Can anybody help???

[SteveybR26]

Hi all, as you will see I'm new here, and I have a turbomig 195 that I bought cheap, it was welding fine and now it won't. I'm thinking its a wire feed problem, and there are a million posts on here about solving it. The problem is, I don't know where to start, as I'm not electronically minded. I can strip and fit new parts, but all the different lingo completely fries my brain. So my question is, could somebody post a shopping list for me, so I can go and get the parts, then all I need is a step by step guide.

I know that's probably a lot to ask, but it would be a massive help! Thanks in advance!

Steveyb

 

[Wozzaaah]

First things first, "it was welding fine and now it won't" doesn't give us enough info to work with.
What is not happening? Is the wire not feeding smoothly?

Is the wire old or new?
Is the liner in need of replacement?
New Tip?
No point in spending money before ruling out the obvious...and the cheap solutions.

 

[SteveybR26]

Hi wozzaaah! When I bought it, it was ok, I could weld a semi decent run, (mainly tube, car doors boots etc for race cars) but it did suffer with stopping and starting. So I went out and fitted a new euro torch upgrade, steel liner, new earth cable, gave it a good clean out. After this it was ok, but now it's stopped feeding altogether. I pull the trigger and I clicks, but won't feed the wire. The wire is old, but not rusty or kinked. I could renew the wheels, do you think this would help?

 

[Wozzaaah]

When you pull the trigger does the feed motor actually turn?

 

[SteveybR26]

Yeah, but very very juddery, but it won't grab the wire and its adjusted all the way on the screw now

 

[Wozzaaah]

Next step: Take the tension right off and watch the feed roller, is it still juddering or is it now rotating smoothly?
It may simply be a bad roll of wire, I had one once and no adjustments whatsoever would make it feed properly so it went in the bin.
Put a fresh roll on and ran it out from start to finish with no issues whatsoever.

 

[mike 109444]

Yeah, but very very juddery, but it won't grab the wire and its adjusted all the way on the screw now

Once you get this fault sorted avoid screwing the tensioner down hard as there should be some allowance for the wire to slip if there is a jam.
As wozz has said with no load the wire feed roller should run evenly if it does then with the roller still backed off and the wire feed right through to the tip then unscrew the tip and grip the wire poking out the gun with some pliers and pull. If you struggle to pull the wire (spool tight, liner damaged ?) then the motor is also going to struggle! There was a post sometime back where someone experimented using a weight (bag of sugar if I recall) (rather than the pulling with pliers) to gauge what force was required to move the wire.

 

[eSCHEn]

There was a post sometime back where someone experimented using a weight (bag of sugar if I recall) (rather than the pulling with pliers) to gauge what force was required to move the wire.

It was one of the tutorials Mike - http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/sip-wirefeed.htm

 

[SteveybR26]

Cheers all, I haven't tested with weight yet, but with no load it does speed up and slow very slightly, I can pull the wire through but it does take a bit of effort, so will try and get a video of it later on. Thanks again for all the advice..

 

[the snooper]

If it takes effort to pull the wire through with the tension roller removed you have a problem with the liner or tip

 

[mike 109444]

If it takes effort to pull the wire through with the tension roller removed you have a problem with the liner or tip

Or the clutch (anti roll-on) device in middle of wire spool.

 

[SteveybR26]

Well I've now got a couple of bits, new steel liner and a new drive wheel, so I will put these parts in and see.

 

[SteveybR26]

So I fitted the new liner and drive wheel, and these are the results.

 

[mike 109444]

well the welds look even enough (feed ok) BUT unless you have some more power then you are not "welding" the two plates together as there does not look to be much fusion between the weld and the plates. Is that 1/4" thick metal ? (what wire size are you using 0.6 or 0.8 ?)

 

[SteveybR26]

I'm using .8 wire, and the plates were just 2 scrap pieces I found on the floor of the garage. I usually Weld thin car body panels, and sometimes 2.5-3.0 mm tube

 

[mike 109444]

Ah should be good to go then