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desertjoe 
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Location: New mexico
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 Topic: Calling the Mig Welder Guru's,,,,
Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 8:40am |
My Lincoln Weld Pak 175 HD has started to give me fits and not very consistent any more. It does a lot of sputtering and not much sizzling while welding. I wanted to use this wire machine to weld the straps to the bed on the One Ton but I never was able to run a very pretty weld bead Uphill with my Lincoln 225 arc welder hense wanting to use the wire machine. I use CO2 gas at about 15#.
Anyone got any suggestions where to look?
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DMiller
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Hermann, Mo
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Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 9:10am |
When was last time replaced the Liner in the Gun? If is subject to less than ideal conditions they deteriorate in as little as three years. Corruption inside the Liner and on the Wire will cause intermittent contact.
Just went thru that with my Miller 210, liner lasts around Six years normal use and climate control.
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plummerscarin
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Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 9:10am |
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Liner due for cleaning or replacing?
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DMiller
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Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 9:15am |
Replace and TOSS, no way to clean as are like a Choke Cable Housing.
Also tips are generally only good for a few tens of hours, I have Nozzle Dip to slow spatter lock ups and wire to tips welding, just Slows that process, throw ones away after sits a few months, corrode where wire contacts.
Edited by DMiller - 02 Dec 2023 at 9:18am
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AC7060IL
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Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 9:48am |
Could be several things. Do you store your mig wire inside your home or some controlled humidity environment? Mig welders will not tolerate ANY wire rust. If you inspect your wire & find surface rust on it, then discard those outer layers of wire from it's spool to get down to CLEAN wire. This issue goes hand-in-hand with what others have previously commented about worn gun liner/casing. So if your shop's air environment has humidity, remove the wire spool from the MIG at the end of each day. Place spool back into it's original box. And place it inside your home where normal AC or Heat lowers humidity.
Edited by AC7060IL - 02 Dec 2023 at 9:54am
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Alberta Phil
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Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Alberta, Canada
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Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 10:07am |
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As mentioned, contact tips have a short life. First, change the contact tip. If it's worn it makes intermittent wire to tip contact and the machine can't provide steady volts and amps to the weld arc. Another thing that can cause what you describe is wire quality. I tried some cheaper Mig wire from a discount place and ran into the same thing you are experiencing. I knew everything else was as it should be, so I bought a roll of top brand wire and then the machine ran as it should. The made in China crap went in the scrap metal bin!
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DMiller
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Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 10:26am |
 AC7060IL wrote:
Could be several things. Do you store your mig wire inside your home or some controlled humidity environment? Mig welders will not tolerate ANY wire rust. If you inspect your wire & find surface rust on it, then discard those outer layers of wire from it's spool to get down to CLEAN wire. This issue goes hand-in-hand with what others have previously commented about worn gun liner/casing. So if your shop's air environment has humidity, remove the wire spool from the MIG at the end of each day. Place spool back into it's original box. And place it inside your home where normal AC or Heat lowers humidity.
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Storing the wire as do Rods in a old fridge with a Heat source light bulb does do well as well.
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Thad in AR.
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Posted: 03 Dec 2023 at 5:50am |
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Pull the wire out and blow compressed air through the liner. Then squirt WD 40 through it and blow out with air.
Repeat until it comes out clean.
Then if the wire feeds better you will be needing a liner soon.
Make sure you get all the WD blown out.
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Thad in AR.
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Posted: 03 Dec 2023 at 5:53am |
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Make sure you have quality wire.
Make sure you run a wire filter.
Make sure contact tips are in good condition.
Make sure the rollers are clean and dry.
Always be cautious of how you roll up the gun lead. Never kink it.
I made a loop to hang mine on with a large radius so it wouldn’t kink.
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DMiller
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Posted: 03 Dec 2023 at 7:59am |
Thad in AR. wrote:
Pull the wire out and blow compressed air through the liner. Then squirt WD 40 through it and blow out with air.
Repeat until it comes out clean.
Then if the wire feeds better you will be needing a liner soon.
Make sure you get all the WD blown out. |
Use something NOT flammable, Brake Clean or other Non Flammable Solvent, WD in that liner is NOT good as does not, will not fully blow out or evaporate.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 03 Dec 2023 at 4:45pm |
If its DIRTY... look at the wire and liner.. If the SPEED is not constant, look at the rollers, their tension, and if the grooves in the wheel are worn out..
Also look at your GROUND wire.. Bending and flexing over 20 years and you get broken, damaged wire and that will give inconsistant ground.... I just had that on a wire feed unit.. Wire was broken 2 inches from the clamp... Thick rubber cover on the wire and it was hard to tell it was broken after being bent back and forth 1000 times over the years... Had the same spit and sputter.
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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DaveKamp
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Posted: 07 Dec 2023 at 6:41am |
My FIRST suggestion was the last one that Steve made-
Ground cable and connection... Try welding a bit, then set the gun down, and take bare hands, starting from the ground clamp, work your way towards the supply. If you feel a warm spot, it's bad there. If the warm spot is at the point of clamp contact, take your grinder and scrub both the workpiece AND the contact points on your clamp 'till they're shiny clean.
One way to identify a worn or contaminated liner in a fussy system, is to place the welder as far from the workpiece as you can, and stretch the whip out in a long straight line, and try to weld with it that way- if it welds fine, you've got a dragging liner.
Corroded or dirty wire will contaminate feed rollers and the liner pronto. Fortunately, you're in a very arid area, so it won't corrode due to moisture nearly as quickly as those of us in areas where grass actually grows, right?
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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.
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desertjoe
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Posted: 09 Dec 2023 at 3:37am |
DAVE KAMP,,,you devil,,,you,,,!!!!
