Help! Welder won't feed wire

My Mig welder at school quit feeding wire. If you hold the hose perfectly straight, it feeds fine. Any bends or curves and it won't feed. The feed rollers are the proper size for the wire(.035), and they are relitivley new. The spool spins freely, and even with slack in the wire it still won't feed. I have a feeling like someone ran over the hose pulling a vehicle into or out of the shop. Is there a way I can get it to work temproarily? I don't have the budget to replace the cable this year, and we still have 3 weeks of school left. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Jeff

 

Sound's like somebody crushed it or bent it.
When you have time today take the cable off and borrow someone's to make sure it's not the machine.
But I don't know much about welder's.

 

Sounds like your cable is toast, but you might try moving the cable areond a bit. Hard to explain, but you sorta grab a length of the cable between both hands. Pull one hand towards you and push the other away, making a hard "S" in the cable. Then "crank" your hands as if you were pedaling a bicycle with them. Repeat up and down the cable. This sounds silly, but I have seen it work once or twice. Seems to free up something in there. Ideally, keep the wire in there when you do this.

Also, be sure to check out the pinch rollers that feed the wire. You said they were pretty new, but mine had the wire jump out of the groove on the roller one time. I was getting pretty upset that my brand new Miller wasn't working right. I checked EVERYTHING, no luck. Everything except the wire being in the groove, that is. Felt pretty dumb after that!

 

Millers have a replaceable liner that is not that costly. You may not have to replace the whole thing. The felt pads with the wire lube seems to help.

 

I am sure you checked that the wire isn't hanging in the tip of the gun, right? MIGs are pretty bad about that...especially if you have been doing any welding upside-down!

 

what brand and length? I may have a spare .035 liner

Paul

 

A lot of guys dont know that just the inner cable can be replaced relitivty cheap.Not a big deal.
.I have had a mig for 15 years and didnt know that.

 

Usually i find its the grip rollers.. i used to have a mig lead where i used to work that did the same thing.. the inner liner was toast.. one of the dudes there wanted to "oil it" .. heheh i almost smacked him

Liners are a ton cheaper than a new lead.. about 10 bucks...

here are some for miller
http://www.weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?Next::363:UNDEF:OR:L:L

 

Jeff- The liner is a coiled sleeve, just like a throttle cable on a lawn mower. If you mean "temporary", just try twisting the whole gun, hose and all, counter-clockwise. That'll un-coil it, and make the opening bigger. Try squirting some WD-40 in it, from both ends... and a little shot right on the spool. I do that, anyway, to keep my spool from rusting.
No... I didn't check the M.S.D.S. to see what kind of effect burning WD-40 would have on my sperm count.
However... Now, I can shoot a load 12 feet.

My Miller has a spring type retainer, that holds the top pressure roller down. You can bend that, a little bit, to coax more squeeze out of it, too. That way the rollers will have a fighting chance out there against those dirty liners.

Soon as you get a chance, get a new liner... It'll be like welding with a new machine.
Unless it IS a new machine. In which case, it'll be like welding with the same machine, only not with a fucked-up liner.

If you can't get a new liner, take the old one out, and try tapping it round. Leave a piece of wire in it, to act as a mandrel. This might mess you up worse, so it would be a little risky. But, if you're careful, and don't use a 5 lb. hammer, it could be done.

You could try changing to the next smaller wire size, for the time being, too. .027, would be my choice, I think.



JOE

 

Try cleaning the liner. Spray carb. cleaner in it. Dirt and dust get pulled in with the wire.

 

jeff

I have a lincoln in my school shop..
I bought a new liner for like 15 bucks..
thats only 5 bucks a week!

good luck

sawzall jeff

 

Well, I tried the bicycle pedaling S bend twisty thing, and the turn the whole thing counter-clockwise thing, and it helped a great deal. I'll lube it as soon as I get some WD-40. Thanks for the help. We here at the Shop appreciate it.

-Jeff