What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Roert42]

I’ve never bought something from harbor freight that hasn’t broke at the worst time. They even managed to screw up making jack stands.

One job tools is the best I hope for.

That being said, check your wiring from the switch on the stringer. Try and bypass it, could be something simple like that.

 

[Blmpkn]

Mabey I'll just open this ones box, return it, and get the warrantee for my replacement lol. I think 3 years was like 90$..

Mabey the 90$ will prove to be a waste of money... but its certainly better than having to fork over another 450 -__-

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Damn that sucks. @scotts90ranger I'm pretty sure Is who turned me on to the Titanium welders... he's had good luck with his for years and years so I didn't bother buying the extra warrantee lol.

When was your welder purchased? When was the other one that burnt up purchased? Mabey there was a bad batch of components or something. What model welder?

I had heard good things when we got it. It’s the Flux 125. Probably 2-3 years old. Got it for doing exhaust or fixing mower decks and whatnot. I have an older Lincoln PowerMig 200 that takes 44# spools for my heavy welding. Plus oxy-acetylene and an ancient Lincoln AC-225 stick welder.

At this point, I’m probably going to take a stab at fixing the HF junk, but I’m gonna start looking for a Lincoln. #weldred

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve never bought something from harbor freight that hasn’t broke at the worst time. They even managed to screw up making jack stands.

One job tools is the best I hope for.

That being said, check your wiring from the switch on the stringer. Try and bypass it, could be something simple like that.

I bought a number of things from them over the years, but my patience is wearing thin. Maybe beyond thin. My HF heat gun turned into a jet powered flamethrower the last time I tried using it and now this. Which is after replacing a breaker bar 3 or 4 times that I’ve broke with hand power alone, no cheater pipe. Considering I’m not the Incredible Hulk, that’s a bit disappointing.

I’m suspecting the wiring and switch on the stinger is likely ok since I can see the feed wheels twitch, but of course I’ll verify that isn’t the issue when I tear into it. If I had to hazard a guess, I’m suspecting that if there are capacitors inside, they likely detonated. At any rate, I’m sure it’s out of warranty and I’ll likely find the problem when I tear it apart. When it stopped working and I figured out it would feed cold but not hot, I kinda lost my temper. I was hotter than it was outside, which was considerable. There was no way I was gonna open up the case and try to find the problem in that state. It took hours for me to cool off.

 

[DonovanJM]

Charged up my air conditioning system! Installed A/C in my barebones XL over the last few days. It will be nice being able to stay nice and cool this summer.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

my little red ranger will be hitting the junkyard with my son today. he said that was his plan for today when we were messing with putting the hardtop on the wrangler yesterday afternoon

You should sell that Wrangler (it's a heep!), and buy a Bronco.

 

[scotts90ranger]

From what you're saying on the welder it sounds like the switch is unplugged in the gun, happened a hundred times on my old Chicago Electric flux core welder, one time it fell off and hit the power side and shorted out the fuse and blew a diode thing (I forgot what it's called, basically 4 diodes in a square to make DC, which is what I did to replace it )

The bigger ones have replacement parts, I've beat the crap out of my Titanium MIG 170, it's spent a few thousand miles in the back seat of my F350...

Not saying it couldn't be broken worse, but if it won't do anything when you pull the trigger but does when you hit the feed button, it's not seeing the trigger button somehow...

I've gambled and lost with Chinese stuff and HFT, but I've gambled and won too... but with them anything is possible

 

[Bill]

I replaced the hose that connects the evaporative purge valve because I rigged a magic smoke machine to find vacuum leaks and I think a little bit of magic smoke was coming through part of the hose. This hose looks like one of those repairs that looks like it is going to be difficult because the OEM hose appears to be glued on to the connectors on each end. I did a search to find out what others have done to repair these hoses and there isn't much information, but other people think they are stuck with buying the hose from a Ford dealership. A few people had very bad things to day about Ford because they paid quite a bit of money to replace it. The hose on the 2.3L Duratec comes in two sections. After I took it apart I search for the part number to see what would come up. The part number on the longer hose is 4L5E-9G297. Pricing starts at around $45 on the websites that sell discounted Motorcraft or Mazda parts. That's just for the longer hose. The shorter hose probably cost another $20, plus shipping.

For those who haven't figured this out, here's a $6.00 fix for a $65.00 problem. The side of the connectors that appear to be glued into the original hose are actually 3/8" automotive vacuum hose fittings, so the hose you need to replace it is 3/8" inner diameter PCV/EEC/fuel line hose. I didn't measure the length. I just walked into an auto parts store and bought 3 feet of it, then cut it to fit, then slipped the connectors back on the hose. I reused the braided sleeve from the original hose and the corrugated loom on the shorter hose.

 

[superj]

i didn't know there is a cold switch. i need to find it on my hf welder. i just push it through by hand because i got the welder on a trade for a much larger and useless for me 220 stick welder.

my hf welder is about 15 years old though and works great. even better if there is a cold feed button hidden somewhere. its one of those flux core or gas models so its not the cheapest one

 

[Curious Hound]

(I forgot what it's called, basically 4 diodes in a square to make DC, which is what I did to replace it )

Bridge rectifier.

 

[RangerNumber3]

Just noticed we are on page 420…

View attachment 77870

I see what you did there!

 

[scotts90ranger]

Thanks Eric

The old blue or black welders don't have a cold feed button, you're stuck to just the trigger on the gun, I forgot the titanium had a cold feed button, been a while since I've changed a 10lb spool...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

i didn't know there is a cold switch. i need to find it on my hf welder. i just push it through by hand because i got the welder on a trade for a much larger and useless for me 220 stick welder.

my hf welder is about 15 years old though and works great. even better if there is a cold feed button hidden somewhere. its one of those flux core or gas models so its not the cheapest one

Not all welders have a cold feed switch. My buddy’s little Craftsman welder lacks one and I don’t believe my big Lincoln has one. I usually stretch the gun out straight and hand feed

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I see what you did there!

I had another picture of Cheech and Chong that I almost used, but wasn’t sure if it would be crossing a line…

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

From what you're saying on the welder it sounds like the switch is unplugged in the gun, happened a hundred times on my old Chicago Electric flux core welder, one time it fell off and hit the power side and shorted out the fuse and blew a diode thing (I forgot what it's called, basically 4 diodes in a square to make DC, which is what I did to replace it )

The bigger ones have replacement parts, I've beat the crap out of my Titanium MIG 170, it's spent a few thousand miles in the back seat of my F350...

Not saying it couldn't be broken worse, but if it won't do anything when you pull the trigger but does when you hit the feed button, it's not seeing the trigger button somehow...

I've gambled and lost with Chinese stuff and HFT, but I've gambled and won too... but with them anything is possible

I don’t think the switch came unplugged because you can see the wheels twitch like they want to go when you pull the trigger, but it would be worth checking, maybe it’s partially unplugged or something. I’m still inclined to look for a Lincoln. I came across a screaming deal on a Miller last year, but didn’t see a need for it, at the time. Now I wish I would have snagged it.