Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello, new member here...

I have a Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 set up with gas for mig use... I have owned this welder for several years and at one time, I could get some pretty decent welds with it.

However, the last few times I have tried to use it, I can't seem to be able to stick 2 pieces of metal together with it...

As soon as the wire arcs on the workpiece, the wire burns off flush with the end of the tip on the gun... I'm assuming that it is arcing to the tip... this happens at all amperage settings and at all wire feed rates. I'm guessing that I need to buy some new tips, but wanted confirmation that this is the problem.

Also, is there anything else that I may need to order that may be having an influence here, like the liner, nozzle, diffuser, etc?

Thanks in advance...

-Bear

Mig machines can cause all sorts of trouble if slight issues are present. Things like a blocked or kinked liner, worn drive rolls or even incorrect spool tension (the nut inside the hub of the reel of wire, adjusts the resistance on the spinning of the reel) can destroy your day, real fast.

Mick

I have the weld pak hd, the little brother to your machine. While I haven't had the issues your talking about, and this flux core is about the extent of my "mig" experience (yes I know it's not really a mig!). But did this start acting up right after a change?
New roll of wire
Switch from flux core to solid
Anything along those lines, or did it come out of nowhere?

No, no changes... its been getting progressively worse... sometimes when the wire touches the workpiece, it just pushes the gun back without striking an arc... most of the time, it burns the wire off at the tip of the gun...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong... but I think the current is carried to the gun by the sheilding around the liner... then the tip transfers the current to the wire. That keeps the wire from carrying all the current to the tip, and prevents the wire from heating up and destroying the liner... or am I completely wrong about it?

It just seems to make sense that the tip is maybe dirty or corroded inside and not transfering the current to the wire... then when the wire touches the workpiece, I actually get 2 arcs... one from the wire to the work, and another from the tip to the wire, which is burning the wire off...

Someone tell me if I'm crazy...

-Bear

Maybe you can check ohms between the tip and the inside of the machine, same thing with your ground. Just make sure your machine is off and unplugged. If you read a high resistance, you could have a broken wire. You may even retest with the mig write removed.

Ok, I am crazy... the liner carries the current... I had thought (strictly working from memory) that the liner was a teflon type material that slid inside a coiled metal 'shielding'... but the liner itself is a flexible metal coil...

Anyway, I got home from work this morning and began playing with the Lincoln... I pulled the wire out, removed and cleaned the drive rollers and blew out the liner with compressed air. I then removed the tip and diffuser and cleaned them both well and...

VOILA! It welds! Actually, it welds GREAT! Now I can start fabricating a stand for my 'new-old' Synchrowave 250 that I just bought...

Thanks for the help!

-Bear