wire feed speed

[BrokenBiker]

can anyone tell me what the average range for wire feed speed is in inches per minute?

think there may be an issue with this CWS but until i know how much wire it should be chucking out i wont know

it seems awfully slow though

 

[123hotchef]

inches we aint left the EU yet!

 

[BrokenBiker]

inches we aint left the EU yet!

no but everyone on here that would likely give me tha answer probably works in inches...im happy to accept metric per minute too lol

 

[pedrobedro]

Does it weld or are you just watching the wire come out of the tip ? Here's something the forum threw up.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Does it weld or are you just watching the wire come out of the tip ? Here's something the forum threw up.

#i havent got gas yet so just watching the wire come out so far...still seems slow though...50 inches per minute on full blast...

will check the link out

 

[BrokenBiker]

How are you getting a figure of 50ipm?

pull trigger for 6 seconds, measure wire thats given out, multipoly by 10...im getting 5 inches of wire in 6 seconds

 

[BrokenBiker]

That sounds slow...

Does the feed motor sound different if you slack off (or just undo) the tensioner?

no still the same...i took tension roller off and it didnt alter, backed the retaining screw off the feed foller and still the same, took wire off all together and roller is still the same speed...

have emailed CWS about it, waiting for a reply...the good news is BOC have sent me my account number so i can get gas in the morning

the annoying thing is, it has a fast wire feed button for putting new reels on and that works fine and throws the wire out the end of the torch like i would expect it to come out with the WFS on 10

 

[pedrobedro]

Get some gas and weld with it. It probably has some kind of circuitry to soft start the arc so you don't get a push back when the wire hits the metal initially.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Get some gas and weld with it. It probably has some kind of circuitry to soft start the arc so you don't get a push back when the wire hits the metal initially.

That had occurred to me...I am going to nip out and get some gas later on

 

[gordon stephenson]

BB, Some mig sets do not give proper set speed until the arc is struck, just a creep speed as the trigger is pressed,until the welding commences, I had the same query from the person I sold the Lorch 256 to, Over the moon when i told him every thing was as it should be,

 

[BrokenBiker]

Right I've got gas...won't be home til about half 6 but I've got clean steel in the garden so just have to plumb in and see what happens.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Good news, just had a reply off graham, it's got a soft start as described above...

Can't wait to get home and melt some wire now

 

[Jim Davey]

What voltage setting are you on? Does the wire feed speed increase as you move up the voltage range?

 

[BrokenBiker]

What voltage setting are you on? Does the wire feed speed increase as you move up the voltage range?

No, no matter what it is set at it doesn't alter, and strangely the dial I would call the voltage dial is labelled as amps...

Had a reply from cws and they say it has a soft start where it won't chuck wire out properly until an arc is established, partly to keep wear and tear down on consumables, partly to help starting the weld and also to minimise wire loss if you have a bad earth as it will only chuck an inch out before you notice, rather than 10-12 inches

 

[Jim Davey]

People think of the voltage control as amps, but really the welding amperage is a direct result of wire feed speed.

 

[BrokenBiker]

People think of the voltage control as amps, but really the welding amperage is a direct result of wire feed speed.

The thing that is confusing me is, when I adjust the knob marked as amps, the dro shows the amps going up or down...

 

[Jim Davey]

Its probably got a pre-set amperage range in its memory then, that swaps over to actual amps once the arc starts.

 

[BrokenBiker]

It matches up with the mma amps so I'm assuming it's just taking it from there as a rough guide.

The manual says to set the amps and wire feed for various thicknesses of steel too

As long as it welds I don't care really, just as easy to write down amps and wire feed as it is to write down volts and wire feed once the settings are good

 

[TechnicAl]

Its called CV = Constant Voltage so the voltage stays as set. The other variable is WFS which controls the amps. It provides enough amps to melt the wire at the speed thats been set. The stick out can affect it a little. Short will increase the amps (so it melts quicker) and long reduces the amps (so it melts a little slower)

Look at it as CONSTANT deposition rate with variable penetration (amps)