My MIG welder is giving me problems. Its worked fine for ages, but now when I start welding, as soon as it strikes an arc you get a couple of popping noises, the wire stops feeding and gets stuck (welded) in the welding tip.

Can't understand it... I've replaced the tip (3 times now!!!), the tip is the correct size, the wire feeds perfectly and gas is flowing. The metal I'm welding is clean and the earth connection is good.

I've had this happen to me a few times too. Trouble is, I can't remember exactly how I cured it. What I do know is that, having checked the feed etc as you have, it is definitely a settings problem, either wire speed or current. I'd try increasing the wire speed first. Hopefully someone more skilled will take this up

John

I had that a lot until I realised I was being tight with the gas At least I think that's what fixed it.

(disclaimer: I never said it would fix it)

to mb....... inside yer machine thers a roller which yer wire goes over...and the screw down clamp.....is yer wire in groove on roller?? if it is does the other roller in screw down clamp may not be on the wire properly.....ave a look see what yer think...... the shaft that the main roller is on will need bending up a bit...carefully if its a plastic one....... hope this helps

check the earth cable inside the machine as well as the connection inside the gun.

One locoster reported a problem with a relay in the welder.

Try a new tip?

Is the feed high enougth?

Do you have the current too high?


is the metal clean at the earth clamp and the weld point?



atb


steve





[Edited on 4/11/02 by stephen_gusterson]

A lot of us store our welders in cool damp places and low and behold the wire starts to rust ( you can hardly see the oxidation on the wire ). Now this plays havoc with the current which is passed through the wire which is all on and all off ( current won't pass properly through rust ) and the electronics of the machine won't be able to cope causing the surges of power which is melting the wire.

The classic problems for this type of thing is 1/ not enough wire feed ( could be caused by dirty or rusty wire ) 2 a worn out tip ( could be caused very quickly again by rusty wire ).

The rust on the wire can be almost impossible to see, yet will give the symptoms you describe. And once you have had rusty wire run up the liner, thats probably knackered too.
I always spray my wire liberally once a month with some WD40 or equivalent, helps prevent wire spool going rusty.

I was having problems with wire welding itself to the tip at high current settings. It seemed to fix it holding the welding torch further away from the metal.

John.

That's it! Very slightly rusty wire... problem has coincided with some very wet weather.

I've now replaced the spool and cleaned out the lines with compressed air and... it works fine!

Welder now stored in house!!!

Thanks

In reply to John_s, yes the good welders can play with the current settings of the wire by slightly moving the torch in or out from the material.

Most people seem to think 0.6 mm wire can be used for high current applications, think again as it tends to burn the wire rather than the work which then leaves very low penetration welds which although they look good are no better than a bit of seagulls doodoo.

Another tip to get good penetration on thick material is to push the torch toward the weld rather than work away from the weld. If you don't fancy grinding the welds and don't want a high " fillet " over the join then this can be used as well. Be careful though and don't undercut the edge of the material.