Welder tune-up

[Geo]

I found warmth in the cold! 

The mig welder as not as smooth as it should have been last fall.  Today it is too cold to do any work when the light came on.    I thought if I could fire up the welder to practice I would end up heating the garage.    First a little maintainence.

New liner in the cable conduit, new feed rollers, new guide.  The problem was the wire spool was dragging on the spindle.  I cleaned the components but did not see anything that would cause the problem.  I think a little fume deposits, dust, dirt from many years and being adjusted too tight resulted in the feed not operating smoothly.

Back together and adjusted it was time to heat things.  Wow!  It is smooth now.     Soon, I hope, when it gets warm enough to make a strong weld I'm in business!  New 220 volt 200 amp power in the house with all new wire and 4 awg for the welders may help too.  Oh yea, I waxed it too!

Geo

[Dean Los Angeles]

Forecast: Prairie Village KS
Overnight: Snow and widespread blowing snow before midnight, then widespread blowing snow and a chance of snow after midnight. Low around 7. Wind chill values between -3 and -12. Blustery, with a northwest wind between 17 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Thursday: Widespread blowing snow and scattered flurries. Cloudy and cold, with a high near 9. Wind chill values between -10 and -15. Blustery, with a northwest wind between 20 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Yup, that explains it.

[Peter Jack]

Some people aren't aware that things should be cleaned up every time you change a spool of wire. The easiest way is to remove the contact tip and using a blowgun blow back through the gun end. You'll be amazed at the amount of dust, etc. that will come out by the feed rolls. Then blow out the area around the feed rolls and you're good to go.

Pete