I just would like to provide some extra tips I know you mentioned the liner because over time the liner will get blocked up with gunk. The liner over time becomes stretched or twisted because we have a tendency to move around a job in a certain direction and the spring steal in your liner tightens onto the wire. At the end of the day many will wrap the lead up over the regulator introducing a kinks in the liner. The other issue often found is the liner tends to get longer because of constant pulling the leads causing stretching of the gun leads making it that the liner is short. If the liner is short as the wire travels through it causes the liner to stretch and snap back since it is a spring that’s used for metal wire. Other issues found are guide tube being too short as your wire feeds from the spool through the guide tube onto the feed rollers if the distance is to far between the guide tube and the roller you can get lashing every time you stop and start. The gap between your guide tubes and your roller should not be greater than one millimetre or as close as possible to the feed rollers without interfering with the rollers. Damaged liners may not be noticeable someone may have dropped a heavy item on the lead denting the liner over time metal particles build up blocking the liner. Another hint new liners come fully coated with plastic starting from the machine end of the liner leaving a foot of the plastic covering and stripping the remaining plastic off the liner up to the contact tip end improves the gas flow keeping it consistent with the reading at the regulator. If you do not remove the plastic coating you get pressure buildup in the lead and resulting in inconsistent pressure/flow at the nozzle. Always keep the feed rollers and wire feed cabinets free from metal dust. What you may not know is that the wire feeder motor requires regular cleaning and lube, if they break down they are simple to remove and replace. They all run on a 12V DC current and all are interchangeable between machine models, the wiper blade motors used in vehicles are the same and include intermittent power circuits that don’t function if supplied with straight 12V DC. If you are going to conduct repairs to your wires feed motor or need to replace the wire feeder remember it is electrically isolated from the body of your machine if you forget to replace the insulators you will damage the diode bridge inside your machine. Making modifications like changing to a common European connection is generally rather simple to do. I’ve provided customers converting from hard wired leads into the standard Euro connection. Other common issues are gas solenoid not opening and closing properly it might sound as if it’s working okay it can only be tested with a gas flow test tool any welding shop can supply them. Regular cleaning out of the interior of the machine should be done every three months or regular cleaning if operating in a dusty environment. I provide regular maintenance services to industry where I come on sight to repair issues and troubleshoot issues related most machines. Some very common issues are blown fuses and faulty fans because people don’t have their machines cleaned out on a regular basis.
When you are welding Aluminium with an Eight Meter Lead and a Push Pull Gun you learn more about keeping up proper maintenance of your equipment. A dirty liner is the lesser of your troubles, most often it’s a dirty tip. It’s important to recognise the telltale signs. The Pull feeder inside the gun should have no issue pulling the wire through the lead with the wire feeder disconnected. Check procedure first check the contact tip, then check the gas diffuser it could be blocked following that check the liner inside the goose neck. The goose neck liner should be made of brass spring not metal liners strip the wire and become clogged. The pull feeder in the gun must be free of dust and oil. If you feel that it needs lubricants use a spray lubricant then remove as much excess lubricants as possible. Check the liner distance from the pull rollers and check tension making sure it is set to just feed. Next check the Teflon Liner discoloured end is an indicator that the liner is getting old or there is damage between the machine and the pull gun. At the machine end the liner must sit close as possible to the feed rollers this prevents back lashing because as the wire leaves the feed roller any slight interruption to the feed through the liner will cause the wire to kink just before it enters the liner from the feed roller. Once again using a Teflon tube is what is used even all guide tubes are made of Teflon. The guide tube where the wire feeds off the spool is longer and it makes it easier to feed into the feed rollers. Most push pull set ups have two sets of wire feed rollers on the machine end. The result of being vigilant with regular maintenance checks is your equipment continues to be cost effective. The longest I have ever used the same liner on the push pull set up was four years before needing to replace the liner. Welding Aluminium and getting results where no black soot is left surrounding the weld. Maintain a longer stick out and be mindful of gas coverage. Weld making sure the weld pool is just in front of the gas nozzle. Example welding right to left the finished weld should be trailing behind the direction of welding. If you’re welding and you’re welding with the nozzle facing into the weld bead you will get inconsistent welds and porosity. Avoid fish eye at the end of your weld by finishing with welding back onto the weld and then forward again. If you have too much heat your weld will fail while it is in service. You can get welds that look as clean as a TIG weld with a MIG welding machine. Pulse MIG welding with Aluminium is easy for beginners, synergic setting requires great precision and skill and is most commonly used in industry. Make welding enjoyable and experiment with the settings only if you know how to use the machine and understand what each setting does. Remember one man’s settings may not suit your style or needs.
It truly depends on what you are welding and what setup you’re working with. On heavy materials it is common to use the Spray Arc Method and it is very quiet only every now and then you hear a popping sound. It fast and smooth and I’ve always used it to weld bisalloy wear plates onto front end loader buckets.
I live in an area that has a damp climate during winter and sometimes I don't mig weld for a few weeks. To prevent the wire form rusting I have kept all the silica gel I found in any packing/parcels I receive and placed them inside the welder below the spool of wire.
