Welder issues, need the experts advise

Mods and custom builds
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Welder issues, need the experts advise

#1

Post by ReelSong »

Looking for advise from the experts, I have a Miller 350P pulse mig that has been replaced once, and now with just 60 hours of welder run time is having issues again. Boards have been replaced, three service calls later, now rep is bringing out new gun to try , but I am Skeptical. I dont think I have over worked this machine, but if I need to get rid of and upgrade to a more industrial type welder I will, just didnt want to spend 12K more to do so. Does anyone have any real time on this machine and can it be fixed? when It welds right its a beautiful thing but as soon as it warms up, say 10 minutes into the welding process, it begins to slow down and feed gets grabby, wire tries to burn back to tip, causing gun to heat up fast and welds turn to bird poop. Welder? Kevin? Help
User avatar
Gypseas
Donator 14, 15
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:23 am
12
Contact:

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#2

Post by Gypseas »

My brother runs this machine and he's quite happy with it burning 1/4 inch all day long I'd give it another chance

IMHO
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#3

Post by ReelSong »

Thats good to hear, we've been through two now in just 6 boats, but with the same alumapro gun, factory is sending out new gun tommorow , hopefully it solves the problem. When it works right its amazing and the quality of welds is unsurpased but when it starts to drag its a mess. I know some of the earlier units had some issues with sup values and sinking the gun with the drive motors but this new machine has only 46 welding hours on it. First unit had power source issue, this one had both control boards go out, now the gun issues. I switched out to our old 30 A spool gun about and hour ago and power source is fine so hopefully the gun has been the issue.
kmorin
Donator 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Posts: 1735
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:37 am
15
Location: Kenai, Alaska

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#4

Post by kmorin »

reel, if the system welds OK or even good for a while, then starts problems I don't' think the power supply is an issue since there's no real reason warming up the power supplies solid state circuits should shift the arc's characteristics.

If you're discussing a gun or wire feed problem then there are some basics that need to be determined. 95% of wire feed problems, in my experience are combinations of adjustments, and since they often get moved/adjusted/tweaked in groups the single source is often missed.

First, Is this a push pull gun, and if so? is made by MKPRoducts like the Cobra/Phthon/ and many recent Miller guns ORRRR.... is made by Miller? The Miller people seem not too willing to admit the MK products guns were made by MK Products.

Next, I'll assume since I don't have manuals or info, and I use RED MIG power supplies exclusively myself, there is a 15lb roll in the cabinet with the power supply?

If these are true, then I'd like #1 to confirm you know how to, and will express it here, to adjust the wire tension on the roll in the cabinet. #2 you know where and how to test teh drive roll tension, and will either let us know or link to the manual? #3 you know where the wire conduit attaches to the drive rolls block casting and can remove it and replace it?

IF these are true, then I'd like to know the wire, amperage, voltage and contact tip design and even a picture, including the alloy you're welding. Is there a wire drive roll picture inside the gun, we need one, and it need to be very clear and very close up to see if the tell tale signs are present of some forms of wire drag inducing problems.

We need to know you are aware of how to disconnect the wire conduit AND the plastic liner in the tip of the torch, that you know how to clean the conduit with acetone and (clean) shop air? and replace the conduit.

Finally, we need to know if the Miller 350, like the Lincoln 350MP has a motor drive torque limit setting or 'stall setting'? IF this is built in or adjustable, we'll need to know it exists and what its set for now, and what could be set and how to do that setting change if this provision exists?

With this information, we can diagnose your wire feed problems. If you want to see if the power supply has problems then make a connection from the welding leads, set for stick and use the power supply to 'thaw' or heat 20' of pipe or some other heat sink. This will pull a uniform load on the power supply at 100% duty cycle and with a clamp on ammeter you'll see if these is any drop off? Connect and let run until the pipe gets good and hot, say 15minutes. If the power on the ammeter drops off much, then there could be some output power supply issues.

But if it welds OK, THEN when welding starts to feed poorly that doesn't necessarily show the power supply with problems that points to the torch and wire feed system.

