PowerTig LX225 gas flow issue brand new unit, help!

Hi guys,
I bought this unit on February 22nd And received it very quickly on the 28th. Had definite shipping damage right as I opened (regulator broken, foot pedal bent) and upon trying to use the unit it at first would not even make a dent on 16ga aluminum piping. After an hour on the phone with MIke trouble shooting we found that the spark gap had been effected from shipping and I closed it up per his advice. After that it worked pretty good but still had a weird intermittent hiccup where current would be lost. After being roughly 10 minutes off the phone with Mike the gas flow to the gun stopped. Checked the bottle, regulator and lines to the machine and there was sufficient flow. I could hear the relay clicking to initiate the solenoid to open and close but still nothing. This was still using the setting that Mike had me set it to when we were trouble shooting.

I took the air hose and shot air through it to see if the solenoid wasn't opening at all or of it were possibly partially opening, and when I would press the pedal and the relay clicked air would pass through but no where near sufficient amount as this was 65psi that we were applying in short bursts and when welding we run 25-30.

Alex has been more than helpful with this as well as everyone that answers emails. Sent the machine in for warranty repair and Eric said the solenoid is probably jammed but will replace it. I received it back last week on Wednesday and say the repair info and they wrote that gas flow is fine and worked properly and that they fixed spark gap and tightened the loose electrical connections. The fact that the main reason I sent it in was because gas flow issues and nothing was addressed had me worried. I tested it this past Saturday and the gas flow worked great for about 5-10 seconds and then it stopped again just like it had before. I then tried calling alex and lest a message and emailed as well but haven't heard anything yet but of course it's the weekend so I wasn't expecting immediate reply.

Anyway, have any of you experienced this and know of a remedy? I'm going to try and contact alex again but I'm not looking forward to having to send it back in and wait 2 weeks. I have projects piling up and time is running out. It seems that the solenoid is jamming however I think it is not due to debris but an actual mechanical issue with the solenoid. The green led inside the machine for the solenoid turns on and off when power is applied so that tells me it's seeing power and the solenoid is opening and closing but it seems it's only opening a fraction and jamming as verified by the tests we did.

So again, any suggestions? Hopefully I'll get to speak with Alex later today.

Also, so it's known, I'm not bashing everlas or anyone affiliated, the service I have received has been pretty good I'm just frustrated because I spent a good amount of money on something and it's been a month now and haven't gotten to enjoy it. :(

Thanks guys and sorry if there are grammatical errors, typed this from my phone. Heh

Sorry to hear abou tthe issue you are having. I'm just going to chime in here although I am not particularly up on the ins and outs of that unit. Pictures are worth a thousand words. You said the unit would not make a dent in 16g aluminum. If there were a total lack of shielding you would be seeing a piece of burned up blackened scrap. Also, your tungsten would be spitting and showering off. Run a test bead and take a pic. This will help us help you. What kind of regulator are you using? Were you using shop air to isolate the gas problem? Have you checked your torch? I might remove the barbed connector from the torch gas line and just stick it in the quick connect. then check the gas flow. There was a batch of water cooled torches a while back that had the gas fittings (or water fittings) in the wrong place. I usually dont get into technical issues, Mark and Mike are both top notch troubleshooters. If you sent the unit off, and the flow was good, I would consider what the variables were.

Sorry I should have stated that the initial lack of current that the unit had was due to the spark gap for the capacitors. Mike diagnosed this over the phone with me and I corrected it and the lack of power issue was solved however there was still an intermittent hiccup when trying to weld where current would momentarily stop and then come back. Aside from that it welded great once the spark gap was closed up and the amount of current needed reflected that of the miller tig's we have used which I was very happy to see. (shows that it's a quality machine to have comparable current)

The main issue here is gas flow across the machine and it was unfortunate that it happened literally ten minutes after I got off the phone with Mike. I sent the machine in and they found a few connections I guess loose and tightened them which makes sense of the inconsistency (hiccup). The gas flow apparently corrected itself in transit to Eric so I'm guessing the multiple bangs it received in shipping unstuck the solenoid by the time it arrivedto the repair center.

Now with the machine back gas flow worked properly for 5-10 seconds and then again stopped. It seems the solenoid is jamming. When I tested with the shop air I shot air through without pressing the foot pedal to see if there was flow and there wasn't like there shouldn't be. Then I pressed the pedal to activate the relay/solenoid and there was flow like the solenoid opened however it was no where near the proper amount. It's like the solenoid is opening just a fraction of what it should and jamming for whatever reason.

Its more likely to jam open than shut. Can you hear the solenoid? There isn't much to jam.

I hear a click when I press the pedal and then another click after I let off. I was assuming this was the relay but is that actually the solenoid?

