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Mig help needed
handyandy - 20/6/09 at 08:51 PM

Hi all,
your help /advice needed please.....

my mig keeps jamming the wire feeder, why ?
i,ve tried adjusting the wire speed , tension on the feeder, tension on the spool support but all to no avail.

am i at the point of needing a new liner ?
if so where do i get one & approx how much ?

the mig is a clarke 151 gas/gasless, running on gas.

thanks for any help/tips.

cheers
andy

omega0684 - 20/6/09 at 08:54 PM

is it jamming all the time, would it be less hassle to buy (invest in) a new high quality one.

andy have a look through this mig forum, i find it very useful, free to joim up as well

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

[Edited on 20/6/09 by omega0684]

hellbent345 - 20/6/09 at 08:58 PM

make sure the label that comes on the side of the reels has been peeled off, and the residue cleaned off, as i had a similar problem and it was because the reel of wire had a sticker on the side that had rucked up and gouged, and the sticky paper sticking up was then periodically jamming the feed.

Al

Dangle_kt - 20/6/09 at 09:02 PM

Is it "bird nesting" - making a big messy ravel between the roller and the liner?

I bet you have the tension too high on the roller.

Try making it looser, I know it seems a bit odd, but there are times when the rollers shouldn;t be able to force the wire - becuase if its blocked due to you welding the wire to the tip, or your wire speed is out alot then it should slip on the roller rather be forced through and get in a mess.

handyandy - 20/6/09 at 09:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by omega0684
is it jamming all the time, would it be less hassle to buy (invest in) a new high quality one.


it seems to be fine whilst i,m actually doing a weld, then when i go to do another weld, maybe 30 seconds later it will start the weld no problem then usually when i,m half way thru a weld it jams, which is bl@@dy annoying to say the least,
i,m on a mega tight budget so hopefully this mig will see me thru my build ( about half way thru building a roadster).
i was using the very small wire spools ( supplier didn,t have 5kg spool at the time ) i bought a 5kg one yesterday as thought that might help but sadly not.
i,m using 0.6mm wire, would it help going to 0.8mm ?
the mig has been fine up until last few days ???

andy

Gary 7 - 20/6/09 at 09:05 PM

My welder had some wire feed problems,a new liner sorted it got one from machine mart for a fiver .

nitram38 - 20/6/09 at 09:06 PM

Also check that the tip is not worn as you will get the wire sticking to it inside. Try putting a new tip on.

handyandy - 20/6/09 at 09:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Dangle_kt
Is it "bird nesting" - making a big messy ravel between the roller and the liner?

I bet you have the tension too high on the roller.

Try making it looser, I know it seems a bit odd, but there are times when the rollers shouldn;t be able to force the wire - becuase if its blocked due to you welding the wire to the tip, or your wire speed is out alot then it should slip on the roller rather be forced through and get in a mess.


yes thats what its doing, bird nesting,

i,ve tried adjusting the wire feed roller tensioner, maybe i,m just not getting the tension right then, i seem to go from "bird nesting" to slipping on the roller, so should i keep trying the tension ?

when i re thread the wire i do press the trigger (without making a weld ) & it never seems to jam, but when i start a weld it then jams

Litemoth - 20/6/09 at 09:20 PM

It's the tip. Change the tip. ....If you're a tight git like me, file it out with a tip file.

[Edited on 20/6/09 by Litemoth]

handyandy - 20/6/09 at 09:28 PM

thanks for all suggestions, i am a tight git but i do have some spare tips .

thanks for the linky, & i,ll go & buy a liner tomorrow to see if it helps, a fiver is cheap enough for my budget, as seeing as the problem is causing me to lose my rag with the mig i even shouted at it today glad nobody saw/heard me , lol.

cheers
andy
ps should i try 0.8mm wire instead of the .6mm ?

nitram38 - 20/6/09 at 09:29 PM

Another thing to check is that the tip is correct for the wire size i.e if you are using 0.8 wire, you need a 0.8 tip (not a 1mm one!)

handyandy - 20/6/09 at 09:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
Another thing to check is that the tip is correct for the wire size i.e if you are using 0.8 wire, you need a 0.8 tip (not a 1mm one!)


hmmm, this might have something in it...... when i bought the 5kg .6mm wire yesterday i also asked for some .6mm tips as well, paid for the stuff & walked out of shop without even looking at the tips...... fitted new tip with new wire yesterday and thats when my problem started

hmmm will check in morning that they gave me correct sized tips, my fault also as i didn,t even think to check the packet, just opened it & put new tip on ,

thanks

also what difference would 0.8mm wire give compared to the 0.6 i,m currently using?
cheers
andy
ps. my chassis see,s daylight for first time tomorrow, on wheels with full suspension & steering fitted, big day for me

[Edited on 20/6/09 by handyandy]

nitram38 - 20/6/09 at 10:01 PM

0.8 much better in my opinion as you will do your welds much quicker and suffer less burning back. 0.6 really only for thin sheet.
1.mm will require a better mig.

handyandy - 20/6/09 at 10:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
0.8 much better in my opinion as you will do your welds much quicker and suffer less burning back. 0.6 really only for thin sheet.
1.mm will require a better mig.


ok thanks, i,ll give the 0.8mm a try.
cheers
andy

Benzine - 21/6/09 at 06:55 AM

I had the same problem with a clarke 151T gas. It was all at the trigger end, I was using tips I bought from halfords and they turned out to be made of butter or similar, switched back to machine mart ones and it was great again.

quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
0.8 much better in my opinion as you will do your welds much quicker and suffer less burning back. 0.6 really only for thin sheet.
1.mm will require a better mig.


Is back burning where the wire welds to the nozzle? If so I never seem to get that. I've not considered using 0.8mm wire before, I've always used 0.6mm wire which I've welded up to 4mm steel with. Might have to try some 0.8 ^_^

02GF74 - 21/6/09 at 08:11 AM

i have similar mig 120 - one leads to the wire motor was half off so intermittently the motor would stop,

with you bird nesting, sounds like the motor is fine but wire is unable to go through the liner/tip.

you are keep the line as straight as posible - no sharp bends?

if you remove the tip, does it still do it? (you wold not try welding but just see how the wire feeds).

JeffHs - 21/6/09 at 09:20 AM

Put a steel liner in. I struggled with my SIP 150 for ages, changed the liner. changed the tips, changed the wire. It was still awful.
Then I put a steel liner in (cheap from Machine Mart), and suddenly it behaved perfectly.

Mark Allanson - 21/6/09 at 12:11 PM

1, A good tip is essential, change it at least every 4 working hours.

2, There are 2 types of liner, coiled steel and teflon. The teflon ones are used for aluminium as the ally wire has a high friction coefficient and drags in a steel liner. When the teflon liners wear, they get a groove which grabs the wire even worse. Steel liners need blowing through with an airline every reel.

3, The wire feed rollers can wear, be incorrectly tensioned or be misaligned.

4, the reel of wire can be too big for a hobby mig, my Clarke 140E can use a 15kg roll, but the rollers cannot pull the wire effectively, and the large reel has a flywheel effect and can continue to roll after the feeder has stopped. The reel also has its own tensioner which need to be adjusted.