there appear to be 3 types of liner, in order of ascending cost:
a) plastic
b) metal
c) teflon

money is no object here since the most expensive is a tenner.

I haver Clarke MIG so pretty sure that came with plastic - between the metal and teflon, which one have you used and which is better?

presumably the metal one will last longer but will that corrode (casue feed problems) and any issues with it being electrically conductive?

[Edited on 6/9/10 by 02GF74]

Steel is best for steel mig wire, teflon is for ally wire (as I understand it)

^^^^ eeek, didn't think of that.

I want to use it for both steel and aluminium MIG welding .... so will the steel wire contaminate the aluminium?

and or will teflow be happy with steel wire? ( my cheapo pvc liner worked well enough with both but now appears to have a blockage).

I replaced the plastic liner on mine for steel and it works great. Not sure about ali, as i never managed to get that right!

Hi, ive always used plastic and normally used oil line as it was freely available.
never thought of the steel liner as a problem but it could contaminate ally or stainless wire
Ray

Slightly off the original topic but I have an old ESAB Mini 125 MIG welder and would like to replace the liner as the wire feed is a problem unless I keep the harness almost straight.

Any idea how to remove the liner on this welder? I have a downloaded instruction book for a very similar welder but it says nothing about replacing liners.

Also where would I get one? I did speak to an ESAB distributor but they weren't much help.

John.

I've never seen one with anything but steel - that's what my Clark and pervious Cebora came with.

Stu

Plastic: The wire wears a groove in the liner which eventually nips the wire and causes feed diffuculties.

Metal: The best for MS filler wire, the steel skates cleanly over the coiled liner (looks just like net curtain support), it needs blowing out regularly as metal dust builds up within the liner.

Teflon: A must for aluminium which is very sticky, but has the same groove forming problems as plastic but over a longer period.


Most liner problems are precipitated by not replacing the contact tips often enough, when fabbing heavy duty stuff, I used to change the tip twice a day, and when building my chassis, I used one ever 2 days work - a good tip if using 0.8mm wire is to buy the 250A tips, the heat dissipation of these is far greater than the smaller 150A ones.

Hobby migs that advertise that they can use 15kg reels cannot really do so, the feed rollers and motor are not upto the job, stick to 5kg reels and take the stress off the machine.

i was told....

metal liner for steel wire (its too sticky for ali)
teflon for ali wire (steel wire wears it away too quick)

quote:

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Originally posted by blakep82
i was told....

metal liner for steel wire (its too sticky for ali)
teflon for ali wire (steel wire wears it away too quick)

---

Ally is best done with a spool gun if you have the cash. The wire jams MUCH more easily than steel wire.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mark Allanson

quote:

---

Originally posted by blakep82
i was told....

metal liner for steel wire (its too sticky for ali)
teflon for ali wire (steel wire wears it away too quick)

---

I was told..

Yes, by me in the previous post

---

I tried aluminium with my clarke 150te welder, waste of time just got a sooty mess and wasted money on wire and gas...

Steel will contaminate the weld, aluminium is so sensitive with tig a marker pen line will spoil the weld.... you have to rub with a scotch pad and clean with thinners immediated before welding.

Regards Mark