As machines age, gantry loom wires can become brittle through constant movement or exposure to sunlight.

After checking fuses, checking for broken wires is one of the first things to think about when diagnosing common faults i.e. gantry not moving (or sometimes moving and not other times), claw not descending, etc.

Depending on what the issue is a broken wire can be found on either the gantry to pcb loom or the gantry to gantry loom. If you a fortunate, you will find a wire sticking out between the caterpillar clips.

If the break isn’t obvious, then you will need to remove the caterpillar clips and firmly tug each wire. If there is only a partial break a firm tug is required to find it as the outer plastic casing may still be intact.

When you have had multiple breaks in a loom please look at replacing the whole loom as more than likely you will be back to fix another wire in a short space of time.

To repair the wire, insert a small piece of wire (the same colour) into the break by soldering them together and placing heat shrink over the join.

Tip 1: We place an extra small piece of length into the loom to ensure the repaired break is not a weak point in the loom … i.e. constantly being pulled as it is shorter than the surrounding wires.

Tip 2: The most common places to find the breaks are in the “U” bends.

Watch this video to find out more