How To Fix Zika Welding Machine
A friend who is also a repair technician asked me about a welding machine that does not weld. We started chatting on line with camera on trying to help him get this machine fixed. It was showing the yellow warning light which means there is a short and the machine is protecting itself from further damage.
The technician gave up on the machine and sends it to me to be checked. Yes the yellow warning light was on and when powered through a current limiter the light bulb was shining brightly indicating something is wrong here and should be addressed.
From experience, if the warning light is on that usually shorted Mosfets or IGBT’s but in this case it was different and it is the first time I encounter such issue and I thought of sharing this fault with you.
The power supply is in the lower side of the machine. The power will come up to the black and red wires to the left of the screen. After supplying the 5 and the 15 DC volts to the board it goes all the way to the other black and red wires to the right of the screen which has the arrow mark on it.
Since the IGBT’s in this case are all ok, the next step is to check the transformers and that is done by insolating the problem. It starts by disconnecting one red cable at the time and see if the warning light disappears. In this case when the second line when was disconnected the warning light disappeared. The machine would power on and weld just fine but the welding amp will be lower because it is running now on two transformers instead of three.
I called the customer and explained the situation. The customer wanted the machine to be repaired according to specs so let us begin.
I disconnected all the cables off this board and unscrewed all the screws that holding the IGBT’s and the board came off.
The IGBT’s are on the lower side of this heat sink; the uppers parts are the diodes which all were ok when checked with a multimeter.
The heat sick removed and finally I got to the main transformers. I traced the disconnected wire and find out the second transformer is the faulty one.
I got my brand new Hakko FR-301 welding sucker and de soldered all the pins on that board and soon enough the transformer was out.
That is what a faulty transformer tested like.
And that what a good transformer tested like.
I replaced the faulty transformer with a used one because new ones cannot be found. I put the machine back together and tested. It was working fine but there was one problem; the fan was not working which explains why this transformer was faulty because it was not getting enough cooling.
This is the faulty fan that runs on 12 volts and that is the wrong fan rating for this kind of machines. Someone replaced a wrong specs fan which in this case did not provide enough cooling causing the transform to go bad and the machine to stop working.
This is the replacement and it runs on 220 AC. The Zika brand machine give you the option of either use a 24 DC fan or 220 AC fan. The different between the two is that when the machine is on 24 DC fan; it will not kick in for cooling unless the machine is overheating but with the 220 AC fan it is always on no matter what.
I sent it to my brother next door for check up and it was working according to specs.
The customer liked the sound of the fan running while welding and according to him it gave him the sense that all is working and cooling fine.
Mission Accomplished.
This article was prepared for you by Waleed Rishmawi, one of our ‘Master Authors’ and currently working in the Bethlehem area of Palestine repairing electrical and electronic equipment.
P.S- Do you know of any your friends who would benefit from this content that you are reading now? If so, forward this website to your friends or you can invite your friends to subscribe to my newsletter for free in this Link.
Note: You can check his previous article on Replacing Open SMD And Shorted IGBT’s Restored This Welding Machine Back To Life
(44)Dislikes
(0)
14 Comments
Leave a Reply
Tayo
December 16, 2023 at 8:35 am
Wow... thank you for sharing this. Likewise...first time I see its not a MOSFET or IGBT too.
Waleed Rishmawi
December 16, 2023 at 12:34 pm
Tayo: you are most welcome. It was first time for me as well. We learn new things everyday and that is called experience my friend. Have a blessed day.
Parasuraman S
December 16, 2023 at 3:07 pm
This is a very rare and strange fix that you handled diligently. Many thanks for sharing!
Waleed Rishmawi
December 19, 2023 at 2:22 pm
Parasuraman: thank you my friend for your kind words. yes I have not encountered that before in my repair so an experience has been gained here. have a blessed day
Yogesh Panchal
December 16, 2023 at 4:47 pm
Good repair!Waleed
Waleed Rishmawi
December 19, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Yogesh: thanks man. have a blessed day
Albert van Bemmelen
December 16, 2023 at 7:27 pm
Interesting Zika repair. Getting a new transformer is probably just as hard as rewiring a defect transformer is. And such a rewiring service is still unknown in most countries. And if possible probably quite expensive too. Luckily you found a good matching used repacement transformer.
Waleed Rishmawi
December 19, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Albert: thanks man. yea I was lucky to have a replacement in my shop because these trans. are hard to find and if they are found will be too expensive to get. I have many techi friends around my area and most of them have this kind of trans for replacement but it is costy. have a blessed day
Imoudu.O
December 17, 2023 at 2:08 am
Good repair, howerver which option of fan is better to use.Thanks for sharing and have a nice day.
Waleed Rishmawi
December 19, 2023 at 2:31 pm
Imoudu: alway match the new fan with the old specs. it is usually the amp rate and the voltage and how many fins on that fan to provide the right cooling otherwise over heating is happening and damage will be done. have a blessed day
Imoudu.O
December 18, 2023 at 3:27 am
Is this a kind of ring test on primary side of smps transformer?
Waleed Rishmawi
December 19, 2023 at 2:32 pm
Imoudu: more likely like an ESR meter with more advanced featurs. it is a cheap device that could be found on line and it is worth to have in the shop. have a blessed day
R Lamparter
December 21, 2023 at 6:33 am
I always enjoy reading your welder repair articles. I have not had to repair one yet, but the information is very useful since these Chinese welders are everywhere.
Waleed Rishmawi
December 24, 2023 at 9:47 pm
R Lamparter: I am glad you are enjoying my articles. I appreciate the encouragement. Have a blessed day