Welding Tips and Tricks

I have a Millermatic 252. It's a great machine, but I seem to be having a problem with the way the wire is feeding.

I haven't changed the tension on the spool or anything. I am thinking maybe it's that that the gun lead isn't straight enough or something. Does the lead have to be perfectly straight? The machine is in my barn. Could rust be causing the wire to bind in the liner?

Are there some tips or best practices for making sure the wire feeds clean and smooth? Any help is appreciated.

rvb

I just found this website last night and joined today, I'm in the process of purchasing a Miller 211 for some hot rod fabrication and general work around my 24 acre place. Since you keep your rig in your barn your problem is more than likely just dirt, dust, mouse hair etc. or a worn out liner due that debris or wear. Have it looked at or replace the liner and you should be good to go.

Do you have the felt cleaning pad on the wire ahead of the feed rollers. Have you adjusted the roller tension by running the wire onto a 2 x 4 as in the setup video.

I bought a used 212 a while back and the prior owner complained about feed problems. I basically went through the entire feed system and I don't know if I found any single problem but I did find dirty feed rollers, a bound up spool drag and a dirty liner. After I cleaned it all up it was fine and hasn't given me any problems since.

All:

The wire looks good. The drive rollers look like they have a very small amount of surface rust, but nothing too terrible. The tension was adjusted per the setup video. But, that was like a year ago. I do not have one of the felt wire cleaners around the wire. I guess I should.

I did adjust the tension on the wire spool and the tension on the rollers. I'll have to find the setup video and run through the procedure again. Hopefully I can get the horses out of the barn soon and button it up much tighter to the weather.

Try triggering 2" of wire out of the nozzle. Then place the nozzle against a 2 x 4 at the approximate welding angle and hit the trigger. The wire should feed out. If not increase roller tension until it does.