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i have a campbell hausfeld (serious duty) mig/x flux wire feed welder. and when i goto weld it sputters along and wont make a consistent beed ive played with the wire speed and the tension but it still does it anyone got any ideas of what else it could be???

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I've never tried flux core so I don't know what to expect from it, but here are some general things to try. They have all happened to me over 30+ years of welding. Try cranking the heat setting higher and readjust wire speed. You need more heat in colder weather than you do in summer. Welders don't seem to like cold. If this doesn't help, make sure the welding tip isn't semi plugged up or change it and try again. You may want to pull out the liner that the wire runs through to see if that is getting plugged up. Also check to make sure your roll of wire turns freely and your line from the welder to the gun is as straight as possible. Loops and S curves cause the wire to rub in the liner and this can slow down wire speed. I have also had the trigger wire go bad and it would only weld if you held the gun in a position that pushed the broken wire together.

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OK i have experience with flux core........ you absolutely want to go mig! ok first off are you weling mig with gas or are you running flux core. OK first off check under the side cover for your power and speed recomended setting set them according to what your welding. next off are you welding perfectly clean steel? rust and other contaminants can cause problems. Ok now that you have the recomended settings and clean metal. The biggest thing for a first time welder is to take your time and be smooth. IF you still have problems i would suggest reading up more on welding. mig will weld much smoother and cleaner that flux core therfore i would strongly recomend it. Oh and one more thing, when you switch from mig to flux you have to reverse the polarity on the welder and vice versa. You may want to make sure that its correct now. its possible to learn on your own i havent had any training at all. i got a welder, read the manual, and started welding. now, as you are i had quite a while of crappy welding but now, almost 5 years later i consider myself to be a pretty good welder for learning all on my own. good luck, Eli

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ive welded for a few years now but this one has me stumped.. i tryed both mig and flux core and it did the same the cable looks like its crooked so i will mess with it some tomorrow. trying to weld my "drip rails" seam up.

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You do need the proper size inner feed wire for the size weld wire. It also should not have any kinks in it. Flux core sucks. It spatters terribly. I have one and have not been using it much. I have been waiting (money) to get tanks to go with it. Yours does sound like it isn't feeding properly. Or, there is voltage setting dial. Are you aware of that.

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Check that the wire doesn't have an corrosion on it. If you leave you welder in the garage year round (and you don't have a heated garage) the temperature swings and moisture cause some corrosion that definitely will produce the problems you're experiencing. Had the exact same thing happen to me until I figured out what was wrong. I take the wire spool off and leave it in a Ziploc bag when not in use.

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Are you using the right type of gas? With the flux core you don't need gas with it. Is the gas pressure high enough? Depending on the heat and wire size you are using you should have the regulator set around 25-30. Are you trying to weld in breezy conditions? Even a ceiling fan can be enough to beeze to mess it up.

 

The key things are clean metal, the proper wire size, gas pressure, and clean metal. Steel doesn't have to be as clean as aluminum but it sure helps.

 

If the wire is corroded or even dusty enough it will effect how it welds. What I've done in the past is take a peice of scratch pad or cloth (something that has NO type of oil residue) and use a paper clip or something and clip it onto the wire after the drive unit but before it enters the cable. Obviously you don't want it too tight. This may not even work on yours, this was done on a push-pull unit, I never had a reason to try it on my little one but the wire needs to be clean. You may have to adjust the wire speed if it puts any drag on the wire. Try using a .025 or .030 wire, .035 is too much for a good weld on sheet metal. As stated before, the polarity is different between flux core and regular wire so make sure it's right.

 

If it is a 110V welder make sure that you are using an extension cord that is rated high enough for the welder, low voltage will hurt the welder and the qulity of weld as well. The best bet is plug it into the wall directly. I had this happen with the little one that I have at home, used a 50' cord with a low rating and couldn't get it to weld good at all. Took me a bit to figure out what the problem was.

 

Hope this helps

 

Don

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I'm with everyone here. If it's flux core, it will spatter no matter what you do.

 

Things to check:

Polarity - I bought a welder that had the thumbscrews on the wrong posts! Check the base of the post for the right polarity

 

Power - If you're using an extension cord, use a HEVAY DUTY cord. I can tell a noticable difference in weld quality between using a short regular extension cord and plugging it directly into the outlet.

 

Good luck!

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I've been using a Millermatic 135 at work. If you use flux core and have a tip that is to large for the wire, you will get spatter.

I've gotten decent results using flux core, but you do get some spatter.

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Hey Hey

Voodoo try to get the same size metal that you are trying to weld and make sure it is real clean grind it wire brush it do all you can to make sure tat it is clean then try to weld it if it does the same thing and you have check every thing on your welder that you can change it might br time to get a new welder, I got one from Home depot lincon wire feed flux core and it work ok on a body bolt that would not comw loose had to cut a U and pull it down and give a spot weld then hamer the U back and weld it (the bumper will hide it)

How about some picture of you guter remover as you do them like when you cut them off any pices you made for fill and the welding and the big onr bondo

Dave

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i will try and get some dave ive got about half of the drivers side gone already. still need to start the passengers side. my camera isnt real clear(cheapo from walmart)

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