[WankisMaximus]

Hey guys, I have a quick question.... so I was welding some 1/4" plates (6 total) to a 1 inch shaft/rod (not hollow) spaced out 60 degrees apart and as the piece was getting hotter and hotter and I felt the wire in my gun getting caught up as if the liner was messed up and the sound of the welder completely changed like my settings weren't right... and so I straightened out my lead and cleaned the cup and even put in a new contact tip.. when I went back to welding it sounded perfect again but after welding another 3 inches the same problem occured... I felt the wire in the gun like it wasnt feeding properly and it sounded like shit again.. sputtering.. I checked everything out and it's not the spool or the clamps on the rollers that feeds the wire... then I welded a test piece and it was fine again but when I went to weld the shaft again the same thing happened... the sound was completely different, not like bacon frying but sputtering... so I turned down the voltage and the wfs, but couldnt get it to go away... do I just have to wait for the piece to cool or what... I dont wanna have any down time so I'm just wondering if you guys have any advice... I was using .35 running vertical downhill... any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[viking59]

What MIG Welder are you using?

[Artie F. Emm]

I'm wondering if you need a new liner, or if it's time to clean out the current one. How old is the welder, and have you ever changed or cleaned the liner?

[Poland308]

Also possible that your contact tips are under sized or your wire might be over diameter. Depending on the brand of wire you can get inconsistent wire sizes throughout a roll. When your welding on the pipe you might be getting more heat on the contact tip causing it to expand and pinch the wire. Try drilling out the contact tip so that it’s oversized and see if the problem goes away.