Tips & Tricks Making Your Welder Last Longer
KickingHorse® welding inverters are designed and engineered to meet the highest standard in the industry, they are also manufactured in advanced facilities where welding inverters of other major welding brands are made.
By following "Regular Check and Inspection" and "6 Month Routine Maintenance" procedures, your welder can run safely and dependably for a long time.
Things you must avoid to save your welder from failure
During years of warranty services in Canada and US, we have saw various reasons lead to welder failure, but we found following two scenarios occurred the most often:
Case one:
| Model | KickingHorse® F130 110 volt flux cored wire feed welding inverter |
| Used Time | 9 months |
| Problems | Can not strike arc |
| Cause | Contact tip and earth clamp is totally rusty. Owner said the contact tip is never changed from the beginning. |
| Reason | Poor consumable condition and cable connections will not only cause erratic arcs, the welding circuit is also easy to blow when worked under irregular condition for long time. |
| Solution | The main PCB is damaged and an replacement machine was sent to customer. |
Case two:
| Model | KickingHorse® MA200TS 220 volt multiprocess welding inverter |
| Used Time | 7 months |
| Problems | Can not turn on |
| Cause | Dirt, dust and grime are buildup on cooling fans, wiring, transformers and PC boards. Owner said the welder was used heavily in dirty environment and did not perform any maintenance since bought. |
| Reason | Failing to blow out the machine can lead to overheating, erratic arc performance, board or electrical failure, and premature wear. |
| Solution | Use clean, dry air to blow out the inside of the machine and the machine returned to work. |
Recommended maintenance schedule for KickingHorse® welding inverters
DISCONNECT POWER INPUT AND SWITCH OFF THE MAIN POWER SWITCH BEFORE START OF MAINTENANCE.
Taking care of your welder machine is really worthy of time and effort. It’s not a big deal or doesn’t make you so much hard work to care a little sometime for your welder.
Useful resources
Routine Maintenance: Machine Blowout - by Lincoln Electric
MIG Welder Maintenance Tips - by Miller Welders