I use a fine wire wool fore cleaning wire. Wrap it around the wire before the feed rolls and hold it with two zip ties. Also, clean torch connections help.
Popping issue solved thanks to you, but I’m now concerned with why my welds have excessive brown soot or haze. What causes the brown/tan soot around MIG welds. I’m using C25 and have tried everything from 15 to 45 cfh but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. I have heard it can be related to voltage, ARC temperature and Nitrogen from atmospher. Curiously, I have seen videos of people welding with C100 that have less Haze, and you would think since co2 is a reactive gas, it would leave more soot than argon mixes. I try to keep a stick out of around 3/8” and proper gun angles, and convention or instinct tells me it’s related to poor cover gas coverage, but like I said I have tried to average 20 to 25 cfh and any more doesn’t seem to help and just wastes gas. There is very little mention of this MIG phenomenon on the web or videos. Hopefully you can shed some light on this issue. Thank You
As long as you aren't getting porosity in your welds and the soot wipes off okay, it shouldn't be anything to worry about. I've noticed it as well and I've just accepted it as a fact of the process.
I have a Lincoln Power Mig 210 and use it mostly on 20-gauge steel. It has the automatic settings as well, but I have the problem of burning up the contact tip a lot. I have even taken it back to where I purchased it and they replaced the main board, still seem to work great at times and then the next time I use it burns up the tips. I have played with the settings after I do the auto setup and sometimes it is better sometimes not. I do know if I set it up for 16 gauge it welds great every time. Makes no sense. Any tips?
The only thing I could thing of off the top of my head is arc length. Most people will be too far away but if you get too close it will mess up your tip.
I mainly do TIG, but this is one of the best MIG setup explanations I have seen - thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
I just would like to provide some extra tips I know you mentioned the liner because over time the liner will get blocked up with gunk.
The liner over time becomes stretched or twisted because we have a tendency to move around a job in a certain direction and the spring steal in your liner tightens onto the wire.
At the end of the day many will wrap the lead up over the regulator introducing a kinks in the liner.
The other issue often found is the liner tends to get longer because of constant pulling the leads causing stretching of the gun leads making it that the liner is short.
If the liner is short as the wire travels through it causes the liner to stretch and snap back since it is a spring that’s used for metal wire.
Other issues found are guide tube being too short as your wire feeds from the spool through the guide tube onto the feed rollers if the distance is to far between the guide tube and the roller you can get lashing every time you stop and start.
The gap between your guide tubes and your roller should not be greater than one millimetre or as close as possible to the feed rollers without interfering with the rollers.
Damaged liners may not be noticeable someone may have dropped a heavy item on the lead denting the liner over time metal particles build up blocking the liner.
Another hint new liners come fully coated with plastic starting from the machine end of the liner leaving a foot of the plastic covering and stripping the remaining plastic off the liner up to the contact tip end improves the gas flow keeping it consistent with the reading at the regulator.
If you do not remove the plastic coating you get pressure buildup in the lead and resulting in inconsistent pressure/flow at the nozzle.
Always keep the feed rollers and wire feed cabinets free from metal dust.
What you may not know is that the wire feeder motor requires regular cleaning and lube, if they break down they are simple to remove and replace.
They all run on a 12V DC current and all are interchangeable between machine models, the wiper blade motors used in vehicles are the same and include intermittent power circuits that don’t function if supplied with straight 12V DC.
If you are going to conduct repairs to your wires feed motor or need to replace the wire feeder remember it is electrically isolated from the body of your machine if you forget to replace the insulators you will damage the diode bridge inside your machine.
Making modifications like changing to a common European connection is generally rather simple to do.
I’ve provided customers converting from hard wired leads into the standard Euro connection.
Other common issues are gas solenoid not opening and closing properly it might sound as if it’s working okay it can only be tested with a gas flow test tool any welding shop can supply them.
Regular cleaning out of the interior of the machine should be done every three months or regular cleaning if operating in a dusty environment.
I provide regular maintenance services to industry where I come on sight to repair issues and troubleshoot issues related most machines.
Some very common issues are blown fuses and faulty fans because people don’t have their machines cleaned out on a regular basis.
That is a lot of great info! Thank you for sharing.
When you are welding Aluminium with an Eight Meter Lead and a Push Pull Gun you learn more about keeping up proper maintenance of your equipment.
A dirty liner is the lesser of your troubles, most often it’s a dirty tip.
It’s important to recognise the telltale signs.
The Pull feeder inside the gun should have no issue pulling the wire through the lead with the wire feeder disconnected.
Check procedure first check the contact tip, then check the gas diffuser it could be blocked following that check the liner inside the goose neck.
The goose neck liner should be made of brass spring not metal liners strip the wire and become clogged.
The pull feeder in the gun must be free of dust and oil.
If you feel that it needs lubricants use a spray lubricant then remove as much excess lubricants as possible.
Check the liner distance from the pull rollers and check tension making sure it is set to just feed.
Next check the Teflon Liner discoloured end is an indicator that the liner is getting old or there is damage between the machine and the pull gun.
