Burn back / wire feed issues???

[winder]

Hi. I recently finished a 12 week welding course ( hobby / interest, not accredited ) and thought i'd get myself a second hand mig.
I bought a Sip Migmate 150 as it had all the features i was looking for.
It was bought for one job by the pevious owner then put back in the box and left sitting for 5 years, it does look like new.
There was light rust on the reel of wire but i took off the top few layers and and it was shiney and new looking.
Tried using it today and had some issues.
No matter what setting i had it on the wire kept burning back and interrupting the wire feed. When i just pressed the trigger to feed wire it seemed to feed fine. As soon as i weld it just burns back.
I tried altering the stick out and gas flow (CO2), wire speed and power and the speed at which i moved the torch. Sometimes it would let me form a puddle and start to weld but eventually it would burn back.

It has a reasonably full 5KG reel of 0.6 wire and i have tightened the wheels of the motor down.
Power is high/ low on main switch then min/med/max on fine tune.
I had a good clean earth.
Metal was mild steel tubing 2mm thick.

Also when i removed the tip to inspect there was a small spring behind the tip that is now somewhere in my garden and i need a new one.

Is it my crap technique as the machines in college were much easier to use or is there something i should do with my set up/equipment?

 

[evobilly666]

Have you tried playing with the drag on the spool? It may be set too high and stopping the wire feed fractionally too soon. I have mine set so the spool doesn't run on when i release the trigger allowing the reel to unravel but no tighter. I also adjust it as i use wire as less weight on the reel changes things. Probably not necessary but I've always done it.

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the forum - sorry for the pessimism, but that could explain why it was put back in the box after one job.

 

[evobilly666]

Never a truer word was spoken!

 

[skotl]

Hi. I recently finished a 12 week welding course ( hobby / interest, not accredited ) and thought i'd get myself a second hand mig.
I bought a Sip Migmate 150 as it had all the features i was looking for.
It was bought for one job by the pevious owner then put back in the box and left sitting for 5 years, it does look like new.
There was light rust on the reel of wire but i took off the top few layers and and it was shiney and new looking.
Tried using it today and had some issues.
No matter what setting i had it on the wire kept burning back and interrupting the wire feed. When i just pressed the trigger to feed wire it seemed to feed fine. As soon as i weld it just burns back.
I tried altering the stick out and gas flow (CO2), wire speed and power and the speed at which i moved the torch. Sometimes it would let me form a puddle and start to weld but eventually it would burn back.

It has a reasonably full 5KG reel of 0.6 wire and i have tightened the wheels of the motor down.
Power is high/ low on main switch then min/med/max on fine tune.
I had a good clean earth.
Metal was mild steel tubing 2mm thick.

Also when i removed the tip to inspect there was a small spring behind the tip that is now somewhere in my garden and i need a new one.

Is it my crap technique as the machines in college were much easier to use or is there something i should do with my set up/equipment?

Welcome to the forum

SIPs aren't bad. Well, they aren't great, but they aren't bad. With a bit of attention.
Echoing pdg's post, I had my SIP for around 3 years and it did everything I needed in that time, albeit with a bit of effort.

I'd definitely start with evobilly's suggestion of having a play with the wire feed tension - if you're lucky then that's a 3 minute fix.

If not, then you're into either offloading it or modifying it. If you're at all handy, especially with electrics, then the chances are that you could transform the welder for £50 of bits. Here's my list of mods on my SIP TopMIG 150.

Good luck, let us know how you're getting on, and keep asking questions!

 

[winder]

Thanks! The sprung nut that the wire reel is held on with is pretty tight so that's the first thing to change.
I'll not be finding that swan neck liner anytime soon but now I know what it's called I guess I can order a new one.
As it's not a euro torch do I need to buy a new tip and swan neck liner specific to the make/model or are they a universal fit?

Thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it.

 

[winder]

Welcome to the forum

SIPs aren't bad. Well, they aren't great, but they aren't bad. With a bit of attention.
Echoing pdg's post, I had my SIP for around 3 years and it did everything I needed in that time, albeit with a bit of effort.

I'd definitely start with evobilly's suggestion of having a play with the wire feed tension - if you're lucky then that's a 3 minute fix.

If not, then you're into either offloading it or modifying it. If you're at all handy, especially with electrics, then the chances are that you could transform the welder for £50 of bits. Here's my list of mods on my SIP TopMIG 150.

Good luck, let us know how you're getting on, and keep asking questions!

Just read the description on modifying the input for the wire feed motor and I'd be a bit out of my depth there.
If it said "cut wire 3 and solder to wire 4" etc I'd be fine but I didn't get a manual with mine and seems they are all wired up differently.
I do like fiddling about with things though so I'll bookmark it for a later date.
Cheers

 

[winder]

I'll strip the torch tomorrow if I get a chance. I'll try and dig that swan neck out of the grass but think it's gone forever.

 

[winder]

New torch liner and swan neck liner ordered.

 

[Sausage]

I've got a SIp migmate 100 amp that i bought new 30 years ago, it was transformed by putting in a steel liner from tip to rollers about 7 years ago.

 

[wacky7791]

Winder here's the power feed mod as simple as i can put it, and mines a SIP 150 gas/gasless so should look similar to yours

1/ DC feed from your new power supply, in my case a 19v dell laptop PSU. negative goes to the feed motor negative, positive goes to the black wire of the PCB connector marked 2 in my image below.
2/ DC positive feed into PCB from your new PSU is the black wire here.
3/ 240v relay wired to the actuate as per the second diagram (lifted from the other page) this takes 1 connection to the 'low /high' switch input and the other to the 'max/min' input.
The white cable from connector marked ''2 is what feeds the motor of the wire feeder, you need to cut this wire and connect it across the relay (3)
4/ power for you're new PSU is taken from the switched side of the main on/off switch.
5/ multiturn pot replacing the single turn pot.

so, in this system power is always being fed through the control PCB and the relay stops it reaching the motor. when you pull the trigger the A/C being fed to the switches closes the relay and power is fed to the feed motor. when you release the trigger the relay switches and the motor terminals are shorted causing it to stop dead so no run on.

 

[Kent]

Yeah? I put my money on it being something or nothing

Spool tension
Wire feed roller settings / wrong Grove / loose
Wire feed set to low creating a long arc and burn back
Damaged or worn tip
Damage or crud in the wire liner in the torch

Of course it could be fubar but check out all the easy stuff first