If you don't have any of the questions answers - I'm hard pressed to help, these are what it takes to trouble shoot the MIG gun. If the gun is just a 1lb.er so the feed is simplified most of the questions become simpler to answer but still need answers.

cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#5

Post by ReelSong »

Kevin, for starters, all settings have been checked , double checked ect ect. and tweaked

#1 Yes this is a push pull gun, XR AlumaPro 25A air cooled push/pull gun MK or Miller , I do not know

#2Yes, 16 lb spool in cabinet of Hobart 3/64 5356

#3 According to the manual , http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o1327af_mil.pdf I'm to use the pressure indicator scale to set drive roll tension and set to the number 1 or less, and I and the factory have played with this setting to no avail. Also yes I have had all aspects of the gun and machine apart for full regular matenance and cleaning as well as liner replacement and followed manuals to the tee. the spool tension is basically set as light as you can with tensioning nut inplace and maintaining no bird nesting or back lash.
#4 I'll have to get you some pictures but for now I'll answer the rest of your questions. Keep in mind that this machine has been regularly cleaned and maintained weekly if not daily depending on use.
#5 yes I'm aware of how to disconnect the wire conduit and have replaced the liner a few times, blown out with clean dry shop air and acetone.
#6The push motor has torque and stall settings and is set per manual right now, please see page 42 of owners manual, the torque and stall setting on drive motor in gun I do not beleive to be ajustable, it has a spring loaded tensioner in the handle at drive wheels.

Factory rep is telling me that they are sending out a new aluma pro gun and beleive this is the problem, but as said before , four years ago we bought a 350P all brand new and after building our original Reel Song build, the one that went to Elfin Cove this year we started having board issues with the unit and they gave us a brand new second generation unit but we kept the gun. Since we have had no issues for the past two years, until a few months ago where the control boards started changing settings while I was welding, IE changing from Pulse to mig ect. They changed the Control boards , We re calibrated motors as per page 39 in the manual and were back in business until now. for the last two months our gun will weld along fine for a bit then start to drag and burn back to tip, I've cleaned , serviced, changed liners, re-set controls, master re-set boards and calibrated . No change , welds for ten minutes then BLAH! Factory believes it to be a breakdown or loose electrical connection in gun drive motor. While I truley appreciate all your help, Kevin with trouble shooting, you answered my main question right off by telling me all your power supplies were RED, this is truley what I was asking for. I'll keep you posted after new gun shows thursday
User avatar
goatram
Donator 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Posts: 1959
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:53 pm
15
Location: Stanwood WA

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#6

Post by goatram »

Kevin is the wealth of knowledge. Mine is the Red one as well with the Python Pushpull Gun. No issues so far on mine besides the gun liner and other quick adjustments.

Waiting and hoping for the issue to be resolved and your back working nights and weekends on your Misstress :thumbsup:
John Risser aka goatram
33' RBW with twin 250 Hondas (Aliens)
2015 Ford F350 Dually
Master of R&D aka Ripoff and Duplicate
kmorin
Donator 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Posts: 1735
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:37 am
15
Location: Kenai, Alaska

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#7

Post by kmorin »

Reelsong,

thanks for the reply it sure helps to see you know your MIG system. (As a note my TIG power supply is Miller and I like it fine, my MIG only is RED- MP350 Power Mig).

A. Starting at the drum hub/wire spool mount in the cabinet, confirming that when you pull the trigger (Not welding) you get feed and then when you let off, there is one to two but not more or less 'loose' coils of wire on the wire roll face? This shows the tension is correct in my experience. If the wire drum hub brake stops the wire too fast, then I have seen this 'fight' or conflict with the wire drive rolls and cause them to fight the wire feed where the too high tension of the hub's friction setting is more pull on the main drive rolls and they slip. Especially a problem in the instance where the welds progress and the tension is too tight: then the problems will come after using the brake several times.

B. Next, the inlet guide to the drive rolls. I have seen this area rough and that has caused drag that results is uneven wire feed. In some older systems this was a plastic bushing but can be a cast alloy too. If possible make sure there is not groove, drag, or rough spots to this inlet cone guiding the wire to the drive rolls. I've had to polish out and even deburr this conic inlet before, on Hobart's old Linear, and one one old Cobra where they ran a lot of steel and it worn actual grooves in this face of this guide.
Just checking, a cloth cone honing tool on a little Dremel like tool will buff this smooth if needed, it could be plastic I don't know, but it can' hurt to see if it's shiny smooth. Why could this cause drag after welding for a few minutes? Angular motion of the wire feed angle off the 3" wide 15lb roll of wire, as the wire spools off different areas of the roll- inlet guides can be touching the wire at different points of the cone's bore.

