Troubleshooting guide › Process troubleshooting › Welding carriage and automation problems
A welding carriage does exactly what it is set up to do, for the whole seam. That is its strength and its weakness: a torch set 5 mm too high gives the same undercut for 6 metres. Most automation problems are set-up problems: torch position, speed, guide wheel, and the state of the plate. The electrical faults are few and easy to separate.
Reviewed by the Cruxweld technical team, October 2026. Settings are starting points to confirm on a test piece; acceptance is decided by the code or drawing the job is built to. Checks marked “call” are for our technical team.
| Setting | Typical value | If wrong you get |
|---|---|---|
| Torch angle between the plates (fillet) | 45 degrees, plus or minus 10 | Unequal legs; undercut on the vertical plate or overlap on the flat plate |
| Travel (lead) angle | 0-10 degrees drag | Too much push: flat bead, spatter; too much drag: narrow, convex bead |
| Contact tip to work distance | 10-15 mm below 200 A, 15-20 mm at 200-350 A, 20-25 mm above 350 A | Too long: porosity, cold bead; too short: burnback, nozzle spatter |
| Wire aim | At the root, 0-1 mm towards the flat plate for small legs; towards the vertical plate for legs over 8 mm | Legs unequal; root not fused |
| Guide wheel / rollers | Both guide rollers touching the vertical plate, front one slightly behind | Carriage drifts away from the seam |
| Oscillator (weave) for legs over 8 mm | Width 3-6 mm, 1-2 Hz, dwell 0.1-0.4 s each side | No dwell: undercut at the edges; too wide: overlap and slag |
Set the torch with the carriage on the job, run 100 mm, stop, and measure the legs with a fillet gauge. Adjust the X-Y slide, not the welding settings, until the legs are equal; then set the speed.
| Plate | Leg | Current | Voltage | Speed | Tip to work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 mm | 4-5 mm | 270-300 A | 28-31 V | 60-70 cm/min | 13-18 mm |
| 6 mm | 6 mm | 220-250 A | 25-27 V | 35-45 cm/min | 13-18 mm |
| 8 mm | 5-7 mm | 270-300 A | 28-31 V | 55-60 cm/min | 13-18 mm |
| 8 mm | 7-8 mm (with weave) | 260-300 A | 26-32 V | 25-35 cm/min | 15-20 mm |
| 12 mm | 7-8 mm (with weave) | 260-300 A | 26-32 V | 25-35 cm/min | 15-20 mm |
| 12 mm | 10 mm, 1.6 mm wire | 430-480 A | 38-42 V | 30-40 cm/min | 15-20 mm |
Typical carriage settings for mild steel in the flat and horizontal position; confirm on a trial seam. A carriage runs steadily at speeds a hand welder cannot hold, which is where the metres-per-shift gain comes from.
Loose torch mount or guide wheel screws, spatter on the guide wheel or tyres, plate surface uneven or dirty, wire feed stuttering.
Guide wheel not fixed, or set with the rollers not both touching; magnetic base weak on thin or non-magnetic plate; debris on the path.
Obstacle on the path (tack, spatter, clamp), deposit on the guide wheel, trigger cable pulled, over-temperature on the welding machine.
Tip-to-work distance too long, gas nozzle full of spatter, draught along the seam, gas hose dragging and kinked.
Torch angled too far up, speed too high for the leg, current too high, no dwell on the weave.
Torch aimed too low, speed too slow, voltage low.
No crater fill or hot start on the welding machine; carriage stops before the arc.
Rail not parallel to the joint, rail joints misaligned, rail dirty.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Control box lamp off | Control cable plug not seated, control fuse blown (usually 3 A), mains not on | Reseat the plug; replace the fuse once; if it blows again, call service |
| Carriage runs but no arc | Welding-start relay cable not connected to the welding machine, trigger switch, slag on the wire end | Check the start cable to the machine remote socket; snip the wire end |
| Arc does not stop when stop is pressed | Weld-off switch faulty, or the welding machine is in trigger-hold mode (4T / self-locking trigger), so it keeps the arc on after the carriage releases the trigger | Set the welding machine trigger mode to 2T (hold-to-weld); replace the switch if it still does not stop. Never bypass a machine protection |
| Travel motor runs at one speed only | Speed potentiometer faulty | Replace the potentiometer |
| Travel motor does not run, lamp on | Motor brushes worn, motor burnt, drive gear slipping | Check brushes; call service |
| X-Y slide stiff | Dry or dirty slide | Clean and add a drop of light oil |
| Wheel or motor hot (above 70 degrees C) | Overload, drag, spatter in the bearings | Stop and cool; find the drag |
It needs a remote start input or a trigger connection, and a feeder that can sit near the carriage. Most industrial MIG machines qualify; our team checks the connection for your model before supply.
Because the carriage was set up by eye and the hand welder adjusts continuously. Once the torch position and speed are set from a measured test, the carriage bead is more consistent than any hand weld and stays that way for the whole shift.
A hand welder on a 6 mm fillet manages about 25-35 cm/min with breaks; the carriage holds 35-45 cm/min without them. The cost calculator shows metres per shift and rupees per metre for your own numbers; a trial on your job confirms them.
Lamps, fault codes and the checks an operator can do outside the cabinet, for the machines this page applies to.
A carriage needs a welding machine with a remote start/stop or torch trigger input, enough duty cycle for continuous welding (the carriage never pauses), and for MIG a feeder close to the carriage so the torch cable is short. Our automation range is matched to our MIG and SAW machines for this reason. A trial on your own job, with your plate and leg size, confirms the result before you commit.
Send a photo of the weld or cut, your machine model, consumable and plate thickness. Our technical team replies on WhatsApp with the likely causes and the next checks to make.
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