Had a brand new spot welder crap out on me mid-job yesterday

Was welding a quarter panel on a '17 Civic and the gun just stopped clamping halfway through the second row of welds. Turns out the internal solenoid blew on a machine that was barely 3 months old. Anyone else have issues with the newer welders failing way too fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

young.thomas7d ago

Gotta check if you're buying from the same batch that had those cheap Chinese solenoids. I had a similar issue with a 6-month-old machine last year and found out the manufacturer quietly switched suppliers for the internal wiring harness. The new harnesses can't handle the current load for more than a few months before the heat warps the plastic connectors. Pop the cover off and look for any signs of melting near the main power leads going into the solenoid. If you see any discoloration or warped plastic, that's almost certainly your culprit, and it's a known defect they're trying to sweep under the rug.

brooke_jones7d ago

Wait, they quietly switched suppliers on the wiring harness? That's messed up. I had a Miller welder from 2021 that had the exact same issue - found the plastic connector near the main power lead completely melted and warped after maybe 4 months. The shop I bought it from said it was a "known issue" but wouldn't do anything about it unless I paid for the repair out of pocket. So manufacturers are just swapping parts out now without telling anyone? Great.

abbyp617d ago

So are these cheaper solenoids coming in batches with specific date codes stamped on them?