and some whips have two screws holding the cover on. Which ever you have do what you must to remove the power pin cover. You will see where the two wire connection is. gently pull these loose from where they are and with one hand on the wire back on the whip and with the other pull solidly on the connector. If it stretches or comes apart you have found your problem. Do them both. If you pull one apart, there should be two spare wires, in most whips. You can use one of these to rewire the connection point. Mind you change to the other wire up at the gun end also.
If you find no broken wires there, open the gun end of the whip and try the same trick there. If no broken wire is found there either use an ohm meter or a continuity checker to check that you have continuity between both ends on each wire. If one wire does not meter out, switch to a spare.
I hope this helps and you can repair your problem. It does sound to me like you have an intermittant open in one of the trigger wires.
Good luck in your search
no1fishermans

[HuskerJeep]

Thanks and I will try what you suggest.

[HuskerJeep]

Well, we did what was suggested with the wires and got nothing. Having seen the thread about the liner slipping, we pulled that out, looked EVERYTHING over, and then put it back together again and got nothing. Finally accepting that I was going to have to take it in, we reassembled everything that was taken apart for inspection and guess what? It worked! Feeling pretty good about that, I decided to get back to what I started last week out in the garage. Welder turned on, ground hooked up, ready to tack, then NOTHING. It's obviously the wires having connection issues but it's a matter of where that is happening. I took apart the handle, moved every inch of the whip and wires around to try and make contact again, and no matter what I did I could not get it to come back on. Being that the welder is as old as it is, I think taking it in and having someone that knows what they are doing is best since who knows what is and isn't worn out. I'll let everyone know the verdict and hopefully have some good news sooner rather then later.

[Roger]

Welder end of electrode lead has heat shrink tubing that trigger wires that wires go under. Under this tubing might be hidden spade connectors that could be pulled apart or you can easily replace wires from hidden spade connectors to welder. If trigger wires make sharp bend going under the heat shrink tubing That is probably your problem area.

[HuskerJeep]

Sorry I haven't gotten back sooner but had an unexpected trip to Moab come up and basically spent a week and a half in my garage. ;p The problem ended up being the whip/gun just being worn out and losing connection at some point up to the handle. Linweld in Lincoln was a huge help and only charged me for parts since it was a quick fix for them, and the performance of it now almost makes it look like I know what I am doing.

[no1fisherman]

I am glad you finally got your Handler working. I know the feeling you are talking about. Hope it works always the way you want it too.
no1fisherman

[HuskerJeep]

Thanks. Seeing how my Jeep needs to be updated after the trip, I will now be 4 linking the rear, so there will be LOTS of welding in my future. Haha. Thats to everyone on here for the help on here too. This is a great forum to learn more about the art of welding.