Rusty mig wire, what to do?

[Nads]

My welder sits in the car port along with everything else.
I haven't used it in a couple of weeks and when I needed it yesterday, the wire's rusty to the point of being unusable.
It's such a pain the ass to thread and unthread the wire that I was wondering if there's a way to keep the stuff from rusting in the first place?

Gawd I hate Florida in the summer.
Gawd I wish I had a garage.

[32viper]

Nads, move the whole welder into the living room and keep the a/c on..that should do it! Be gentle with Zor when he visits.

[kustombuilder]

i've had to throw spools of wire away before cause it got rusty. i did get these little cleaning pads from the welding store that i use now. it clips around the wire just before it feeds into the tube and helps keep crap off the wire and keep it from jambing up. might try the same thing with sand paper. get a little spring clip and clamp a piece of 200 grit or somethin around the wire so it cleans it off as it feeds into the tube.

[choprods]

give it a spray of WD-40/wont hurt

[cleatus]

I wondering if you're missing a trick when loading the spool, mine's pretty straight-forward - takes about a minute.

Regardless, you might try shooting the spool with WD to keep it protected from moisture.

If for some reason the WD has negative effects during the next weld, try a can of Weld-Aid Lube-Matic which is great stuff to use anyway. It will keep your wire from bogging down in the housing.

[Petejoe]

When your not using it, cover it with a bag and stick some
of that rust preventative (can't think of the name right now) in the bag with it. Boy I'm real informative today! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Another thing you can do when it becomes rusty is to get some scotch brite and fold it in half, clamp it onto the wire with an aligator clip or similar clamp in an area before it goes into the rolls. This will clean the rust off as you use it. Other than that I would advise you to take it off the machine and find yourself an old breadbox with a lightbulb installed inside and store it in there.
And this comes from someone who knows rust in the the armpit of rustbelt heaven.
http://is.freefoto.com/images_e/2003/04/2003_04_10_web.jpg

[Cannibal]

Nads I had the same problem with mine.
My trick is take those little dessicant pouches that come in imported stuff and put them in by the spool.
They absorb the moisture and keep the wire from getting rusty.
You probably have those little bags around the store.

It worked for me.

[30roadster]

yeah pete - but in Ohio you don't get flash rust before you can count to 10 because your humidity isn't 90% year round...Florida (and coastal Texas) does....put it this way...when you pull your sheets up at night to go to sleep does it feel like a wet kleenex? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

does the copper coated wire fair better nads?

[JOECOOL]

If you use rusty wire in your welder you will be replacing the liner very soon.In the humid months I take mine out, stick it back in when needed. My time is worth nothing anyhow.

[Antibilly]

hahhah NADS!!!!!!!!!!!! sucka...maybe you outta go back to stick welding http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Nads]

Dude, you think my wire's rusty, you should see my sticks, ha ha ha.

Let's go to the cruise and see if we can't get kicked out.

[slammed]

Good tip's. Save that rusty wire. You can string up part's that need painted with it.