Welding Tips and Tricks

I went out to my welding shop the other day and decided to check my MM251 drive wheels. I began to open the drive wheel door when about 3 lbs of wire fell out. I couldn't believe it, I opened the door so that it was wide open and more un-spooled fell out, what a mess. Then I noticed the 33 LB spool side close to the door had sheared off and fell out with some more wire. How could this happen?

I attempted to gather the wire and maintain a spool form, but I was not successful. I began to selectively cut some of the loops in an attempt to maintain the spool, but this did not work. After weighing a few options, I concluded that replacing the spool with a fiber or steel spool was the only solution. But the 33 LB wire will not goto waste, if I can't use it for TIG welding I will scrap it to the recycling center near-by.

On 25-APR-2013 I purchased a 12" Fiber Spool loaded with 44 LB of 0.035" Lincoln L-56, AWS ER70S-6, Lincoln part number ED021274, from PRAXAIR.

Has this happened to you ? , if so I would like to here from you.
Regards,
Wob

Hey,

That sucks when that happens, it may have had a drop or just been a poor spool. what ever the reason, once loops start flying , little can be done. The are even a colossal pain if the spool is cracked because the thin wire sneaks into the cracks. Cut a heap for tig, like you were, you may be able to save some for tie wire, but its mig days are over.
Mick

It has happened at work several times. When we get plastic spools I always inspect them right out of the box... Rough handling during shipment is the likely cause... Who'd think 15 or 20 kilos of welding wire were "fragile"?

When I find a cracked spool, it gets returned unused, replacement demanded.

We also change spools regularly, as a single job may require 70-s6, 308, and 309, often in stages requiring several changes. I look for cracking at this time, and tape the crap out of any cracks I find with a high-srength cloth "friction tape" that seems to bind well to the plastic. This has salvaged a few spools.

We get a new shop manager Monday, promoted from within, who already respects my opinion, so we may be able to upgrade our wire and permanently solve this.

Mick's right... at best you might be able to reload small spools for a spool gun, but TIG filler, tie-wire, and scrap metal are likely all the use you'll get.

Steve S

Follow-Up
I did have two questions before I keep my new 44 LB spool of wire ($124), so I called Miller to find out what the spool diameter limit and weight limit is for the MM 251. Within 5 minutes I had a knowledgeable technical assistant on the phone.

After I explained about the loss of my original 33 LB spool , and my purchase of the new, heaver spool, I asked him: "What is the maximum wire spool diameter, and what is the maximum wire spool weight?"

"He replied the max spool diameter is 12", and stated that he would not use anything heavier than a 44 LB spool."
His reply regarding the weight question did not sound like he was quoting a specification, but rather an answer from experience.

I had already researched the Owner's Manual, found one reference to a 12" spool of aluminum wire (to feed their push-pull-gun) but no mention of 33 or 44 LB 12" spools of steel or stainless steel wire.

In conclusion, 33 or 44 LB 12" spools are OK in a Millermatic 251 with M-25 Gun.
Wob

Ha,Plastic seems to be looking pretty good to me these days,Our shop right now has about 30 rolls of Radnor ER70S-6 METAL Rolls where the center cylinder has fallen out rendering the roll useless for mig,and the crib attendent says he has gotten no response from radnor on this.Chinese @#$%!