C. The guide roll tension. I know you've looked here quite a bit, but the first thing to check for me is the top and bottom of the drive roll swing arm, the upper part that can be tensioned down onto the main roll, is to make sure it can move totally freely and floppy loose, never interfering with the lower support.
I had a feeder where there was interference and the swing/upper arm's overlap to the lower support had to be sanded to make them move freely and the result was the tension really didn't work, it looked OK but in truth didn't work and the gun did what you're describing. So checking this, not the tension part, that too, but this totally free movement is critical to allowing the tension to be set.
I have not seen too many instances were the drive rolls were out of line, but I did once. There were spacer washers behind the drive roll and the upper drive roll follower (tension roller) and they both had washers. This had been changed by someone, and they'd reversed the order of the bearing's spacer washers. The result was the two rollers, which were both grooved were not vertically aligned on the wire. This is pretty rare and would only matter depending on the drive roll alignment geometry, but it can't hurt to put a machinist rule on the drive rolls to see if they're in a plane?

D. Tension, one of the ways I set wire tension in the case/cabinet is at the gun. I turn off the gas, then I run the wire at about 1/2 or 1/3 full range of wire feed IPS into the palm of my welding glove- making a tight coil of wire right out of the contact tip. (left hand in my case) Then, I loosen the wire tension in the cabinet until the gun motor stalls, so I have just the contribution of the main drive rolls to push wire out to the gun- no extra thrust.
Then I add 1/4 or less turn on that minimum tension. I found that Lincoln's scale was tighter than I needed by several marking's distance. The factory scale could be too heavy an adjustment. I find I can run the main drive tension there, looser than factory and the way I found that was in the test above.

E. Drive rolls type and groove profile. I'm not sure of the profile of the drive rolls groove but I'm sure you've checked to see that the wire in the roll is not being pinched? I think there's a separate part in the drive rolls list for steel wire (V grooved) and aluminum wire (U grooved) otherwise it is my understanding that the V grooved rolls will behave differently with aluminum wire? I've not sure on the Miller but think you'd want to be sure by personal (very bright light) visual inspection that there is not a V shape cross section groove in the main drive roll?

F. Outlet guide in the cabinet end of the wire conduit. I had a bunch of problems with one push pull gun and it eluded me until I happened to look into the small brass conic ferrule at the cabinet end of the wire conduit. This is the little grooved outside ferrule that locks the 25' long wire conduit into cabinet drive rolls output block location.

There in the bottom of this small cone shaped conduit end fitting was a burr. When this conduit was made, the QA had missed this left over reaming of the cone shape so there was a sharp knife cutting on the side of the wire as it fed. This made were feed erratic, and it made a bird's nest of cuttings inside the conduit that eventually built up and jammed the wire inside!!! WE cleaned and cleaned and always got tons of 'skivings' of wire out of this but until I looked very closely inside the end ferrule I didn't see the burr. Worth a look.

G. A the gun end of the wire conduit, ( I know you're tuned to cleaning the conduit) is a sort of reverse opportunity to jamb wire by having this fitting misaligned or not smooth enough inside. I'd suggest checking that this joint where the female (gun side) fitting accepts the male (conduit side) fitting and there is no movement by a loose lock nut or any torch position changes cannot cause a crimp or side load on the wire at this point.

I test this by turning off the gas and running the wire out and doing contortions with the gun/torch and if there is any wire feed changes>? to me, that implies I have some conduit issue including plastic liner of conduit cut through to steel reinforcing and dragging, dust or junk from the shop inside the conduit, wire cuttings from improper drive roll profile, joint alignment issues from conduit's end connections, and so on.

