problem with Lincoln 140 MIG

[that-guy]

needed to weld a new exhaust hanger on my car last night and ran into an issue. welder was setup within spec for material thickness and wire dia., which was .030" and the wire was sputtering really bad. no matter what amperage or speed setting, it would get the same result. switched the machine back over to the .023" wire that I always use for sheet metal work, and it worked perfectly fine as it always has for the past 8 years...why would I have had such a huge problem with the .030"???

 

[sberry]

Wire feeds are fussy about ground loops, they can really sputter. But, that machine is really a 023 unit. Put 030 in and its taxing the input circuit.

 

[that-guy]

the roller on the machine has grooves in it to compensate for different sizes of wire, and the chart inside the door specifies .025, .030, and .035

now that I think about it, I set the roller on the larger of the two grooves, which may have been for .035 only, thus causing the wheel to slip, only pulling bits of the wire at a time. guess I should have left the roller on the same groove I do for my .023 wire and ease up on the spring lock...this seems like a legitimate answer to the problem, right???

 

[Farrier]

Just out of curiosity, you ground or sanded the areas to be welded and for the clamp.......right? MIG's no like em rusty metal

 

[that-guy]

Just out of curiosity, you ground or sanded the areas to be welded and for the clamp.......right? MIG's no like em rusty metal

yes, and as I said, .030 didn't work, .023 did. same work piece, same everything, just a difference in wire diameter

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

What size wire liner do you have installed?
could be binding up the .030 in too small of a liner. "probably not"
My Lincoln has had similar issues in the past, i have changed the liner to correct the condition. How many hours on your liner?

 

[that-guy]

What size wire liner do you have installed?
could be binding up the .030 in too small of a liner. "probably not"
My Lincoln has had similar issues in the past, i have changed the liner to correct the condition. How many hours on your liner?

liner is fine, nothing binding, and the machine came with .035 flux core when I bought it, so I know the line is rated for atleast that much

as I said above, I think my problem is that I had the wire going through the .035 groove which caused it to slip, thus only allowing spurts of wire to come out at a time instead of a nice consistent flow of wire

as for hours, I have no idea, my machine doesn't have a feature to tell me that. but I've been using it for sheetmetal work here and there for about 8 years

 

[bon3s]

Sounds like drive wheels, take them out and inspect them, they should be marked which is for what, also I know our shop welders will get a crazy amount of dust in not only the grove that is being used, but also the ones that arent being used. Small steel brush and some mineral spirits to break up the gunk can go along way. Dont use a pick down in the grove, some rollers have more prominent 'teeth' to grip the wire than other brands.

 

[Know Wosad]

I run 030 in the 023 drive wheels. Always have. Set the thing just so the wire curls when you pull the trigger and shoot it to a piece of wood, in other words loosen the tension a bit to slip, then tighten until the wire hits the wood and curves back up when "running a bead" on the wood.
The 140 demands a perfect wire speed. you barely move it and it changes incredible. do it WHILE you weld or getone someone to barley turn while you run a bead. Like tuning an old AM radio at 3 am. Thats where the term c00nt hair originated. Its true. It used to exist !

 

[Farrier]

liner is fine, nothing binding, and the machine came with .035 flux core when I bought it, so I know the line is rated for atleast that much

as I said above, I think my problem is that I had the wire going through the .035 groove which caused it to slip, thus only allowing spurts of wire to come out at a time instead of a nice consistent flow of wire

as for hours, I have no idea, my machine doesn't have a feature to tell me that. but I've been using it for sheetmetal work here and there for about 8 years

Change your liner out and see if it helps. 8 years for one liner is a long time. If you exclusively used 0.23 over that time period, all sorts of junk can build up in the liner.

 

[that-guy]

I run 030 in the 023 drive wheels. Always have. Set the thing just so the wire curls when you pull the trigger and shoot it to a piece of wood, in other words loosen the tension a bit to slip, then tighten until the wire hits the wood and curves back up when "running a bead" on the wood.
The 140 demands a perfect wire speed. you barely move it and it changes incredible. do it WHILE you weld or getone someone to barley turn while you run a bead. Like tuning an old AM radio at 3 am. Thats where the term c00nt hair originated. Its true. It used to exist !

tried it last night and works no problem now. sure enough, it was just slipping on the drive wheel since the groove is too large...oh well, you live and you learn

 

[Playwme]

I've had an issue with my 180c where the drive wheel was separating. It was actually 2 pieces pressed together and one side could be popped out a fraction giving an uneven drive groove.
Replaced it and it's been so so much nicer to use. Make sure you're wire feed cable is still fully inserted into the machine too. Had an instance where I must have pulled on it and it came out about quarter inch.