Been fighting with my Millermatic 185....

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inkjunkie

inkjunkie

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bought it back in the late 90's. Used it a bit here and there. Went to use it a while back and struggled....had all sorts of troubles with it.....and sort of gave up. Need to put together a table/lift for when I go to build the bike. First half dozen beads looked great and then all hell broke loose. Felt like a real fool when I figured it out....the roller that controls the pinch, the one above the drive roller, was very dirty. Cleaned it up, damn, I do remember how to weld...:wack:
 
How long has the wire been in the machine?

It may have deteriorated/corroded or has impurities on it.
 
Cheap/bad or old, corroded wire can raise all kinds of hell with a perfectly good wire feed welder. That is something I can say from personal experience and banging my head.

Bought a brand new spool of wire from a generic supplier and eventually threw it in the trash after wasting all kinds of time trying to figure out what was wrong (nothing) with my welder...
 
crackedback said:
How long has the wire been in the machine?

It may have deteriorated/corroded or has impurities on it.
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About 6 months. The tension wheel was very slippery prior to cleaning it. Ever since cleaning it seems to be normal. Just went out and messed around with it again. I may pick up another spool when I am in town tomorrow, just to be safe.
 
Believe it or not the best wire I have ever burned I bought at harbor freight. It was buy one get one free .030 solid non flux core for gas mix welding. After I went through those I bought Lincoln wire, that Lincoln stuff was total crap. I have some wire in there now from my local welding supply... Stuff is better but still not as good as the cheap stuff.
 
Old guy down the road runs his wire thru a foam ear plug prior to it going into the feeder. He told me that the spool on his machine has been "exposed" for close to ten years. His welds look good....hmmm....
 
I was getting irregular wire speed and at last found,, that who-ever put the new wire spool on the spindle,, didn't remove the label,, just pushed the label over the spindle,, trapping the label inside, between the spool and spindle, causing it to bind irregularly,, kept turning up the feed tension,, didn't help.. cleaned the label outta the spool hole,, viola..

hope it helps.
 
65cuda360 said:
It's amazing how many things can be fixed just by cleaning them.
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yup

inertia said:
I was getting irregular wire speed and at last found,, that who-ever put the new wire spool on the spindle,, didn't remove the label,, just pushed the label over the spindle,, trapping the label inside, between the spool and spindle, causing it to bind irregularly,, kept turning up the feed tension,, didn't help.. cleaned the label outta the spool hole,, viola..

hope it helps.
Click to expand...
made that very same mistake..
 
Some tips I got from a friend who was a certified welder:

-Don't ever stand on the wire feed line (if you have feed issues you could have a bad or collapsed liner, they can be replaced)
-keep the wire feed line as straight or as large of coil as you can
-buy a Tweeco gun if you don't have one
-run the next size up tip than the wire
-use a cleaner pre-feed wheel (like the ear plug mentioned above)
-make sure you have a really good ground
-Practice
 
Clean the liner. Most weld suppliers sell a clip on pad that goes on the wire just before the rollers. Wipe the wire clean and lubes the liner.
 
Mad Dart said:
Believe it or not the best wire I have ever burned I bought at harbor freight. It was buy one get one free .030 solid non flux core for gas mix welding. After I went through those I bought Lincoln wire, that Lincoln stuff was total crap. I have some wire in there now from my local welding supply... Stuff is better but still not as good as the cheap stuff.
Click to expand...
Was in town today. Ernie had her coupon thing on her lap & noticed the HF coupons. Picked up a spool....
 
Make sure polarity is correct. If I recall, flux core is often operated at opposite polarity from gas shield wire

Make sure the power connection nuts are tight

As above, make sure the gun / cable is "shook out" and unkinked. Often I have a "glitch" I just shake out the cable and "turn" it 1/2 turn or whatever and it feeds good

Make sure you have the right type feed rollers. I think I accidently got flux core rollers on mine once

I use whatever the tip dip stuff is and it seems to help

On a side note, for the type welding I mostly do, straight CO2 serves me well and it's incredibly cheap.
 
dano said:
Some tips I got from a friend who was a certified welder:

-Don't ever stand on the wire feed line (if you have feed issues you could have a bad or collapsed liner, they can be replaced) just replaced....and never stood on since
-keep the wire feed line as straight or as large of coil as you can yup
-buy a Tweeco gun if you don't have one believe it is a Tweeco, will check
-run the next size up tip than the wire curious as to why?
-use a cleaner pre-feed wheel (like the ear plug mentioned above) picked up some today
-make sure you have a really good ground replaced the cheapo one it came with....
-Practice this is what I need to do more of...
Click to expand...
Thank You Sir....

67Dart273 said:
Make sure polarity is correct. If I recall, flux core is often operated at opposite polarity from gas shield wire it is

Make sure the power connection nuts are tight they are

As above, make sure the gun / cable is "shook out" and unkinked. Often I have a "glitch" I just shake out the cable and "turn" it 1/2 turn or whatever and it feeds good

Make sure you have the right type feed rollers. I think I accidently got flux core rollers on mine once they are

I use whatever the tip dip stuff is and it seems to help mine was old & funky, picked up new tub today

On a side note, for the type welding I mostly do, straight CO2 serves me well and it's incredibly cheap.
can straight co2 be put into a "Mig Mix" bottle?
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Thanks for the tips Del.....
 
I believe you'd have to have the valve changed to a CO2 valve. If you are interested, I'd just look for a CO2 bottle and keep the mix "for when you need it"

My take is that the mix is less spatter, and probably works better on lighter stuff.

Much of the time, my Lincoln 180 is "maxed out" on 1/4 or thicker stuff.

However, I've even done some exhaust work with mine on CO2
 
bOb shingler said:
a small piece of scotch brite pad and a small metal clothes pin just before the drive wheels works wonders at keeping the wire clean.
Click to expand...
Just wondering, will the fibers of the Scotch Brite pad end up in the liner?
 
Hey Doug, I'm going to go buy a new welder today, and I'm looking at using these. It cleans and lubes the wire to help protect the liner in the torch tube.

Pretty inexpensive. You can also lube up a new earplug as well, I will use one until I order these.

http://www.weldaid.com/lube-matic-lube-pad/
 
inkjunkie said:
What can be used as a lube?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, they actually sell a lube with those cleaners I posted, I have not a clue what it is.

I know it would have to be evaporative, so it wouldn't actually collect in the liner and collect dust and dirt.

I have also read on other sites not to use it. Then I've read on some sites that it's a good idea, I dunno.

Maybe some of the "pros" will chime in here.
 
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