Anyone got any genius ideas for how to stop the wire spool sticking on the spindle?? Even with the spool clamp slackened right off it sticks like crazy (it's pretty difficult to turn even by hand when it jams!!).

Would copper slip be a good option? I'm not sure how plastic friendly it is... Otherwise I might try sanding the spindle a bit with some fine emery paper to smooth it a bit- there are quite a few scores on it....

My welder has moments of working amazingly but then the spindle jams and it all goes horribly wrong....

Is this a common problem with hobby machines?

Yeh ive had that with my old sip machine.

I think i used to bore the reel of wire out and put a spot of grease on the spindle.

The wire feed on these machines are so poor that the smallest amount of sticktion stalls them.

Do you have a photo of the spool and shaft ?
all the welders i know of have a tube that spins on the shaft that has a spring at the end to adjust the tension and the spool goes on the tube

[Edited on 17/1/09 by jacko]

The word SIP was the first that came into my mid too

Tends to be a problem that gets worse as the reel nears its end.
Might also be an idea to check the liner and spring on the feed roller

The liner is pretty new and the feed roller is working fine. You can see the wire between the spool and the wire feed suddenly go really tight when it jams...

It's a Clarke 90 MIG. It's supposed to be that the inner bit of the spool rotates on the plastic spindle. I suspect it's just pants design and needs a bit of TLC to make it work better.... A bit of fettling and copper slip it is!!!

Just a problem with Hobby welders TBH. My older Draper one did it a lot. I did as you suggested and sanded the spindle down a bit and think I use silicone grease rather than copper as it works with plastic better. Have since got an Arcos Lincoln MIG and a TIG too and the difference from Hobby/Semi-pro to Pro is amazing...produces really good welds. But obvoiously the cost is not ideal for the average hobby-ist!
Oli.

Further to what the others have said....
don't use copper grease. If it gets where it's not wanted, it can give you all sorts of bother. Like my chum who put it on his battery terminals. The grease got warm, trickled across to the battery clamp and caught fire.

Does it happen with the BFO 15kg spools too
Like on my 50 quid Clarke 160 ?
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Ordinary LM grease would work better than Copaslip. You need a lubricant not an anti seize compound. Copaslip dries up, grease doesn't.