Clark Pro 90 no heat/pentration after changing wire

[Boyes]

Hi all,

I'm currently in the process of restoring my Suzuki Sj to a road worthy state (MOT Legal )

I bought a clarke Pro 90, after reading reviews of them being half decent for the price (and I only wanted to weld car panels, so the max of 2mm would be fine) it's been welding fine since I got it I converted to refillable bottle (courtesy of work ) and that was even better!

So i practiced a little, concentrating on my penetration then I started welding on the car (Doesn't have to be neat it's an off road toy, so gets bashed about) it's not the best in the world but the other day, the wire ran out (Clarke wire that came with it) and so I installed Sealey 0.6mm wire, fed it through all happy (Only thing I noticed was that a spring seemed to appear out of the swan neck, not fall out but appear so i pushed it back in, I presumed this to the the liner).

So i put the contact tip and shroud back on and started welding again, but it won't weld it doesn't get hot enough or glow, even on 2 max it doesn't pentrate the wire gets hot, but the steel doesn't..

It just sizzles like it's too hot and going to burn through, no crackling.

I have wire feeding in (Doesn't tangle or slip),
Gas 6 LPM I have a flow meter (Plenty of gas in bottle),
Earth lead was attched on a nice shiney bit of metal, and inside the welder,

And since it was only after I changed the wire it stopped welding, I think that's my problem (unless I created one installing the wire ).

Does anyone have any suggestions (Sealey do crap wire) or I'm just an idiotin general any input will be appreciated.

Cheers Alex

 

[Sean]

did you use the right tip for the wire?

the thicker wire will weld hotter thats why its recomended to use the thin wire for body work you may have to up the power and wire speed to get similar results with the ,6

if you had it going well on ,8 get some more ,8

also a big old lump of car chassis will soak up a lot more heat than some scrap test pieces chassis work with small welders isnt much fun - Sip 105 here

 

[Boyes]

Hi,

thanks for that sean yes I have a box of 0.6mm tips, and it was running 0.6mm wire before, both on scrap (fresh off cuts) and on car it doesn't penetrate/heat up.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[keith19]

I'd check out the torch inside, just to make sure everything is secure. I don't think the spring liner should be moving about in there.

 

[Harryroth]

Hi, really new to mig welding. As my mini needed some work on boot floor ( wasn't going to pay some1 else for job) I have been practicing all week using different settings, wire speeds the lot. I have a good earth connection but just can't seem to get a good penetrating weld, it just kinda lies on the top of the metal in balls and splatters everywhere. But saying that sometimes it's fine? I have a clarke 100e and am using pure c02 could that be the problem? Or maybe gas flow rate. Any help would really be great.

 

[forger]

Hi Harry,

Have you cleaned the weld area back to bare metal (Kno it's obvious but you said you were quite new).

Also take out the contact tip and run some wire through the swan neck, pay close attention to how the wire is feeding - is it vibrating or feeding in stops and starts? that could indicate a wire feed or liner prob - worth checking

 

[Harryroth]

Thanks for reply, yes area is well cleaned and I can't see a problem with feed, liner etc.. Any other ideas ?

 

[keith19]

Harry, have you double-checked the earth lead connections? Not just where it clamps the metal, but where the cable wires connect to the clamp itself, then follow the earth cable back into the machine and check the earth connection in there. A poor connection anywhere in the circuit means lack of heat in the weld.

If you are welding a mini floor with a 100E somewhere near the top of its settings and using CO2, you should be more in danger of blowing through than of the weld balling up.

Other causes could be poor gas supply (Are you using a throwaway can?), and too slow or erratic wire feed, or even holding the torch too far away from the job.

Have you tried to see if you get the same result on a piece of clean thin steel, say 0.8 to 1.00 mm, on the bench? This then rules out anything to do with the mini.

 

[Harryroth]

Have checked earth lead right in to machine, the only thing that is eye catching is there is a small rip in rubber cover as in goes through the hole into the welder? Should I still undo earth terminal clean and put back? And is it worth checking the positive in handle? And should my settings be a little higher if using pure c02 just to make sure it's not setting? Cheers again.

 

[keith19]

Best check the rip in the cable, it may not be deep enough to be important. But it may be allowing the wires inside the cable to contact the metal case if it's really bad and has gone right through.

Personally I would go through all the connections to and from the torch and to and from the earth clamp, just to check they are corrosion-free and good and tight.

You could do with someone checking out whether the welds balling up is due to inexperience in technique, or some problem with the machine settings, or the machine itself.

You could try higher settings, but CO2 burns a little hotter than Argon/CO2 mix anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem. Start with all your settings - wire and power - in the top quarter of the range, preferably on some clean scrap, and see what results you get. Wire speed should be set fast enough to hit the metal and push back your torch to start with, then gradually ease off the wire speed until the arc starts to crackle nicely.

If you are new to this hold the torch quite close to the work; most people starting up tend to either hold the torch too far away, or start a weld, jerk their hand away a fraction, then start another, instead of keeping the torch in close and steady and not too fast moving. Use your free hand to steady the torch and keep it in close. Take a look at the tutorials to get the idea, it's easier to learn from film than from words. A mate who can weld is best of all. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Harryroth]

Turns out it was the earth, the nut that attaches it to inside of welder was lose? Bit weird, but then again was bought secondhand never know who's being messing about. Welds are looking better and I'm getting the penetration at last. Thanks for the replys.