Cebora Autostar 180 help required.

[adrianreeve]

H there, first post, and help needed please!

I've just bought a 20 year old Cebora Autostar 180 (it's the one with the problems in the post by Bonzo below)

Does anyone have a manual or schematic diagram for this welder? I'm having difficulty finding a main Cebora dealer in the uk to ask, and the main site in Italy doesn't seem to deal with older models.

If no manual, does anyone know what value the wire feed potentiometer should be for this model?

Problem with the welder is that the wire speed pot does nothing till you get to 1.5 on the settings, then full speed by 2. The last owner changed the pot for a 2k2 one, as that was what was marked on the old one, but it seems to me that this problem points to the wrong value potentiometer. The welder does a fine job of welding if you can match the power to the wire feed, so welding 5mm plate is fine, as the wire feed is on max most of the time.

I was hoping this pointed to the PCB being ok, as I would think it wouldn't weld at all if there was a problem there (although what do I know?!)

Any advice, or the location of someone who can repair these machines in Kent or SE London would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Adrian

 

[stormin]

I have a cebora panther 160 and had exactly the same problem. I initially thought the pot was the problem but tested it to 2k ohms resistance and it seemed fairly linear throughout it's range.
Then I turned my attention to the resistors on the board close to the pot. I found one of them to be low on resistance at 50 ohm when rated for 150 ohms according to the colour bandings.
10p from Maplin and a bit of soldering later and it was a lot better. Still not convinced it's fully sorted as i still seem to be on lower wire feed settings than before but it is more adjustable and gives a level of control. Perhaps there were other resistors on the board that are outside of spec.
My advice get yourself an ohm meter and a resistor colour chart and go through the full board testing.

 

[NotANormalCoder]

Hi
We are agents/service agents for Cebora based in Surbiton (surrey). I have a service exchange board for this machine @£66 plus VAT but we will need the old unit back first to ensure we send you the correct version.
Cannot remember the value of the pot, but is is likely that the board is knackered anyway as it should do more than you describe with a nearly correct value.
Anyway, PM me if you want to go further.
Regards
Dave

 

[Bob robinson]

Hi
We are agents/service agents for Cebora based in Surbiton (surrey). I have a service exchange board for this machine @£66 plus VAT but we will need the old unit back first to ensure we send you the correct version.
Cannot remember the value of the pot, but is is likely that the board is knackered anyway as it should do more than you describe with a nearly correct value.
Anyway, PM me if you want to go further.
Regards
Dave

Hi.
Could you please let me have a phone number ?

 

[Bob robinson]

Hi.
Could you please let me have a phone number ?

 

[NotANormalCoder]

Should be a PM waiting for you. Dave

 

[Duncan Peters]

Please help i got a cebora autostar 180 press trigger wire come out but no ark but press contactor in and it works but wire stays live

 

[Duncan Peters]

Has anyone got a number for where i can get spares from please

 

[eddie49]

Link to similar thread:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...tar-180-rotory-cam-switch.89261/#post-1470371