H. The reason I asked about the Miller vs MK Products maker of the gun is that MK recognized some years ago an aluminum wire feed problem with several of their recent guns, which were supplied to both Miller and Lincoln.
H1. Inlet (2=3" tube on torch) there is a metal tube on the torch bundle inside the gun's housing that can have junk like the conduit, and this should be cleaned with high pressure air, AND a white clean rag placed on the drive rolls. So when this is cleaned any residue is displayed on the rag by washing with air and acetone. There should be no build up here, but its worth cleaning, even a pipe cleaner would ream this short piece of tube.
H2. Drive Rolls 1. The shape of the guns drive rolls face can cause problems with pulsed MIG and gun to wire power transfer. The vertically grooved drive roll can cause arcing and notching of the wire in some weld modes where the arc is actually transferred to the wire - NOT in the contact tip - but at the drive rolls, which is not good. The wire can 'stick' to the drive rolls intermittently and cause erratic wire feed. You will see arc pits on the drive or idler (tension ) roller is this happening?
MK offers an 'Aluminum Wire' drive rolls kit to replace the 'stock/standard/original/ drive rolls and this does a good job of allowing the wire to feed, but not arc until the contact tip.
H3. Drive Rolls 2. The electric isolation/insulation of the main drive roll to keep the motor from being the arc transfer location in a push pull gun. Again, if the arc is transferring to the wire at the drive rolls instead of the contact tip? then the motor's DC drive is impacted, so there is also an plastic isolation bushing for some push pull guns to make the drive roll point of contact purely mechanical instead of potentially electrical. (pun intended)
I don't know this gun well enough to tell if either of these very common problems are present? But, if they are, it may be that solutions like I'm familiar with from MK would help eliminate these two problems, that I have definitively experienced before, personally.

I. Liner in the torch head. Lots of push pull guns are rated to amperage(s) that I find totally unrealistic without water cooling. If the air cooled torch is run with 0.045" wire I find them to heat up fast, and that has resulted in some plastic liner melting or at least deforming.
So.... I cut the liner just a little bit short of full length intending to avoid the contact tip (or tip extender if you use one?) from compressing the liner into the gun's drive rolls output head guide. If the liner is pushed from both ends I find it can bind on the wire when it gets soft from running 0.045" wire for a few minutes. Therefore, the liner length, (and I know you know to clean it as you've stated) is important to me, I like it just a little short so it can't compress onto the wire when soft.

J. Contact tip. It probably sounds silly to say review the tip diameter but I'll say it. For high amperage 45 wire I'd want a tip bored to 0.06 or close, maybe an older used 0.053" tip that was reamed (?) but surely I'd want some gap. Conversely if the wire was run on 1/8" in lower settings then I'd accept a 0.052-3" bore tip- but;
tip arcing with newer 'modes' of welding seem to me more important than in the past.

IN FACT... again and MK Products part, I use the ceramic pellet tips for all aluminum MIG. These wire tips, which may or may not thread into your Miller gun's head/extension head have a very short length but at their base there is a small ceramic slider that his held by a spring onto the side of the incoming weld wire. This pushes the wire to the side of the bore of the tip, uniformly and without question making a good steady arc contact to the copper. I did have wire feed problems with a Python gun before this tip and the above mentioned drive rolls were installed.
If the gun were MK, its possible their improved contact tip would be helpful, if Miller doesn't offer on. Given new wire glazes, welding modes and other factors, I'd say this contact tip was important. It is to me.

K. Stall protection for motors. The control circuits in the power supply for both the guns' and main cabinet wire feed drive motor is not crystal clear to me. What I did find was that when I was having lots of tension balance headaches
( the hub tension would tighten slightly after a few stops, unless loosened to three strands at stop;
main drive rolls were getting excessive side load due to tension spring being 'off marking';
wire was crowded in conduit due to dust and lint from shop
gun drive rolls were arcing
liner would grip or slow wire when the head was hot due to being long)
I ended up stalling the motor for a second or two, then burning back.. (hollering some sailor like language into the shop) and so I learned about the stall settings.
I ended up cranking the stall settings up, so that I could push the motors to their higher end torque values, finding the factory settings seemed to allow the motors to stall/slow/self protect a bit too much. By increasing this setting to a higher value the motors tried to pull and push more before 'giving up' and I find that has eliminated some of what seemed before, to be a maddening wire feed problem.

The pulse modes of welding now provided by the MIG power supplies do have different arc characteristics but only if those electrical circuit controls have a good point of wire to source contact. I see/hear/learned of lots of complaints from old time (used to pre-digital controlled, inverter type, MIG power supplies) welders about erratic wire feed, and I've listed some of the items I've found in mine and other power supplies I've helped to trouble shoot.