Is there a way I could free the jam if it really is some form of debris in the solenoid like Eric had said initially? I don't want to do anything that could potentially void my warranty however. Hah

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MR2 Josh

I hear a click when I press the pedal and then another click after I let off. I was assuming this was the relay but is that actually the solenoid?

Is there a way I could free the jam if it really is some form of debris in the solenoid like Eric had said initially? I don't want to do anything that could potentially void my warranty however. Hah

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When you say there is not enough air (when you had the compressor one it). Leave the units power off and see if you hear any air leaking in the machine (ears to the vents). Keep the air down to 50PSI or so, as we do not want to blow a hose off to add a problem.

Have you tired the above test with the gas hose disconnected from the front of the unit (you will have to detached the quick connect and leave it in the female on the front)? Could be a twist or kink in the gas lead; leave the remote connected and try that if you have not.

Last, the solenoid can be opened and checked, but I would recommend a call to tech support for that. You need to power down the unit, wait 15 minutes, pop the cover (comes apart from the rear bezel), locate and pull the solenoid at the back of the unit, remove 4 screws and inspect a spring and piston inside. Like I said, better to call tech support for this.

If you do this without calling, kill the power and wait at least 15 minutes (if you have done the points you know this drill). Also, you can stretch the small spring just a little to push harder on the piston if you have it open. Or you can call Alex and see if they can send one out to you.

Mr2 Josh, from mr2oc??
NICE!
Don't worry about a thing Josh, Alex and crew will be sure to get you up and running.
I'm building a 5sgte "big bore" for a friend after reading thru your threads. I'm going to be using a 3rd gen oil system
And head.
Having Jeff@ racerx make the intake and exhaust manifold, I haven't tigged yet, waiting for my unit to arrive.
With a precision 5857, we're planning on ~500awhp in his alltrac.

Anyway, welcome to the site, looking forward to your posts.

Hi Mike,
Alright I'll give the machine pressure test a shot. When I said there isnt sufficient flow what I mean is that when the pedal is pressed and and the solenoid is supposed to be open, I can hear and barely feel air coming through when I had the compressor on it. The line from the compressor was directly to the machine meaning no leaks in the system to the machine so I should have felt much more than just a tiny puff of air.

I haven't tried it though with the gas feed line for the torch and the quick release disconnected. I'll give that a shot as well. I did make sure the lead wasn't kinked visually but nothing more than that.

As for the solenoid check, I can do that as I have already removed the cover per Eric's guidance and know that I have remove the back cover and only after the machine has sat for at least 15, etc. I'll try stretching the spring to add more force as well. If this still doesn't get me going I'll call tech and see and probably alex as well and see if I can get another solenoid on the way to replace it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by presure2

Mr2 Josh, from mr2oc??
NICE!
Don't worry about a thing Josh, Alex and crew will be sure to get you up and running.
I'm building a 5sgte "big bore" for a friend after reading thru your threads. I'm going to be using a 3rd gen oil system
And head.
Having Jeff@ racerx make the intake and exhaust manifold, I haven't tigged yet, waiting for my unit to arrive.
With a precision 5857, we're planning on ~500awhp in his alltrac.

Anyway, welcome to the site, looking forward to your posts.

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Ahh hey what's up man, yeah alex has been great. Just wanna get my machine operational so I can finish up my intake manifold and exhaust. Hah Jeff actually machined my transitions and runners for me n my intake manifold. He does nice work. Big bore is the way to go for sure. :) awd powerslides should come easily with 500whp on tap. Haha. But yeah I finally got tired of having to pay to use other peoples TIG's so I caved and bought my own personal machine.

I hear you!
Basically same reason I am getting mine... Why pay someone else to do what we can do ourselves.
I ordered a pp205 tig/stick/plasma. Should be here in a month or so.
Be sure to post pics of your manifolds!!!!
Have you done much tig welding? I remember the pics of your exhaust work... But that was mig, right?

I have a question. Should we even be accepting these units if they are coming off the truck damaged like that? I also have a 225lx showing up tomorrow and would like to know before I say "Yeah, don't worry about that smashed in corner..."

The best thing to do is to make sure any damage is noted at the time of delivery with the shipping carrier. I have yet to recieve a unit with any more than minor damage to the box but I still take pictures of it before I open it. If I did recieve an obviously damaged unit I would file the necessary paperwork before that driver left. Then open the box and assess the damage. It would have to be pretty bad for me to refuse delivery.

Even with a perfect box we've had customer in the past with units dropped flat on the bottom from quite a distance without damage to the box. You can tell as the top steel pan tray was bowed from the transformers weight and impact with the ground. I've not had one in some time, but the box was perfect. The problem was not known until the unit was opened.

