Welding, hows it looking?

[fluxcored]

Its gonna be hard to pull out, its the nature of the beast. As long as it pushes it out fine your good. Keep the roller clamp tight.

I think it's normal - Kenny's right...again!

My Miller does the same thing. If it's off its hard to pull out the wire out of the front of the tip.

I used to switch the unit on, cut the wire close to the spool and just depress the trigger to let it push through. I then wait for the wire to stop feeding and then pull it out of the tip.

But yeah - the system was designed for pushing.

Man, thats why I like stick and oxyacetylene welding - less fuss.

 

[sayre315]

ok well i'll try that

 

[newrider3]

Man, thats why I like stick and oxyacetylene welding - less fuss.

Heh....

 

[mccolld]

Clean your base metals before you weld. That will help reduce the spatter.

Clean them by grinding or (this is what I do) use a sanding disk in a Harbor Freight (e.g. cheap) 4 1/2" angle grinder.

Doug

 

[mccolld]

Also, when you try to weld thru the oxidation that's always on the surface of hot rolled steel, you'll get a lot of spatter.

Grid it off 1st.

Doug

 

[eesakiwi]

Before putting wire into the lead.
Remove the tip & blow down thru the liner so that any dust/metal gets blown out.
Anything down the wire will slow it down.
Or use a air compressor & make sure the other end of the liner is pointing away from you or anything that could get damaged by the dust.
Blow both ways.

Push the wire thru a small 'ear plug' or a peice of solid felt or a bit of cloth held on with a clothes peg.
This will stop dust getting pulled into the liner by the wire.

When you put new wire into the lead, check & file it so that the tip of the wire dosen't have any sharp edges out the side of the wire.
You should be able to squeeze the wire between your finger & thumb & then run it down the wire to the end of it & then over the end of it.
Your finger should not 'grab' on the end of the wire.
If you don't do this, the end of the wire will pull up a 'burr' in the liner & grab against the wire.

Thread some (6 inches?) of the wire into the liner, then clamp down the feed roller so it will drive the wire thru the liner.

The pressure on the feed roller should be enough so that if you grab the wire real tight in between your finger/thumb you should be able to slow the wire down a bit.
A bit harder & the rollers will slip on the wire.
Thats the degree of pressure you want.

When the wire is being thread into the liner, pinch the wire between your finger & thumb slightly.
As the wire 'feeds' you will be able to feel its progress down the liner.
That will give you a idea on the condition of the liner & if theres a constriction in there too.

A bit of CRC lubricant sprayed on the wire may help too, just a touch of it.

When the wires out of the liner.
Replace the clean tip & grab the end of the wire with your plyers, now, as its feeding, pull the wire out as it feeds so that pressure is taken off the drive motor.
This will give you a bit of feedback on how well the wires travelling inside the liner.
Also, if its getting stuck in the tip.

 

[zero1dhd]

You should NOT be able to "pull" the wire out of the gun. MIG's have a small wheel with a gnarled groove to pull the wire from the spool and through the gun, If you can pull the wire with out depressing the trigger than you have the wrong size wire. Most welders will have different gauges stamped on the side of the push/pull wheel, Use that size wire, and that size tip. When your spool is done, pull the excess wire out of the gun (the wire will be as long as your gun cord) and throw it away. Load the new spool and with the door still open turn the welder on(be very careful not to touch the bolts with the metal plates jumping them) guide the wire by hand into the push/pull wheel on the proper side (some welders will have multiple sided) and depress the trigger to spin the wheel and the wire will feed into the gun. Make sure to remove the gun shield and tip. I usually turn the wire feed all the way up to make the wire run through faster. Then when the wire spits out the end of the gun you can re-install the tip and shield. If the wire pushes out a small plastic tube sleeve that tube over the wire before putting the tip back on.

Now if you think steel wire is a pita, wait until you try a top spool gun with aluminum wire. That sucks, the wire always wants to bend and kink, I hate it.

Good luck and be very careful to not touch those bolts with the heavy metal jumpers, you will get shocked BAD!!!!!

 

[Scout]

the grooves on the rollers are sized for specific sizes of wire, make sure you are using the correct size wire for your rollers. (or vice-versa)

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Man, thats why I like stick and oxyacetylene welding - less fuss.

Except when you blow an acetylene reg and the fire dept spends the afternoon trying to find the biggest piece of you left .

 

[jr dragster T]

Except when you blow an acetylene reg and the fire dept spends the afternoon trying to find the biggest piece of you left .

Ouch, Yeah that'd be bad. My freind was telling me a oxy/acetyln horror story today. It involves him cutting a 3/4" bolt between his legs and one good oxy backfire.......You see where this is going.

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

I would tell a story but some members of this board might not not follow my DO NOT TRY ANYWHERE, EVER disclaimer.

