Spool tensioner nut is backing off....

[notenuftoys]

I'm a new welder with a Hobart 175 mig welder. I've noticed a problem with the wing nut that holds the 2lb spool on - it slowly backs off the tension resulting in a birds nest on the spool.

There's a nylon nut between the wing nut and the spool. When my son was welding last night I watched that wing nut and sure enough, it was slowly turning counter-clockwise.

I can't crank it down too much or the wire won't feed. Should I replace the nylon washer or can I just put some a tab of dry grease (like I've used in bicycle chains) to help it slide more easily?

This may be a simple problem with a simple solutions, but this is still all new to me so I don't want to mess anything up.

 

[joe49]

Easyway's pull wing nut add a piece of fishing line or nick a thread.

 

[tcianci]

Just use a Ny-loc nut

 

[rlitman]

Just use a Ny-loc nut

Best answer is to find one of these in a wing nut.

If the stud is long enough, you could jam the wing nut against another nut.

 

[notenuftoys]

Best answer is to find one of these in a wing nut.

If the stud is long enough, you could jam the wing nut against another nut.

Perfecto! The stud is just long enough and I found a nut in the misc. nut & bolt collection that fit it. Put the nylon washer on, the new nut and jammed the wing nut against it. Looks like it solved the problem.

I was getting really frustrated. I greatly appreciate the help!

 

[gayler]

I was going to say put a drop of your wife's finger nail polish on the threads before putting the wing nut on. Or some lock tight.

 

[notenuftoys]

I was going to say put a drop of your wife's finger nail polish on the threads before putting the wing nut on. Or some lock tight.

Yea, lock tight would probably work. I finally settled on the Radnor wire, so I don't expect I'll change spools again until this runs out. The projects I have lined up are all basically 1/8' thickness material.

 

[matt_i]

I was going to offer cutting a thrust washer out of a milk jug (LDPE) that's naturally pretty slippery when dry and would reduce the frictional torque that's backing off the nut. Put it between the spool and the wing nut.

 

[48windsor]

Ive had the same problem with my Lincoln Sp100.
I just stopped using the 2lb spools .
The bigger spools have a spacer that fits in the middle . It revolves around it nicely

 

[toplessHO]

put the wing nut on an anvil and tap with hammer slightly to egg shape the threaded part.

 

[rlitman]

put the wing nut on an anvil and tap with hammer slightly to egg shape the threaded part.

It's really hard to control that sort of hammer blow. An easier method to turn a nut into a "top locking nut" is with a punch or chisel.

You can make dimples with a punch like this:

Or for a more aggressively tight fit, with a chisel like this:

 

[VC455]

I like this a lot, thanks.

 

[Mitchw123456]

i had an issue once with mine backing off on my hobart then realized i had the wire spool on basically backwards. In other words as the wire was coming off the spool it was loosening the nut. By simply flipping the wire spool over when it was feeding it wouldn't loosen any longer.