TwistedWrench

Ya I used to do a lot of that stuff too, side wrenching for pocket cash. Lol, if you ever get asked to change an AC compressor on a late 90s Taurus or the timing belt on a VR4... just walk away!

We're basically a mom-n-pop restoration shop with only a few guys, so I do pretty much everything. Everything imaginable on the mechanical side of things, tuning, perf/race mods, bodywork, structure/rust repair, custom fabrication, electrical, headliners/upholstery, parts sales, bidding jobs/service writing, etc, etc, etc...

Only things I won't do is learn spanish, work on the boss' cars, or do convertible tops & rear ends. Too damn time consuming on tops, and we've got one of the best diff shops in town right down the street. I just send the pumpkins over to Thrash and let them set em up. The rest of it's just a matter principle. Good to be the only guy here willing/able to do most of this stuff, lol, if I don't want to do something, I don't have to.

93XJeeper

Hey guys, I got a Snap-On MM140SL Welder and it s not giving any spark. Wire feed works, fan turns on but it does nothing when I try to weld. I tried cleaning the grounding clamp and I just got the torch rebuild at Snap-On. What could it be? Transformer? I'm new to welding so excuse my lack of knowledge.

Basslicks

lol... thanks in advance for that advice!

Hmmmm.... have you pulled the hood off and checked all of the electrical connections? I'd start there before even whipping out the multimeter to check transformers or anything else of that nature. Just be careful around the capacitor.

TwistedWrench

First thought was right, I'd definitely go through and check the ground wire connections at both ends, and test the cable itself too. Now beyond that, you can call Lincoln, IIRC they're the ones who actually make that for SnapOn. Fair warning, the internal parts on those things get expensive quick, especially the primary board.

If the ground and other connections check out fine, you may want to consider looking at other welders. That thing looks like its had a rough life, lol. I've got an old Forney from the late 50s/early 60s that looks less beat on than that rig! If you're just getting started in welding, the faithful little Lincoln 180 is hard to beat, and Hobart makes some great little MIGs for the $$$.

93XJeeper

Alright, I cleaned up ground wire at both ends and still nothing. Opened it up and didn't see anything. It was a bit dusty. Btw, my uncle had this welder and gave it to me. He got it with a package deal a while back when he bought a couple motors so we have never seen it run. Here are some pics. The paint on the inside looked new so I'm thinking this welder was sitting outside for a while in the rain at one time. Again, I am new to welding, so I don't know what these "capacitors" or what not are. Thanks



Looks like something should connect here to those two prongs.



Other side of those two prongs



Looks like their should be another two wires connecting here



Looks like one of the blue cylinder things is missing, one from each side.



You can see where another blue cylinder thing would mount. Btw, there is one missing on both sides

93XJeeper

Just thought of something, the welder had a can of argon with it. When I bought some wire, I bought flux cored and wasn't gonna use the gas. Don't I need to reverse polarity or somthin? I think the welder was setup for solid wire not flux. If so, how do I reverse polarity.

Rogue4x4

You will need to change polarity for flux core. Normally, where you load the wire in, there's a couple of termination points in there you need to flip, but that welder looks pretty old. You need to find a manual for it to tell you. As far as getting it running, I suggest talking to the Snap-On guy...it is possible they can repair it, but they may just try to sell you a new one, too...I would start by getting the model number off of it, and try to find whatever documentation I could on it. You might even be able to find a schematic for the internals, which would go a long way in troubleshooting and repair...best I got

93XJeeper

Alright, well I have a link to the manual and snap on still sells these welders a on their website.

https://www.800abcweld.com/pdf/mm140...ers_manual.pdf

If I can't get this thing running, I may just get a Hobart 140 because repairs are gonna be expensive on this snap on. Land if it's old and abused, who knows what else might break next. I'm gonna switch the polarity and maybe it'll work.

Rogue4x4

Talk to the Snap-On guy, can't hurt. Also, if anything, there's always someone out there who will buy it as-is, you can get a decent start on another welder if you sell it to someone.

BTW before you swap the polarity, double check and make sure it does both flux core and MIG. I only glanced at the manual you posted, but didn't see that it was capable of doing flux core. Read the manual thoroughly and if it doesn't say, call them and ask. No sense in doing something to make it worse than it is...

93XJeeper

alright, I tried calling today but they are closed. So I'll try again tomorrow, until then I want to switch the polarity on this thing. I checked the manual and it does work with flux cored and solid but it doesn't go into depth on how to switch the polarity. Maybe one of you guys can help me figure it out. Also, since the wire feed box is removable, the positive/negative wires are on the main unit instead of within wire feed door.

HudsonN

Hey Twisted, where do you guys buy all those pre-made body parts and panels and what not for older stuff?

Is it an online website, or shop only, or all hand-made or? Thanks!

TwistedWrench

Well we've got it made in the shade being that we do primarily Mustangs, lol, there's very little you can't get. Most of what we use comes from Dynacorn, they're about the best out there, takes the least modification to make it fit.

They do make non-mustang stuff too, but when we're working on other stuff we usually source through YearOne or Goodmark. There's a 62 Econoline in the shop now, pretty much EVERYTHING will have to be hand fabricated.

What're you building? I might be able to hook you up with some links.

DBMETALWORX

The muscle mig is a great machine.. I got the mm250 in 1994, still works great. I've had to replace the switch in the top pic twice. there are a pair of poles on the switch that aren't used. You can move the wires from the bad pole to the unused ones. And get going again. 1-800-abc weld is very helpful too, the tech support is great. To reverse polarity, just pull the ground cable out the machine (it just pushes in with a twist), and then pull the power cable out (its right next to ground @ the bottom of front panel) and switch locations..

93XJeeper

funny you should say, after going through several trouble shooting steps while on the phone with systematics, it turned out that that same switch you just pointed out was the problem and ordered new one. The guy on the phone had me hot wire it to bypass that switch and sure enough, it worked. And thanks for the tip about switching polarity, I forgot to ask about that on the phone, and since you told me, I don't need to call em back Tomorrow. Thanks!

Rogue4x4

NICE!