If there is any major box and case damage, it's always a good idea to call in and have a tech walk you though a couple check before firing up the unit. Back then units could have been saved by simply bending a transformer buss.

On the other side of the coin, a cracked bezel does not mean a bad unit either. Just means we need to ship out a bezel.

If every person that bought a unit and had no damage were somehow required to post, you would see shipping damage is a very small number. And the New Members thread would be a nightmare. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DiabolicZ

I also have a 225lx showing up tomorrow

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Did the March shipment show up early?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dgarnier

Did the March shipment show up early?

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I wasn't supposed to get mine until April 11th, but UPS shows it will be here today.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by everlastsupport

When you say there is not enough air (when you had the compressor one it). Leave the units power off and see if you hear any air leaking in the machine (ears to the vents). Keep the air down to 50PSI or so, as we do not want to blow a hose off to add a problem.

Have you tired the above test with the gas hose disconnected from the front of the unit (you will have to detached the quick connect and leave it in the female on the front)? Could be a twist or kink in the gas lead; leave the remote connected and try that if you have not.

Last, the solenoid can be opened and checked, but I would recommend a call to tech support for that. You need to power down the unit, wait 15 minutes, pop the cover (comes apart from the rear bezel), locate and pull the solenoid at the back of the unit, remove 4 screws and inspect a spring and piston inside. Like I said, better to call tech support for this.

If you do this without calling, kill the power and wait at least 15 minutes (if you have done the points you know this drill). Also, you can stretch the small spring just a little to push harder on the piston if you have it open. Or you can call Alex and see if they can send one out to you.

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FINALLY got the chance to mess with the solenoid. I removed it and took it apart (Noticed that they forgot 5 of the screws for the back cover so only 2 are holding it on heh). Wiped out the bore and the piston and stretched the spring. Reassembled fired it up and bam, gas flow and I'm tig'ing with the thing FINNNAAAALLLLY!!!!!! Alex and Ray (I think) have both called me about 5 times but I have just been far too busy to get back to them during their opperating hours. But yeah, Aluminum welds nicely and stainless welds really nice. I'm happy to finally get to play with my new toy. Going to be making some things tonight.

Thanks again for all of the help Mike and everyone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by presure2

I hear you!
Basically same reason I am getting mine... Why pay someone else to do what we can do ourselves.
I ordered a pp205 tig/stick/plasma. Should be here in a month or so.
Be sure to post pics of your manifolds!!!!
Have you done much tig welding? I remember the pics of your exhaust work... But that was mig, right?

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I will for sure get some pics of the mani's when they are all finished up. Yeah that first 4" stainless exhaust I made was a hurry up and get it done one so I could drive the car. I mig'd it and it literally took me about 5 hours to mock up and fabricate the entire dp and exhaust. It does look nice but now I want to make it perfect. Actually now I'm doing a full 4" 304SS downpipe to a 4" 6063 aluminum exhaust using a 4" in/outlet vibrant race muffler. I may delete the muffler after I hear it. Aluminum has a very unique tone to it and I'm thinking the muffler may silence that sweet resonance it has. hah We'll see.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MR2 Josh

I will for sure get some pics of the mani's when they are all finished up. Yeah that first 4" stainless exhaust I made was a hurry up and get it done one so I could drive the car. I mig'd it and it literally took me about 5 hours to mock up and fabricate the entire dp and exhaust. It does look nice but now I want to make it perfect. Actually now I'm doing a full 4" 304SS downpipe to a 4" 6063 aluminum exhaust using a 4" in/outlet vibrant race muffler. I may delete the muffler after I hear it. Aluminum has a very unique tone to it and I'm thinking the muffler may silence that sweet resonance it has. hah We'll see.

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awesome man! yea, it definetly will sound mean without a muffler..wasnt matt's exhaust straight thru aluminum as well?
looking forward to the pics dude!

How far did you have to extend the spring?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by presure2

awesome man! yea, it definetly will sound mean without a muffler..wasnt matt's exhaust straight thru aluminum as well?
looking forward to the pics dude!

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Yeah Matt's Was straight through aluminum. Hearing his two supra's and MR2 with aluminum exhausts in person is what got me hooked. My last 4" exhaust and 3.5" dp made of stainless weighed a total of 15lbs, the new one should be right around 8-10lbs. For comparison, the berk exhaust alone weighs 38lbs. My cams finally arrived so I'll get those in hopefully this weekend and the valve lash set and then get the motor in so I can get going on the exhaust and intake mani.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dgarnier

How far did you have to extend the spring?

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Not a lot, around 1/4" longer than it was when I pulled it out.