Guest ebay240z Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 Sorry this question is a little off-topic, but I am using my mig welder to fab my new frame rails. My problem is my wire keeps welding itself to the tip. I replaced the tip with a new one, but I keep having the same problem. I have a small campbell hausfield wire feed mig that I am using gas on. I didn't have the problem when I was welding sheet metal, but now that I have switched to the high setting to weld on my .125 in. frame rail tubing the wire welds itself to the copper tip after welding a bead. I have tried adjusting the gas flow and wire feed speed a little but no help. I am a novice so I am not sure what I am doing wrong....any suggestions would be appreciated, I would like to be able to weld up my frame rails without going through a case of these tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aguyandaredhead Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 I have found that if the heat and wire speed is set to high and if you are welding overhead the pool will flow back onto the copper tip and become one with it. I have had pretty good luck with the spray on no stick stuff made for mig gun tips.. I would et you have a large pool going and it is running back onto the tip so try and hold the gun alittle more parellel (sp) to the piece you are welding so the pool doesn't run onto the tip.. Hope that helps Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Frank C. Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 For what its worth. You said you were welding sheet metal. What size wire were you using? If you are welding thicker gauge material, you might want to try .030 or .035 wire. If its welding its self to the tip I would guess that you either have a feed problem or you might be getting to close with the welding tip to the material your welding. Seems to me I read somewhere that the tip should be 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the material your welding. I'm also a novice, hopefully an expert will help us out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 Wire speed too slow and too much amperage.This causes the arc to run up the wire.The home type mig guns can be a challenge to set right and some are so bad getting a decent weld is next to impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ebay240z Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 Thanx for the tips...I think I may be running too much current. I have a high and low current setting on the welder. I switched to the high current setting when I started welding on the the .125 inch tubing. I will try it on the low current settting. Also, I was backing off on wire speed rather than increasing the speed to fix the problem, so I was probably making it worse. I did not know they had non-stick stuff for the tips, I will try some of that also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonZ Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 try it back on high since it sounds like you have a 120V unit, and turn up the wire speed to max, you want good penetration. If you start blowing holes in your work, begin turning down the wire speed and work on your torch travel speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 If your still blowing thru,pulse the trigger on for a second and watch the puddle cool thru your helmet.Just as the orange color leaves the weld spot hit the trigger again. This will deposit a small amount of weld and help not to blow thru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 It sounds like too small a wire size. Generally, if your wire speed is too small for the current setting (or current setting too large for the wire speed) you'll get a stuccato effect in the process of welding as the arc stops and starts in quick cycles. Too slow a speed and the wire wants to push the head away from the work. I'd experiment with spacing the head a little further back letting the shielding gas help cool the wire if you can't put a larger gauge wire in the machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.