12 replies to this topic

[gad05]

Hi Guys,

 

I have a Lincoln 180 mig has been working fine for many years.

Went to use today spitting & farting every where.

Welds like the gas has been turned off. It is definitely getting gas to the nozzle.

Have checked all the connections, not sure what else to check.

Any ideas anyone.

Cheers Graham.

[claysummers]

Earth clamp copper surfaces clean and not pitted Graham?

How old is the wire? The surface can get corroded sitting on the reel eventually. Tried a new tip?

I have the same welder. Tried turning it up? Just a few ideas mate.


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[CI 0308]

Is the pinch feed roller slipping on the wire.

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[bat 53]

have the same problem sometimes 

find i accidently turn the wire speed up   

[Rockoz]

Check the wire feeder for sure.

I have had the gearbox fail on the wire feeder on a few machines.

Mainly the cheaper ones, but also some expensive machines.

 

Load up the drive wheel and see what happens, if it jumps around or not.

 

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[Statler]

When did you last clean the liner out?

[gad05]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Gave the whole machine a clean out, working a lot smoother now.

Think l’ll buy a new liner as well,long time since it has been changed.

Cheers Gad.

[lakeside]

When did you last clean the liner out?

can the liner be replaced? 

[Statler]

can the liner be replaced? 

Yes. 

There are different liners for different applications . Eg: Steel coil for steel wires , teflon for aluminium .

As the wire is pushed through the gun , small shavings are deposited in the liner. Over time they build up & cause feed issues . 

 

There is usually a small Allen head screw at either the diffuser (bit the tip screws into) or the adapter (bit at the machine where the gun pushes into) or both. 

 

Liners seldom wear out .

 

Remove the gun from the machine > remove the tip > lay the gun out on the floor in a straight line > pour white spirit (metho or similar } into the gun end & blow through with compressed air . Helps to give the 'hose' a wiggle while blowing . 

 

MIG Maintenance 101  

[Rockoz]

can the liner be replaced? 

 

 

Yep.

 

Ive bought a new one for my unimig.

Plastic type one.

Will start changing the liner when changing what Im welding.

The original liner is spiral metal not unlike a bonnet release cable.

Think the plastic may be teflon or something like that.

Using the same liner when welding aluminium after steel can get some impurities in the weld.

Blowing them out regularly is a good idea especially if you dont do a lot of welding.

The coated steel wire gets a little bit of rust on the top layer on the spool after a while and that comes off in the liner then grabs on to the aluminium, or clogs up the liner affecting wire speed.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[mick_in_oz]

The cap off something like an aerosol can, with a bit of oil soaked rag sitting in it and left in the compartment with the wire will often avoid any troubles with corrosion on the wire.

 

Western QLD is often dry, so we don't have too much trouble, but, we still have to consider it, and for the last 20 plus years I've not had trouble with corroded wire with the oily rag in near the roll of wire, and no troubles with welder performance from potential contamination of the wire.

[Rockoz]

The cap off something like an aerosol can, with a bit of oil soaked rag sitting in it and left in the compartment with the wire will often avoid any troubles with corrosion on the wire.

 

Western QLD is often dry, so we don't have too much trouble, but, we still have to consider it, and for the last 20 plus years I've not had trouble with corroded wire with the oily rag in near the roll of wire, and no troubles with welder performance from potential contamination of the wire.

 

I reckon if you decided to weld aluminium though, in that instance you would really need another liner just for aluminium.

I like that idea and might give it a go.

However being in a near salt water location, the top layer of wire is often rusty.

But as I am more of a grinder than a welder, I dont worry too much about it.

But my friend who used to do a lot of welding often used to peel the top layer of wire off a reel to get to the cleaner stuff.

He was doing welds that needed to be good and clean.

He said the cost of the wire was nothing compared to having to re weld something that didnt quite look right.

 

I found out yesterday why he always sacrificed the wire in the liner when changing wire.

I usually just chop the tip of the wire and wind it back on to the reel.

He always cut it at the feed rollers and put the end back in the reel, and pulled out the wire in the lead and threw that away.

I guess I had been lucky that I had always managed to catch the end as it came back to the roll.

Until yesterday.

Great little birds nest.

I rolled it back out until I got to the nicely wound stuff, and was going to roll it back on to the reel, when I thought bugger it.

Chopped the 20 odd feet off and it went into the bin.

 

Having the wire not the greatest on the roll can give you problems especially if the end went under another loop.

Nice little hitch knot on the roll to give you dramas down the road.

 

I tried to keep wire wastage down as I was using very small rolls for aluminium and stainless.

But I found that there was too much twist action going on in the liner due to the smaller diameter coils on the small roll.

Bought a large roll of aluminium wire and found it so much easier to use than the small roll.

 

Not sure about buying a large roll of stainless yet. The small roll cost me close to 70 bucks about 8 years ago from memory.

Would hate to see the cost of a big roll of stainless, and havent really got much use for it.

I have stainless for the TIG and have been using that more than the MIG anyway for stainless jobs.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[Statler]

The wire manufacturers used to put a small satchel of lime silica in with the new wire roll.

Take that satchel & leave it in the wirefeeder.  

 

When fitting a new wire roll, feed the wire through an ear plug before threading it into the feed roller guide.