I HAVE A WELDER,,,!!! a little practice and I'll be stacking them dimes,,,,,!!!!
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 09 Dec 2023 at 9:48am |
your bead is a little TALL Joe.. You need less wire feed or probably more AMPS to burn in more and get it to FLOW out to the sides.
BUT YOUR GETTING CLOSE !! 
here is a photo i found on the Internet.. Starting at the LEFT with a weld at too LOW of amps... gradually UPPING the amps as he rewelds to the right... Of course with THIN material you got reduce the wire SPEED if you can not UP the AMPS..
Edited by steve(ill) - 09 Dec 2023 at 10:04am
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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desertjoe
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Posted: 10 Dec 2023 at 10:21pm |
Well,, I already got an opportunity,,,actually a requirement to "Have" to use the Lincoln mig to make repairs on my stuff,,,
The air tank on my main air compressor had a leak come in on it yesterday and since I had built a wood fence on one side of it,,,it posed a pretty big job to shoe horn that tank WITH the compressor AND the BIG 3 HP motor out of there as there is also a work table now OVER the compressor,,,,!! WHO ELSE does Chit like this,,,??  After lots of careful study, I decide it can be shoe horned out of it's hidey hole,, so I weld ( WITH THE REFURBISHED MIG, OF COARSE) a 3" X 3" X 1/4" piece of angle iron on the bucket of the D14,,,remove a section of wooden fence, and gently snake the "jib" into thAT tiny space and walk the compressor out First,,pretty as you please,,!! Jamie said he could handle the motor himself SO he lifted it off and set the motor on a chair I had set there,,,!! IMAGINE I DID THE SAME SAME THING myself many years age,,,SIGH,,,,!!  With those two heavy items off, we tie onto the tank and slowly walk it out the same way. After laying the tank on it's side, I find the hole and is at about the 9 o;clock position and after tapping around the hole, I wonder why the hole came up in such a high position from the bottom of tank but stop worrying and go to work,,,!!I cut a patch of slightly thicker plate 2" bigger than the hole, and angle grind the edges of the patch.
I then do several runs on same patch material and get the wire feed rate and heat setting where that mig just keeps wanting MORE,,,!! After the repairs and a 20 minute cool down, I pressure the tank back up and test the patch and I have a tiny seep at a start/stop place
and am considering just bradding the tiny seep but "What The Heck" I grind down that seep till I can't see the tiny hole, re-weld,,re-test and glory Be,,,,I got a good air tank again,,,!! I call Jame back outside after just 1 1/2 hour patch job and am ready to snake all this meaness back into it's hidey hole,,,!! Fellars ,,,I am THOUROUGHLY PLEASED with all the help I got on my mig,,,I am stoked and forever Grateful to ya'll, !!!!
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 10 Dec 2023 at 10:38pm |
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well ya left out half the story !! You bought a new torch cable to replace the OLD ONE that was spitting and sputtering and had a plugged hole thru the gas tube.. ??? That fixed the problem or you needed more work ?
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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desertjoe
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Posted: 11 Dec 2023 at 12:02am |
WAIT,!!,,WAIT!!,,Steve,,,now you got me all AFU'd,,,, Naw,,,the new torch fixed the issue with the mig spitting and sputtering and used the refurbished mig to repair a hole in my air compressor tank,,,,,UMmmm,,,gas tube,,,??
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tadams(OH)
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Posted: 11 Dec 2023 at 12:41pm |
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Hope your weld hold , we lost a neighbor that had a air compressor in his shop. He was outside on his lawn mower when the tank on his air compressor exploded and when through the roof of the shop and landed on him.
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Alberta Phil
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Posted: 11 Dec 2023 at 5:31pm |
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Speaking as a professional pressure welder, I hope you didn't just make yourself a bomb!! In my area you can't weld on a pressure vessel unless qualified to do so. Air tanks tend to rust on the inside and the result is often what "tadams" mentioned.
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Dirt Farmer
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Posted: 11 Dec 2023 at 9:26pm |
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I'm not a professional or a paid actor in the field of welding but Joe I'm scared for you. Them air compressor tanks are scary when they get to a certain point. I'm with Alberta Phil on this one, is the savings of repairing a tank worth the risk of having to repair the roof and clean up the shop or any bodily harm vs acquiring a new tank. Glad you got the welder fixed but that wouldn't be the first project I would have tackled. Don't want to see harm done to one of the Greats here on the forum. At least replace the pressure regulator for piece of mind. Sorry for being critical of your project, had a guy here about 10 years ago that had his compressor blow up, took out a wall, severely damaged a vehicle and stole his life. I believe he received a Darwin award for his achievements.
Edited by Dirt Farmer - 11 Dec 2023 at 9:26pm
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desertjoe
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Posted: 11 Dec 2023 at 10:30pm |
Well, DirtFarmer,,,it does my heart good to see your concern for ole Joe,,,and I thank you Dearly,,!! Often times I get carried away with my story telling and do tend to get long winded,,,kinda like ole Shameless,,,,, I use the Square D pressure switch for pressure control and the place I get them was out so I did not put the compressor in service as the old pressure switch had been there for some years, so I decided to order from Amazon and new Pressure switch susspossed to be here Thursday. Since the compressor is a single stage unit, the switch is set oN at 50 and OFF at 90. I DID do a 1 1/2 times operating pressure with water and the repair held for 1 hour. I did not reassemble the unit as I pulled the heads off the compressor to clean and reface the valves as they have been in compressor for many years as well .
Thank you, Dirt Farmer,,, for your concerns and watching out for us old fogies,,,,,!!!!
Edited by desertjoe - 11 Dec 2023 at 10:48pm
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