Are you slackening the feed roller pressure

[pidgeon chit welder]

As the title says :- Are you slackening the feed rollers when not using one of these home mig welders ? I'm curious ...for I can see a need to do it and also no reason to do it as it upsets things that are already setup.

What are your views guys and gals ?

 

[Iain Westland]

I only ever slacken my rollers when changing wire, but I use my machine 5 days out of 7.

iain

 

[mike os]

I always release tension.... but usually just release the tension mechanism rather than adjust it.
even semi/pro units can "weaken" if left leaded unnessisarily

 

[malcolm]

Mine is kept on a really light setting for normal use. It's got a quick release, but I'd be amazed if the spring deteriorated significantly over time. If it does there's plenty of adjustment left.

Even my Renault springs don't seem to settle much over 40 years, and they've got nearly 200kg on them.

 

[Archie]

I leave mine done up fairly tight. Tight enough that if the wire sticks to the end of the tip it'll unstick itself.

 

[Robotstar5]

Some of our weldsets at work have never been altered for 5 years, the only time I've had to change a tension spring is when it's been physically damaged.

 

[Bsmith]

Nope mine is under tension all the time, been for 20 years apart from when I change the wire reel.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Thanks for the replies guys,
Experience , age and cunning beat youth every time , I'll be leaving things set as they are from now on.

David

Ps. DOB 21 /12/ 50

 

[backpurge]

As said, no need to slacken pressure, you shouldn't have that much tension on them anyway, ideally if you nip the wire between your fingers fairly tight and press the trigger the drive rolls should start to slip and not feed any wire through.

Too much tension puts undue stress on components, drive motor etc and can cause the coating on the wire to break up which will eventually clog your liner and lead to wire feed problems

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

I just flick the tension latch off when I remove the wire to put it away in the house. There's no need to adjust the actual tension except for maybe a slight tweak with a new roll of wire.

Unless you're using a fair bit of wire every day it's not a good idea to leave the wire in the welder.

Regards
Peter

 

[Dr pepper]

Yep I do.
I leave mine for a long time sometimes unused, and one time the wire went rusty and made a messy patch on the feed roller, and you could hear and feel it as you were welding going over the bad bit.
So I spose if your laying up yer rig release the tension.

 

[sapperb]

Very good question. I have always wondered that. I have tension on mine but not a whole lot. Just enough to push the wire.