Welding Help

[Schober Motorsports]

Hey guys,

Just got done putting in a roll bar in my 67 Coronet and I kept having issues with my welder, was looking to see if you guys might have an idea on what may be my issue because I haven't ran into this before... When I'm welding everything is clean and good to go, as soon as I start the welder it'll stop making any noise ( I.e. No "bacon cooking" sound, just silence, maybe even like a whisper sound) even though it is welding and a tear drop of metal starts to form on the end of the wire that is being fed though the gun... Sometimes it'll just pool up and fall right off of what I'm welding. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Welds seem like they don't want to sink into the metal.

Machine is a 140 Pro MIG made by Lincoln, Using .030 wire w/ 75 Argon - 25 CO2

 

[747mopar]

Sounds like your wire isn't feeding. Have you just tried holding the trigger and watching the feed? If your not running a cleaner on your wire they will plug up the wire guide causing it to get tight on the wire preventing it from feeding properly (had it happen before and it does just that). Could have to much tension on the spool as well but definitely sounds like the wire feed is the problem.

 

[Propwash]

Sounds like your wire isn't feeding. Have you just tried holding the trigger and watching the feed? If your not running a cleaner on your wire they will plug up the wire guide causing it to get tight on the wire preventing it from feeding properly (had it happen before and it does just that). Could have to much tension on the spool as well but definitely sounds like the wire feed is the problem.

What he said!


What is your wire speed set at? Try turning that up first, or turning down your amps. Might be cooking in too many amps for the speed you have set.

 

[bm02tj]

This is for your personal safety I would have a pro weld it so tack in place then hire some one to weld
I weld non structural stuff but hire for structural
Bruce

 

[dvw]

Get some scrap and get it figured out before you anything. Does it melt the wire right at the tip? Bad ground cable, loose. Liner in feed cable damaged. wheel tension loose. Did this just start during this project?
Doug

 

[Photon440]

There are different types of welding that you can do with the same equipment, depending on the current and wire speed. For thin stuff like car sheetmetal, I use short circuit welding, which has dozens of sparks per second. Thick metal can use higher power spray welding but would blow through <¼" material. Also, make sure your grounding is good. Look through these for ideas:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/Mig-welding-tips.html

http://www.thefabricator.com/article/consumables/understanding-transfer-modes-for-gmaw

http://www.hobartwelders.com/elearning/

 

[khryslerkid]

Check your settings for wire feed. Change your tip. Check the feed rollers for proper tension, could be slipping there. Think simple first!

 

[Schober Motorsports]

Hey guys, thank you for all the posts! Got out in the garage first thing this morning and started messing with it. I cleaned out the machine as well as the gun/wire liner. Put everything back together, readjusted the tension spring and started doing some practice welds on some scrap rollbar I had. No issues. Welds beautifully. Might of been some kind of dirt in the liner or else I had the wrong tension set... Either way its all good to go now, actually got my bar welded up today and just started to patch the floor back up when I ran out of shielding gas... I'll post pictures a bit later once I get my camera out of the garage!

 

[conv67bdere]

That's what I love about this site - people pitching in to help other people on their Mopars . . . can it get any better than that ? ?

 

[steve from staten island]

cable liners dont last forever. Depending on how much you weld or if it gets dirty or kinked,replace it

 

[MoparBill]

How thick is the tubing for your roll bar/ You may want to use .035 wire- your amperage may be too high for the .030...

 

[Schober Motorsports]

Roll bar is .134 Mild Steel

 

[steve from staten island]

How thick is the tubing for your roll bar/ You may want to use .035 wire- your amperage may be too high for the .030...

---------the heavier the wire the more amperage you need. In my experience a 140 amp machine does not produce the output for.035 wire. You may be able to run it and get away with it on thin metal but on heavier weldments it does not have the output needed for proper penetration.