Hobart Handler 135 will not feed wire at lower settings

[Jewell55]

I have searched the internet high and low for a situation similar to my Handler's but come up short.
Recently my Hobart will only weld at wire speeds settings of 85 to 100 regardless on the power setting.
Below the 85 setting I can hear the unit click but it will not advance the wire.
I've checked the drive wheel and looked for kinks in the liner both appear fine.
Strangely if I bench test the machine without attempting to make a weld the wire will advance through the complete range of settings (both power and wire speed) but upon the first attempt to the weld I'm forced to move the wire speed up to 85 or above to make a arc.
I'm wondering if control board is failings. the drive motor or ???
Hoping someone at Hobart or the forum members can help with advice.
Thanks.

[Jewell55]

I discovered the problem! Too simple once found.
My issue was a loose connection at the wire drive motor.
It would appear a female spade on the power line to the drive motor was fitting so loosely that below the 85 Wire Feed Speed setting the wire would not advance due to lack of electricity.
Settings at 85 and above allowed sufficient current to flow to the motor for the unit to work.

I had never disassemble the Hobart Handler case since buying it new until I bench tested the unit by jumping a 12 volt car battery to the drive motor. That is when I discovered the loose spade connection.
A simple light squeeze on the female receptacle with a pair of pliers fixed my problem.

Too simple!

[Dale M.]

Good for you!.....

[MAC702]

Outstanding! Thank you very much for the follow up!

Voltage is everything on loose connections. Only once it sent enough voltage for that higher speed, did it have sufficient voltage to get through the loose connection.

We'll have to remember to think of that possibility, but then this is the first time I've seen this be an issue on one of these machines.

[Jewell55]

Follow up to my issue:
My "fix" only worked for a very short period of time. I'd say approximately 5 to 10 minutes of welding before it was back doing the exact same wire feed issue.
I've checked all the connections and they are tight.
It is not a fault in the drive motor as I can apply significant physical resistance to the drive wheel with a gloved hand advancing thru all the power and drive speed settings.
In each setting the motor's torque remains strong plus the wire speed corresponds to the dial setting.
I can easily advance the wire into the gun using the drive wheel motor but a fraction of a second after I try to make the first arc the wire will not advance unless I move the Wire Speed Setting to the upper limits (70 to 100 range).
I think it must be a circuit board issue .

Any thoughts before I take it to my local electronics wizard?

[Jewell55]

I forgot to mention the machine will arc at the higher wire speed settings and the wire will advance but at these setting its more of a stick welder than a MIG.

[Jewell55]

Issue finally resolved

It was not the circuit board, drive mover, trigger, liner, etc !
It was the imbedded wire in the wand (gun) from the box to the trigger.
Somehow it was damaged and must have reduced the electrical current flow to the trigger and back to the box.
I discovered the break by running a jumper wire between the two power prongs at the box. The wire advanced and arced perfectly thru all power and speed settings.
My solution:
I will buy a replacement gun but in the interim I've attached four female electrical spade ends to an old lamp wire; running the wire from the two terminals in the box and electrical taping it to the gun down to the the trigger.
It now looks like the day it was new.

[MAC702]

...I will buy a replacement gun but in the interim I've attached four female electrical spade ends to an old lamp wire; running the wire from the two terminals in the box and electrical taping it to the gun down to the the trigger...

I've twice had issues with the connectors attached to the trigger inside the gun. The wires make a very sharp bend there and it's a bad design. Once I had one replaced under warranty. The next one was too old, so I ran independent wires from my own connections at the trigger and did exactly as you described it. I considered it a permanent repair, and would not bother with ordering another gun with a bad design that will just do it again in the future.

[Dale M.]

IT seems not only MIG guns have a problem with switch wiring...