Mig welding question

[handirifle]

My first post is misleading there. Those are the widths. Both bars are 1/8" thick so not a problem even for this welder.

 

[metalbender]

Big sigh of relief here, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[dragoneggs]

Big sigh of relief here, thanks for clearing that up.

I was scratching my head too!

 

[handirifle]

Lol sorry bout that. I have done 3/8" but in about 4-5 passes.

 

[crazyal]

I would unplug it and remove the metal covers. Be careful but I would use an air compressor to blow any dust inside it out to clean it up the best you can. Then look for something that might be damaged. It's possible that the duty cycle didn't kick in quick enough to prevent something overheating.

 

[handirifle]

I blew it out yesterday and it seemed to help for a while but then started acting up again. Not sure if the wire stops feeding in fact I think it still does. Its like as it gets warmed up it acts up. Will inspect closer though.

 

[flyerdan]

If you're getting erratic wire feed or stuttering, it could be that the tip or wire extension has heated up and there is a clearance problem. I had to run the next size up tip to prevent grabbing on a Tweco gun when I was dumping the amps into a big gate with lots of continuous welding.
Since this seems to be showing up when things are hot enough to kick the thermal, it's worth a look. Even a small berry stuck to the tip can cause binding.

 

[handirifle]

Ok thanks. Will check that out and swap tips to see.

 

[crazyal]

When it acts up does the wire still come out? Or does it stop? Make sure the wire isn't melting causing you to loose the arc. If you have the power turned up too high for the speed at which the wire is fed the wire will melt back up to the tip and loose the arc. Maybe try welding while having someone watch the spool to see if it stops turning or isn't turning smoothly while it's acting up.

 

[WranglerX]

Maybe it has heat sensitive failure ..Can you put volt meter across the contact tip to ground and see a voltage reading when it fails... should read about 18 to 25 volts DC continuous with trigger pulled....

Dale