I'm not trying to say anything negative about the Local rep, or LWS, I'm just saying that none of what's listed here were initially discovered by the guys who provide the MIG or the factory that built it. In the past it was necessary for me to keep the guns running so I've found lots of things to check. 80% of the time I've gone to help others work on their MIG systems (excluding power supply related issues) working through this combination of items starting at the wire roll and working to the contact tip.... have solved problems.

L. Last and I'm mentioning this to be thorough, not to imply you need a lesson in MIG. I have been to shops and in distant past did myself neglect the critical importance of a rock hard ground connection to the work. I have seen some (fewer now days) welders who used a steel stick welding type bronze spring loaded ground clamp on aluminum.
Of course the ground has to be clamped with either a C or a vise grip, needs to be sanded aluminum face, cleaned regularly if allowed to arc scar and the welding lead must be lugged and bolted tight to the alumnium angle/bar/piece that is clamped with good force to the work. AS an extreme example of V=IR and the power supply not being able to tell 'where in the circuit' R is located.....
I was asked to come help a friend look over his MIG problem and first looked at the ground. The face of the bronze spring clamp was so pitted that there were big arc scars on the boat where it was attached, hastily and poorly. I simply took the clamp off, used a sander to flatten the face, cleaned the aluminum with a wire brush (mill scale is a dielectric film) and then used a C clamp to reattach the ground. When the welder lit up- "magic" (now days I think this would be a 'Duh'! moment?) there was no more burn back because all the welding arc was happening at the wire tip not half at the wire and another half at the ground clamp's pitted, arc scarred, oxidized bronze face.

Not sure if anything here is new to you, or if it applies to your gun, but its happened to me of someone I've worked with in the past so its all valid to at least consider.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
Last edited by kmorin on Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: typo's
kmorin
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#8

Post by ReelSong »

Kevin, thanks so much for your input,I have gleaned many new tricks or processes from this post and I'll give a few of these a try . The factory is convenced its the aluma pro drive motor and the new one will be here today or tomorrow. I'll go threw the complete set up and adjustment process and let you know how I fair. Thanks again for all of your knowledge and willingness to share, sometimes ego's get in the way of learning or teaching and I'm blessed to be able glean so much from you and this site, cant tell you how much I appreciate your posts.

Terry
kmorin
Donator 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Posts: 1735
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:37 am
15
Location: Kenai, Alaska

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#9

Post by kmorin »

reelsong, thanks for the kind words, I do hope you're able to find the problem, drive motor or otherwise and get back to work.

A few more things to mention more or less combining many of the items I've mentioned and some that you've mentioned. I found that the torch wire drive motor rollers in the MK/(Lincoln) Python I have had a striated drive roll and eventually at MK's suggestion (not Lincoln's) changed to their (MK's) aluminum drive roll kit for that gun.

In the discussions leading to this change I learned that the Lincoln Super Glaze wire was found to be much harder to feed smoothly even though it has a higher degree finish and feeds with measurably less force from the cabinet to gun. Evidently, and I have no proof just a Tech at MK saying " We (MK Products) found the finish was so good on the wire that it didn't arc in the contact tip.... instead it was arcing to the drive motor frame to get the power supply's welding power and that burned up our drive motors.... (Emphasis added by me.)

So, in regard a low hour torch, I'm questioning if the motor's problems may have come from #1 a lack of insulation on the drive roll's thread stud where the all metal roller is in contact with wire on one side and drive shaft inside is allowing the wire to be arcing to the motor casing (?) or #2 if the serrated drive roll is cutting the wire in notches (too high tension?) and therefore creating a series of raised contact points for the wire to arc too in the contact tip.... leading to a higher gun motor wire feed resistance?

Notice that in #2 the bird's nest in the hand test would not see the arcing induced sticking in the tip to diagnosis it? No weld power transfer & feeding might look great. But once the notched wire began to stick at the various raised (peened V's in the wire side) edges then all the current would flow to a small spot unlike the entire cylindrical area of the side of the wire. Thus the tips could load up with arc soot and wire spatter and over load the gun's drive motor.