At the machine end the liner must sit close as possible to the feed rollers this prevents back lashing because as the wire leaves the feed roller any slight interruption to the feed through the liner will cause the wire to kink just before it enters the liner from the feed roller.
Once again using a Teflon tube is what is used even all guide tubes are made of Teflon.
The guide tube where the wire feeds off the spool is longer and it makes it easier to feed into the feed rollers.
Most push pull set ups have two sets of wire feed rollers on the machine end.
The result of being vigilant with regular maintenance checks is your equipment continues to be cost effective.
The longest I have ever used the same liner on the push pull set up was four years before needing to replace the liner.
Welding Aluminium and getting results where no black soot is left surrounding the weld.
Maintain a longer stick out and be mindful of gas coverage.
Weld making sure the weld pool is just in front of the gas nozzle.
Example welding right to left the finished weld should be trailing behind the direction of welding.
If you’re welding and you’re welding with the nozzle facing into the weld bead you will get inconsistent welds and porosity.
Avoid fish eye at the end of your weld by finishing with welding back onto the weld and then forward again.
If you have too much heat your weld will fail while it is in service.
You can get welds that look as clean as a TIG weld with a MIG welding machine.
Pulse MIG welding with Aluminium is easy for beginners, synergic setting requires great precision and skill and is most commonly used in industry.
Make welding enjoyable and experiment with the settings only if you know how to use the machine and understand what each setting does.
Remember one man’s settings may not suit your style or needs.
Awesome tips! Nobody ever really talks about the sound of the weld, but it makes total sense! Im learning and this is good stuff! Great vid, man!
It truly depends on what you are welding and what setup you’re working with.
On heavy materials it is common to use the Spray Arc Method and it is very quiet only every now and then you hear a popping sound.
It fast and smooth and I’ve always used it to weld bisalloy wear plates onto front end loader buckets.
The sounds tell you all kinds of useful information! Glad you enjoyed it!
I live in an area that has a damp climate during winter and sometimes I don't mig weld for a few weeks. To prevent the wire form rusting I have kept all the silica gel I found in any packing/parcels I receive and placed them inside the welder below the spool of wire.
The red cleaner works well along with the gray lube pad and lube.Thank you for the tips.
Not sure if I’ve seen that before. Thanks for that!
Great tip!
I use a fine wire wool fore cleaning wire. Wrap it around the wire before the feed rolls and hold it with two zip ties. Also, clean torch connections help.
Nice!
Wire wool will definitely get the job done.
Popping issue solved thanks to you, but I’m now concerned with why my welds have excessive brown soot or haze.
What causes the brown/tan soot around MIG welds. I’m using C25 and have tried everything from 15 to 45 cfh but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. I have heard it can be related to voltage, ARC temperature and Nitrogen from atmospher. Curiously, I have seen videos of people welding with C100 that have less Haze, and you would think since co2 is a reactive gas, it would leave more soot than argon mixes.
I try to keep a stick out of around 3/8” and proper gun angles, and convention or instinct tells me it’s related to poor cover gas coverage, but like I said I have tried to average 20 to 25 cfh and any more doesn’t seem to help and just wastes gas.
There is very little mention of this MIG phenomenon on the web or videos.
Hopefully you can shed some light on this issue.
Thank You
As long as you aren't getting porosity in your welds and the soot wipes off okay, it shouldn't be anything to worry about. I've noticed it as well and I've just accepted it as a fact of the process.
Clean Tip is also essential
100%
Glad I subbed ya ! 👍👍
Lake Havasu 🌞 Az
Thanks for the follow!
Thanks for the sub!
I use a piece of cotton rag folded a couple times and then fold it over the wire and put a paper clip on it to hold it on the wire.
good stuff
What is the best way to set your welder if you do not have read out
And the same things be said for flux core welding?
I have a Lincoln Power Mig 210 and use it mostly on 20-gauge steel. It has the automatic settings as well, but I have the problem of burning up the contact tip a lot. I have even taken it back to where I purchased it and they replaced the main board, still seem to work great at times and then the next time I use it burns up the tips. I have played with the settings after I do the auto setup and sometimes it is better sometimes not. I do know if I set it up for 16 gauge it welds great every time. Makes no sense. Any tips?
The only thing I could thing of off the top of my head is arc length. Most people will be too far away but if you get too close it will mess up your tip.
The ear plug was clutch.
Handy ain’t it?!
Never seen the ear plug trick, always used a paper clip & napkin 😅
Ain’t dumb if it works!
ear plug!
probably turn down the wire feed or turn up the voltage
Gotta find the right balance of the two for sure!
What the point of the music at the end. I thought it was about the sound of the pop and not the Pop.
Hi Austin, why is it I have to constantly cut the tip of my wire because I get a small blob of weld left on it when I stop?
That blob is melted metal that has oxidized. If you don't clip it off it can introduce contamination into your weld.
Thank you, but why does it happen, am I doing something wrong?
No mention of the argon mixture and settings.
We didn't in this video but we did just put out an episode on welding gas, Can You Weld With 100% Argon? is the title.
It's the simple things in life.
👌👍
is your weld app still infested with crap
oof. way off better with stick weld.