Cleaning up stick electrode holder

[branimal]

I have a Tweco-A732 electrode holder for my Lincoln AC-225 welder. I bought this used a few months ago. There's a lot of grit & rust on the contact points. The pivot seems to be pretty gunked up and doesn't hold the electrode tightly unless squeeze it down.

It seems that this can be taken apart with a 7/32 allen (just a hair bigger than 5.5mm) and a screwdriver. None of the bolts wanted to move, so I hit it with some PB blaster. I'm getting a little movement, but I'm afraid I'll strip something out. I'll let the pb blaster work overnight.

Anyone have experience cleaning these out? If it doesn't work I'll buy a replacement.

This isn't my main welder, so I'm not in a rush to get it working.

 

[GaryM909]

The spring gets weak over time.

 

[readhead]

They do wear out and replacements are not expensive.

 

[dnschmidt]

Why **** with it. Replacements are cheap.

 

[rlitman]

The spring gets weak over time.

Sure, but if the spring is good, why bother taking it apart for cleaning? A wire brush will reach everything you need.