help wanted advise on wire?

[bettinson2005]

hi all
last night i was doing a bit of welding when the wire feed started to slow almost to a stop ? so i checked the wire and its almost full (large roll) the motor for the feed is working fine and also is the speed? what i did notice was if i loosened the wire it would feed perfect. then as it got back to the roll it would start to tighten. could the wire be shot? its not been used for a while. could a new roll cure this problem cheers carl welder is a miller 201 gas

 

[rtbcomp]

Is there some way of adjusting the friction on the reel?

Does the wire feed off the reel ok or has it become trapped under a coil?

 

[backpurge]

Think rtb is on the right lines, another solution may be if you have corrosion on the surface of the wire (you said it hadn't been used for a while) this could cause the drive rolls to skid when it comes up against the added resistance of having to pull wire off the reel.

 

[bettinson2005]

Is there some way of adjusting the friction on the reel?

Does the wire feed off the reel ok or has it become trapped under a coil?

hi yes it does have a friction adjuster. which i have tryed? the wire once loosened feeds great . its just when it get bact to its normal wire tension thats when it seams to stop?or realy slow down. its as if the wire is stuck together?? if i hold the trigger and turn the roll by hand it feeds great this is why i thought it could be the wire

 

[backpurge]

hi yes it does have a friction adjuster. which i have tryed? the wire once loosened feeds great . its just when it get bact to its normal wire tension thats when it seams to stop?or realy slow down. its as if the wire is stuck together?? if i hold the trigger and turn the roll by hand it feeds great this is why i thought it could be the wire

Could be corrosion on the wire, pull a load off of the reel so that you get down to the layer below and try again.

A usefull tip if you only use the welder occasionally is. Take the reel off of the welder when not in use and put it in an air tight plastic bag, fill the bag with shielding gas and seal the bag

 

[Bsmith]

Is there some way of adjusting the friction on the reel?

(The adjusting screw in the middle of the reel holder)

Its there to stop the reel over running.
Try undoing it a bit so there is less resistance on the reel.

 

[bettinson2005]

Is there some way of adjusting the friction on the reel?

(The adjusting screw in the middle of the reel holder)

Its there to stop the reel over running.
Try undoing it a bit so there is less resistance on the reel.

cheers will try that when i get home

 

[bettinson2005]

Could be corrosion on the wire, pull a load off of the reel so that you get down to the layer below and try again.

A usefull tip if you only use the welder occasionally is. Take the reel off of the welder when not in use and put it in an air tight plastic bag, fill the bag with shielding gas and seal the bag

cheers ill give that a go thanks

 

[Wozzaaah]

It could simply be a badly wound reel, I've had one before.
It looked fine but refused to feed smoothly, replaced it with a new one and the problem was solved.
When you say large reel, is it 5 or 15kg? If it's 15 then it's likely to be PLW (precision layer wound) rather than random wound so that shouldn't be the problem but many 5kg ones are random wound and vary in quality.