MIG welder experts
 

I have a Lincoln 50amp mig welder and It NOW is kinking the wire right at the whip side of the feed roller. I watched several YouTube videos and most say to clean the feed roller area really good.....I have basically a new whip, new Linder, new tip, new feed rollers, but every time I get the wire through the whip I get about three to four tack welds, at best, and it kinks the wire!!! ANY other suggestions??

IF it matters or contributes to the issue....My. machine sits for long periods of time between use, NOW I will be using it more regular BUT I keep having this issue.

I am using .023 wire and my feed rollers are .023/.030 but don't see where they are single sided for each wire, both sizes are listed on both sides of the feed rollers SO am I right in that it doesn't matter which side its on???

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Here is a picture, sideways all be it

Re: MIG welder experts
 

When i got my first wire feed welder the man at the welding shop where I bought it told me to put a clip on cloths pin with a piece of cloth on the wire before it enters the liner. I've always done this and have had minimal problems with the feed of the wire.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

What model is your welder? On my little lincoln you have to take the roller
off and turn it around to change wire size.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Looks like the .023 wire is to deep in the feeder wheel. Must be in the .030 grove. Can you not flip the wheel over to the other grove? Wire looks to be feeding off the wheel just behind the valley where it goes into the cable

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Try another spool of wire. Some are not true to specs. I've had wire with flat areas, not round. Piece of felt across the wire, between the spool and the feed system with a wooden clothes pin. Welding supply shops have a spray for migs. Use it on the felt piece and the nozzle.


Bruce

Re: MIG welder experts
 

The feed rollers are working ok if they have enough traction to bunch up the wire. The problem is in the whip or the tip. Are you using a new tip and is it the correct size for the wire? when I had this problem it was because I had the wire feed too slow and it was burning back into the tip and sticking, I turned up the wire speed and put a new tip in and no more problems.

Bill

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Agreed, my thoughts exactly. I operated a production shop and this was the issue the majority of time. If not, an incorrect drive roll or dirty liner will cause similar issues. Good luck

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Had the same problem off and on with my Miller. Finally figured out the liner in the whip had a very slight kink in it--no visible until I pulled it out. Been that from install. Shop where I bought it gave me good deal on new liner, problem solved. Even though it is new, I would check your liner. Good luck.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Also, cmbrucew touched on this. Use a spring loaded cloths-pin with a piece
of felt or any heavy cloth, and clip it over the wire right before the drive wheel.
Get the correct lube from a welding supply place and soak the piece of felt
real good. It helps the wire to go threw the liner easier, ask a dealer about it...



.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Miller makes a felt piece with a wire clip that slips over the wire spray splatter shield on the felt wiper for lubricant.

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Thanks for all the good info guys! I don't do that much welding (Miller 175) and I've been using mainly flux core wire lately but wire sticking (not kinking) seems to happen too often.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Once again, the liner, drive wheels, guide plate, handle, trigger switch, tip, wire. ALL is new!! The only thing I didn't replace was the ground clamp and wire! I bought the machine probably 7 to 10 years ago, used, so I replaced ALL of the business end of the welder to make sure it was right!!! Two years ago I had a friend who "commercially" welded for a living come and set up the machine when I finally got my shop. It's sounding like maybe dirty wire? I'll try my lube barrel I have and see IF that makes a difference


Thanks all for the responses

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Had this happen on my Miller. It had a spool of old wire that came with it when new that over time had corrosion build up on the wire that kept it from running smooth through the feed cable. Replaced the old wire with new and it works great.

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Your wire is being crushed into the drive wheel . Turn it around to match the wire size you are using and don't put so much pressure on it.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Okay
First.....my drive wheels "DON'T" seem to differentiate from .023 to .030 as you see by my first two photos the markings are identical on both sides, I "Mic'd" them too!

I put my lubricating fiber barrel on it with a few dabs of bilistall and seem to be working perfectly. I pulled both drive wheels and cleaned them with bilistal and wiped them off real good, blew the whole area out with my blow gun and it's feeding fine now!!!

SORRY for the sideways pic's from the spy phone!!

Re: MIG welder experts
 

That looks way bigger than a 50 amp welder.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

I have found that using old supplies (wires, rods, other consumables) can lead to trouble.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Rotated your pix.

Re: MIG welder experts
 

Glad you have it working. Here is a little info from the manual, just in case it happens again.


2Drive Roll
The drive roll consists of two differ-
ent sized grooves. The stamped
markings on the end surface of the
drive roll refers to the groove on the
opposite side of the drive roll. The
groove closest to the motor shaft is
the proper groove to thread (