Thanks Guys,

I will give it a closer look this weekend

Jake

JR North wrote:
I have one too. Pretty good for a basic a/c buzz box. Indestructible.
Have used it extensively for prolly 25 years. No problems. Check the H/L
stinger ports, they are bakelite and can crack, causing poor contact.
Check the power supply socket-maybe one dead leg? The work clamp/cable
connection might be high rez.
JR
Dweller in the cellar


Jake in Escondido wrote:

I have an old Sears Craftsman 30-230 Dual Range arc welder that I have
had for over 20 years. It has had pretty light use, but has been a
life saver when I needed it.

Lately it has been difficulty to strike an arc. Saturday it just gave
up the ghost. Regardless of where I set it or what range I use, it
won’t strike an arc. I opened it up and everything seems to look OK.
There is no smoky smell of anything burnt. The fan works. I ran a VOM
over various locations. They all seemed to produce a range of voltages
from 28-220 volts depending on where I placed the leads.

I do not have a schematic and I am not much of an electrical whiz, but
I sure hate to toss the thing in the trash. Anybody have an idea of
what might be wrong and how I might get it fixed?

I wonder if Sears still does the lifetime Craftsman warranty? ;^)

TIA

Jake in Escondido