Clarke 160T Wire Feed Issue...

[silverzx]

Morning all!

Was in the process of welding a flexi pipe into my downpipe on my car last night and half way through the welder stopped working.

After a quick look it appeared the wire had clogged up in the feed.

I pulled the wire out, cut it and fed in some fresh wire and it fed all the way through until after the torch brass block (post liner) and then stopped, hit something and blocked up at the wire roller again. I tried this three times and same thing happened each time.

Obviously there is a blockage somewhere near/after the torch brass block but I'm not sure where and whether there is anything I can try before replacing it altogether with a new swan neck -


Clarke MIG 160/165 Swan-Neck Assembly
£18.45 (inc VAT)
No.5 in the diagram. Complete with Items No.4 & No.3

Should I try poking some wire down from the tip end? Should I change the tip?


The downpipe:



The problem:

 

[Cobbler]

If you remove the tip, there is a coiled spring guide that runs up inside the swan-neck, it's only a guess, but I would think the wire is binding in there. From memory the swan-neck removes from the gas valve ( the brass block) with a grub screw & unscrews out. The spring then pulls out. There is nothing more in the swan-neck to cause a blockage & if it is in good nick there is no point in changing it. The springs can get damaged & won't allow the wire through, once it's stuck, refeeding the wire can have the wire passing to the side of the side of the spring. I hope this makes sense.

 

[silverzx]

If you remove the tip, there is a coiled spring guide that runs up inside the swan-neck, it's only a guess, but I would think the wire is binding in there. From memory the swan-neck removes from the gas valve ( the brass block) with a grub screw & unscrews out. The spring then pulls out. There is nothing more in the swan-neck to cause a blockage & if it is in good nick there is no point in changing it. The springs can get damaged & won't allow the wire through, once it's stuck, refeeding the wire can have the wire passing to the side of the side of the spring. I hope this makes sense.

Cheers Cobbler. Kind of makes sense, but I'd have to have it in front of me again to understand completely..

I had it apart last night and it seems to get past the block, circled in red.



Are you saying to unscrew the swan neck from the brass block (as circled in yellow)?

That sort of makes sense with it passing to the side of the spring, is this the spring your refferring to?

If so, how do I fix it if it is hitting the side of it?

Sorry for my lack of understanding, I've only used the welder a few times so far!

 

[Cobbler]

That's the spring, it acts as a liner up the swan-neck. From memory, the swan neck unscrews from the block, as I said, there is probably a grub screw to lock it, but I can't be sure but if you look at it it's fairly obvious. I have a funny feeling some of them are left hand thread, I seem to recall someone mentioning it. The spring then slides out from that end. It will then be obvious if there is any damage to it, or its blocked. If it's damaged just replace it. When feeding the wire, make sure that the end is cut cleanly & not bent, or else this is where it will pick up & damage the spring. I would think this is what has happened, you can consider the spring a consumable part along with liners & tips etc.

It looks like you've also got the wire feed tension far too tight, it should be set so it will slip before that happens. Back off the tension on the roller,let it feed the wire through & adjust the tension so you can grip it with your fingers at the torch end & stop it with the rollers slipping. It also looks like the feed is dirty, clean it off & with the tip off blow an air line or foot pump through the liner

 

[silverzx]

That's the spring, it acts as a liner up the swan-neck. From memory, the swan neck unscrews from the block, as I said, there is probably a grub screw to lock it, but I can't be sure but if you look at it it's fairly obvious. I have a funny feeling some of them are left hand thread, I seem to recall someone mentioning it. The spring then slides out from that end. It will then be obvious if there is any damage to it, or its blocked. If it's damaged just replace it. When feeding the wire, make sure that the end is cut cleanly & not bent, or else this is where it will pick up & damage the spring. I would think this is what has happened, you can consider the spring a consumable part along with liners & tips etc.

Sweet, will report with my findings tonight! Thanks for the assistance!

 

[silverzx]

Turned out the spring had bent about half an inch before it enters the shroud/tip area. Snipped that half inch off and it's working again.

Did some welding and toward the end of the evening the wire feed motor stopped working altogether!

The wire pulls in/out freely so theres no blockage.

Is there a seperate fuse or anything independant for the wire feed that I should be checking?

Any ideas why the wire feed motor would stop working? As I say, the wire moves freely if pulled in either direction and there isn't too much tension on the wire.

I've found a complete torch setup for £50-60 on eBay but don't wanna spend money if not needed. The spring on it's own is only £3.35.



Clarke MIG 160/165 Swan-Neck Liner
£3.35 (inc VAT)
No.6 in the diagram

The spring:







The first attempt at welding anything together, a stainless flexi and mild pipe, could of went worse...