 

[freakboy]

Im guessing the hair he wanted to grow for most of his life got singed?
\ Ill follow your disclaimer i dont need missing limbs\eyebrows\other hair or parts of me

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

DO NOT TRY ANYWHERE, EVER. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, THIS IS WHAT NOT TO DO.

Well one day when I was around the age of 6 helping dad do something involving the oxy torch he got his "**** eatin grin"(that's my Mothers description) on his face and told me to go get a balloon. He then proceeded to fill the balloon with oxyacetylene gas till it was two fist sized, stuffed it in a taco bell bag, went out back to an old wood crate with a hinged lid,(I am at this point a good 80ft away) and lit the bag.

He then ran the fastest I have ever seen the old man move. About the time he got to me it sounded like a (insert favorite word here) grenade went off and the door was suddenly FAR from the crate, upon further inspection most of the nails had backed out half an inch from expansion of the box.

DO NOT TRY ANYWHERE, EVER. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, THIS IS WHAT NOT TO DO.

There are a few things you should know about acetylene and related stuff.

1. Most importantly its touchy **** in general, far to touchy to be playing with it.

2. It becomes extremely unstable at pressures above 15psi, after 15 it can explode(rapidly decompose) without oxygen.

3. Oxyacetylene is photosensitive, bright light can set it off.

4. Welding gas is dry, static is a female doggy, bubble the gas through water(water in the balloon and upside down filling should work) before filling those black balloons. Keeping your hands wet isn't a bad idea either.

Using a bag as a fuse=stupid, very stupid, 1 bit of hot ash and you could lose an extremity. Putting the balloon in a box to protect it from sparks and using cannon/fireworks fuse(and a long one) isn't a bad idea.

DO NOT TRY ANYWHERE, EVER. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, THIS IS WHAT NOT TO DO.

Let me say one more time, if you attempt the above you are a dumbass, but in case a dumbass reads this, at least he will know how to handle EXTREMELY SENSITIVE high explosives in a SLIGHTLY less dangerous manner. This sort of fun is not worth your life.

 

[jr dragster T]

The power of Oxygen and Acetylene is just incredible.

 

[lemegacool]

The power of Oxygen and Acetylene is just incredible.

at work we have a cnc cutter with a oxy/acet torch and water under it, and sometimes well you forget the gas switchs opens and gas accumulates under the plate that is on the table to be cutted and when you come to light the torch BAM! the plate lifts 1 feet high and water splash everywhere, very funny when it happens to others...


and btw how my welds are looking... :arf:

stick welding 7018 dc 125amps

gas shielded flux core t9 wire 24v 150ipm

and a quickie tig at 160 amps

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Pro.

 

[microbusa]

hi id check the spool holder i have a clarke 90en had the same prob with plastic spool holder, the plastic parts rubbing against each other caused lumps which was locking the spool holder solid, sanded them back and applied ptfe greace brought from good model shops, no probs now.

 

[jr dragster T]

at work we have a cnc cutter with a oxy/acet torch and water under it, and sometimes well you forget the gas switchs opens and gas accumulates under the plate that is on the table to be cutted and when you come to light the torch BAM! the plate lifts 1 feet high and water splash everywhere, very funny when it happens to others...


and btw how my welds are looking... :arf:

stick welding 7018 dc 125amps

gas shielded flux core t9 wire 24v 150ipm

and a quickie tig at 160 amps

They look just terrable:arf: Jk They look awsome. Although the TIG one looks a bit cold.

 

[lemegacool]

there was a little space between the plates so basically it should needed a a second pass (notice i said "quickie" lol) but i did this between two passes on my main work sooooo, lol

thanks for the comment, welding is my job soooo i HAVE to make great welds lol

 

[fluxcored]

there was a little space between the plates so basically it should needed a a second pass (notice i said "quickie" lol) but i did this between two passes on my main work sooooo, lol

thanks for the comment, welding is my job soooo i HAVE to make great welds lol

Way, way better than mine - my hand to eye coordination stinks.

Oxyacetelyne rigs are simply,..... tools. Every tool has got inherent risks and safety factors to consider and it's up to the user to abide by or disregard those factors. Playing with a 4.5" angle grinder may be as unforgiving as ligthing an oxy rig with a cigarette. A frayed power cord will as easily kill you as a leaky regulator. Using compressed air without glasses may result in losing an eye, if you're unlucky.

The fear surrounding acetylene is not hype, gentlemen and ladies. It is true, and I had my share of scares. But I'm more scared of using a circular saw then I am of using my oxy rig.

But the point that I'm trying to bring across is that if you treat your tools with the respect and consideration they deserve and maintain them properly then the risks become acceptable.

If you do'nt, well then you're on way to becoming a candidate for the Darwin awards, me thinks.