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

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?

The only thing I can suggest without being there to look at it (and I
probably couldn't help much then either!g) is to check the connections at
both ends of your leads. If you have a bad/dirty/loose connection either at
the welder or at the stinger or work clamp you could have problems like you
describe.

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

As a matter of fact they do but I don't think it covers any type of power
tools. :-(

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"


"Jake in Escondido" wrote in message
news:%kYbe.85$F33.57@fed1read04...
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

These things are pretty bullet proof, don't toss it unless you can see
the smoke coming out!

One question up front: does this unit have a crank hooked up to screw
that moves a (shunt) into the main core or does this unit have a 10
position heavy duty switch that selects the heat?

Since you have the case off, follow the main power leads into the
machine, both sides go to a switch, then to the core with some light
weight leads to the fan. Since the fan runs, you probably have voltage
to the core. Does the core buzz when you turn it on?

turn it on, check the voltage at the welding leads inside the cabinet.
You should have about 55 volts between the ground lead and the high
power stinger lead, 80 volts between the ground and the lo power lead,
and 25 (or 28) volts between the high power and low power stinger
terminals.

If that checks out ok, you have a bad lead or connection on your cables.
With an old unit, this is the most likely problem. Make sure you have
solid clamps where the cable goes into both the plugs, the stinger, and
the ground clamp.

Cheers.

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

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



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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

The problem was in the ground cable. I cut 6" off the ground lead and it
works like a champ. There was some sort of a break in the cable. There
was enough copper to show continuity but not enough to carry the
current. Thanks again guys.

Jake in Escondido

Jake in Escondido wrote:
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