Welding Tips and Tricks

I weld with a Millermatic 250x. Many times upon starting the arc, the wire will pop loudly and burn back to and stick to the tip. Sometimes it will release on its own and sometimes I have to replace the tip. What am I doing wrong?
I have tried starting with the wire touching the work and I have tried starting with the wire away from the work and letting the welder feed it into the work. I've tried higher and lower settings both on the volts and wire feed. I clean my metal bright before I weld and I always try to make sure my ground is good.
There seems to be no pattern of why it does this. And it doesn't happen every time but when it does happen it always seems to be at the most inopportune moment.
I use straight CO2 and .035 wire and I have used a couple of different brands of wire.
I am just a hobbyist but I do some pretty large projects so it would be nice if I could get this to stop.
I searched before I posted but I guess my search skills aren't the best because I couldn't find anything to help. If there is already a discussion about this, I apologize but I ask that someone direct me to that discussion.

Thanks
Allen

Welcome to the Forum Allen Great to have you aboard.
John

I have very little experience with a Millermatic but I have ran Lincolns for a few years and I have had the same problem with them. Usually I would just turn the wire speed up and that would solve it. My theory was that it was too hot and burning the wire back faster than it could feed it. If that didn't work I would just start with the stick out a little long and once the arc started close it in and that usually worked for me. I did not go to welding school, I have no formal training in welding. I was taught to arc weld in high school, I taught myself to mig weld and I watched all the tig welding videos on weldingtipsandtricks.com and started tig welding from there. Like I said that is my personal experience and opinion after all I taught myself to mig weld. If you want to try it you can but don't take my word on this alone. Welcome to the forum.
Matt

Hey,

Check the tensioning nut in the middle of the wire spool. These can get tight and cause all sorts of stress.

Mick

Keeping the contact tip clean will help. Every now and then spray some anti spatter on the tip and inside the nozzle. Wire tension, like Mick said above, should also be checked. Make sure the wire is pushing out freely and doesn't stop and start.

If this happens with aluminum, try using a larger tip size like an .040 tip for .035 wire. The rollers in a spool gun will tend to misshape the aluminum wire as it pushes through and it will sometimes stick in the tip.


Other Steve

Welcome to the forum Allen.

Thanks. I'll check out the suggestions and thanks for welcoming me to the board. I added a couple of pictures to show two of my latest projects.