Welding help requested

civdiv99

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Hello all,

I have 2 problems, one of which I’m sure the forum can assist me with.

Equipment is a 220v Lincoln MIG welder, .030 wire, 75/25 gas.

When I hit the trigger to start a weld, i get essentially one “pop” and the wire is blown back to the tip in a ball and stuck. Mess with it to free up, try again, and same thing. Before long I give up on the messed up tip, change it, and try again. Sometimes it welds, but let’s just say I budget 30 min per inch of weld and I don’t start a project without a bag full of tips. I’ve had this problem for many years and I’m sure it’s kept me from projects that just weren’t worth the hassle.

The puzzling thing is I am using a voltage (letter) and feed rate (#) combination from the panel on the welder so it should not be that far out of whack. Nevertheless I haven’t the experience to know what it’s telling me and what to change.

The second problem is when the welding goes as intended I never actually see what I am doing. The lens is a #11. The arc strikes and I try to weld of memory of the layout and what I think is a good rate. My eyes never have a chance to focus and adjust to the changes in light. I have never actually seen a puddle. I think that’s an age thing but just in case there are ways to work differently I’m all open to ideas.

Thanks (frustrated)
 
A few things to check... first, make sure you have the polarity correct... then check to make sure the tension is correct on the spool. The spool should be just tight enough to prevent the spool from turning on its own. Next, check the pressure on the drive roller... to loose and the roller will slip on the wire, too tight and it will deform the wire and be difficult to feed through the tip.

I had the same issue with a Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 a few years ago... after learning to properly adjust the spool tension and drive roller, it began welding nicely...

-Bear
 
As to not being able to see the puddle... a #11 may be too dark... I use an auto- darkening helmet, and I'm pretty sure I keep it set at a #9 shade... I would have to check that to be sure, but I think that is right.

-Bear
 
Hello @civdiv99

Have you checked polarity?
Some machines allow you to switch the polarity of the ground clamp and torch for gas shield vs. shielded core wire.

As for seeing what your welding....that is VERY subjective.
I used a ~$100 dollar ebay helmet for MIG and thought it was great.........but then bought a ~$300 helmet for TIG(Lincoln Viking 3350 K3034-3 ) and now I hate to wear anything else for any welding process MIG, TIG or ARC....the new helmet meets _ALL_ my needs.

Also, some helmets allow you to mount a "cheater" lens inside to help with raw magnification.

Keep trying and don't give up. We will help you thru this!

-brino
 
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If the arc strikes and the wire burns back to the tip, your wire isn't feeding right. I would look at control issues on the wire feed or maybe you need to clamp the wire tighter, or the wire groove in the feed wheel is oversized for your diameter. Look at the later before the former, it's the cheaper solution.

If you can't see what you are doing, it's very hard to do a good job. Maybe back the lens down a shade or two, or get an automatic lens that you con adjust. I have had good luck with the Harbor Freight Vulcon helmet, lots of reviews out ther to look at to see if it meets your needs.
 
I have never actually seen a puddle.
Goodness! You must keep changing shade, helmet construction, eyeglass prescription, cheater lens power, or all of the above, until you can SEE the puddle. That is the single most key and fundamental aspect of the welding craft. Every single measure of welding success depends on the weldor's ability to manipulate the puddle as required.
 
Like Brino I use a Lincoln Viking 3350-4C technology K4034-3 hood that has fixed most of my vision problems. Very comfortable headgear also with many adjustments. Also my old eyes like a magnifier or reading glasses about 1.7 diopter. It helps a lot if I use a flood light shining on the project.

It sounds like there is a problem in the wire feed of your mig. Maybe a kinked or torn cable liner? Or too much tension on the wire roll.

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Roy
 
I'm old (70) and can find it nearly impossible to see the puddle at times too. (I started welding as a summer job in high school - so it isn't necessarily inexperience.)
I too tried to use lighter and lighter lenses (or settings) but that didn't help as much as you would think. I find that if I make sure I have ample (read - lots of bright) light on the weld area I can see fine (don't let it shine or reflect in the back of your helmet). And I use the lenses I used to use (normally a 10). I think trying lighter shades of lenses to make up for old eyes makes it worse. The brighter arc makes your irises close down and the puddle gets it darker again.
 
I'm old too, 69, and my poor old eyes don't work as well as the used to. I find that a pair of Dollar Store reading glasses help immensely, about 2 diopter I think. I also bought a $120 Radnor auto hood the other day, not sure what model, but it's an order of magnitude better than the $60 Harbor Freight auto hood, and has replaceable batteries. For MIG I have the shade set to 9 as I recall.
 
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