If the MK ceramic pellet tip will thread into your contact tip recess( ? Likely not as Miller probably wants those consumables in their control.) its worth testing those tips. I looked at the (Miller) manual link and don't see high amperage bore contact tips for 0.045" wire? All I see are 0.053" bore which I'd say were too small when heated the wire and tip bores close up so MK, and Lincoln and in my experience are needed: 0.060" bore tips for welding in the upper wattage ranges of the 5356 0.045" wire. Tip drills are tedious, so a reaming with the broach type tip cleaners can go along way to helping bore out an 0.053" tip to at least 0.056" and it does make a difference in my experience.

best of luck,

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#10

Post by ReelSong »

Ok Kevin , So I've read and re read all that you have written.I installed my new gun went through the entire set up by the book and then double checked against all you've mentioned.

NO CHANGE !

So I did the one last thing I hadnt tried yet and drilled out tip with an orfice drill to .062. I've been welding now for 6 hours and have had a few issues but much better. The Only thing different from the past is we changed brands of wire and looking back on it I believe thats about when issues began. What do you think the chance of the.047 Hobart wire may be the problem? it seems like while I'm welding along I can feel the wire binding right before it happens, I feel this back in the handle. After inspecting the wire closer it seems to me quite a bit stiffer then the old Alcotec, wire we used to use.

I know the obvious answer is to switch back and see, which I will do this week, but for today I only have 16lb. rolls of the Hobart in the shop. I've almost made it through the first roll and I believe I will get through it tomorrow. At this point I dont think I'll open another roll of Hobart until I've tried something else.

Terry
welderbob
Donator ,15
Posts: 491
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:14 am
15
Location: Holbrook,NY
Contact:

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#11

Post by welderbob »

Hi Terry,

Years ago we had all sorts of feeder problems with one pounds from Harris. We found that the dimensions varied and it was sticking in the tips.

welderbob
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#12

Post by ReelSong »

Thanks for the input welderbob. thats just what this feels like, if you hold the gun striaght and true, no problems, but any position change and the wire wants to start getting grabby in the tip. more then just diameter though , its like its much harder wire and theres a definite set of corrigated groves being left by the drive rolls that seem much more pronounced then before. Just got back in the shop after church today and I'm going to fight my way through the rest of this spool, after its gone I'll wait for new wire to show and return this Hobart wire if it solves the problem.
kmorin
Donator 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Posts: 1735
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:37 am
15
Location: Kenai, Alaska

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#13

Post by kmorin »

Reelsong, glad you're getting to the bottom of the feed issues. I'm not up to speed on QA for wire manufactures, but I've found the Lincoln's superglaze stuff, while more expensive, has been worth the bucks- to me.

The gun drive rolls tension sounds like it could be adding to the wire distortion problem - that and the bore being too small will definitely make feed speeds jerky instead of smooth. I'm not familiar with Hobart products but have used Diamond, AlcoTech (?sp) and Lone Star in the past all of which seemed OK but don't feed as well as the Lincoln brand.

Some lightly notching of the wire is OK but I prefer the smooth and grooved drive rolls that I'm using from MK so there is no notch at all, lots of my feed issues went away when I moved to those rolls. I can't tell by looking but you could contact MK to see if they made the underlying gun and any of their parts will fit?

cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
ReelSong
Posts: 263
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:55 pm
13

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#14

Post by ReelSong »

Well, after 1-1/2 months of fighting my machine, 3 repairman visists, two factory rep visits, a new gun, new control boards,, numerous set up and re set up atempts, I recieved a new roll of wire yesterday, put it on the machine and have been welding flawlessly now for 6 hours.

Kevin, even with things working well , I'm still drilling tips to.060 and it welds better then ever. thank you for all your information and support. Not sure what my supplier or rep will say on Monday but for now I dont care. I feel kinda stupid since looking back, my issues started,at least I believe it to be, when my supplier dropped off three rolls of Hobart wire instead of the Alcotec wire I had been using. Not sure what could be the differance ? Diameter? hardness? just a bad run? Had to be something in the alloy run because none of us could get it to work very well ,but reguardless it looks like I know how to weld again. I only opened one of the rolls of Hobart , was afraid to try the others. I'll be sending two and a partial back on monday and re stockig with what I'm use to. I'll post some pictures up of build when I make some noticable progress but for now I have a lot of interior weld out to finish before flipping the hull.
Redly
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2017 11:49 am
6

Re: Welder issues, need the experts advise

#15

Post by Redly »

Man, after that fella typed multiple 92,000 word essays, it was the wire?! Omgolly, hahahahahahaha
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic