Trouble shooting a problem part 1

There’s an infinite list of problems you may encounter during welding. Some may be environmentally caused, others operator caused, and some unit caused. Invariably it is human nature to blame everything but the human operating the unit as the first recourse of action.

In many of my phone conversations, I've had with customers, this is often the case. But it is also often the case that it is indeed the operator that causes the issue, whether through inexperience, or just assuming all welders operate the same inside and out. If you are experiencing an issue, you should be honest with yourself and ask that question. Is there anything I overlooked?  Did I do something different?  Has someone else used my machine since the last time.

A lot of times, of course, it may not be you, but there are many factors that can figure into a operator caused welding error. Fatigue, inexperience, and worrying about something else can all contribute to operator caused error. This isn't something though that the customer should feel alone about.  WE all do it. I’ve done it more times than I’d like to count.

My frequent one is forgetting the work clamp is not attached.  This quick mental check will save a lot of frustrated calls to tech support.  Though we are happy to help you work  things, a quick mental check of what you are doing may save you some embarrassment.  Yes, we did get that call where the customer had not turned on his machine and reported he couldn’t get the thing to come on.