MIG Welder Issue
 

I have a Lincoln 215 MIG welder, and I started having an issue with it tonight; every time I strike an arc, the wire jams right where it enters the liner. I spent 2 hours dicking with it, and wasted 100+' of wire to no avail. It feeds perfectly as long as I don't try to actually do any welding; the split second that I strike the arc, it jams.

Any ideas?

Mine does that sometimes, too.

I'd be interested to see what ideas people have.


KT

3 things I've done to stop my old welder from jamming. use the next size up tip. adjust liner so it almost contacts roller. lighten the pressure on the rollers until they feed wire but will still slip if you put it in a bind like shorting wire to tip or too small a radius in lead when welding in a bad position. I do these things with my Hobart machine and never had a problem jamming, even after welding the wire to tip so bad I have to take a grinder to it to seperate them. eventually I had to replace the liner on my old Harbor Freight welder. I used a teflon liner pulled from a bicycle cable and it worked so much better.

There are a couple of reasons for that.
Firstly....wire tension is too tight. Remove the gun from the wirefeeder. If your machine has an 'inch' button, you should be able to feed just enough wire out, to be able to hang on to it with a pair of pliers. Hit the inch button.....wire should gently push the wire away without 'bird caging'. If it still bird cages, release some of the wire tention. If the wire slips on the rollers....then wind some more tention on. Correct tension is now set.

Perfect opportunity to squirt some white spirits down the gun liner & reverse blow with air. Remove the diffuser & tip to do this.

Ok....liner is clean, tension is good....check the guides for excessive wear..only thing left to do is replace with a new tip & merrily weld away.

Something to watch....if you get a arc spot inside the tip, it's difficult to pick up. Even though the tip may look new, it can cause the same problem.

Cheers, Col.

It's been working perfectly up until last night. It feeds fine as long as I don't try to strike an arc. I was mulling it over, and I wonder if the liner isn't worn out, so that when I strike an arc, it makes contact somewhere in the liner and makes the wire stick.

Last time I had this issue I replaced the tip. I thought it looked ok but a new one 'fixed' it.

Liners do wear out.

Teflon liners are good. Get a new liner and new tip. Or wash your liner in varsol and blow it out.

You may also have a power source issue, if the open circuit voltage is too high or the current control isn't working right.

Going up one size in contact tip isn't a bad idea, but shouldn't be necessary. Did you buy brand name tips or cheap knock offs?

The wire is arcing to the inside of the liner or to the rollers/bushing/whatever is inside there. Get out your multi-tester and set it on resistance (ohms) and look for grounds from the areas the wire touches to the negative ground clamp.

Might be able to fix it but it's prolly time to throw money at it (replace the liner or sheath).

I replaced the liner yesterday ($15) and it works like new again.

Thanks guys!

Thom,

How much trouble to replace the liner? Pulling the old one out seems easy but wondering how tough to get the new one back in is the question.

Joe A

Actually, installing the new one was easier than removing the old one. The Big Secret to both operations is to lay the cable out straight.

In hindsight, this was preventable - I need to treat the cable better. I leave it laying about, I frequently walk on it, and I've even driven over it.

Thanks... Driven over it? Well, at least we know its tough!

There's the problem right there!
Liners are cheaper to replace than complete gun assemblies.