Red'n'Black
Forum Supporter
- Messages
- 509
- Location
- Malvern, Worcs
The wire feed on my Migmate started getting really erratic.
The wire feed motor is powered from a 24V PSU as described in one of the guides on here. It also had the orignal torch liner replaced with a Binzel one some years ago, these mods made a huge difference at the time.
First obvious problem, the welder lives in a draughty damp shed and the wire has gone rusty over the winter. Usually this means the liner is also full of rust, so I ordered a new Binzel one.
When I came to pull the old liner out, the plastic covering seems to have melted over about a 4" section. The cable carrying the welding current also looks a bit melted in the same place:
There are no obvious signs of damage to the outer sheath of the torch, so it looks like the wire overheated rather than me lying the torch down on something hot. Maybe some of the strands broke and the remaining ones couldn't cope? Either way, melted plastic inside the liner isn't going to help.
I'm going to replace the cable, but the standard one looks a bit weedy to me - it measures 8mm^2 compared with 16mm^2 for the cable on the earth clamp. Is it worth going up a size or two, so long as it still fits in the sheath?
I've unwound and thrown away the top layer of wire off the spool and what's underneath looks OK. I'll keep the spool in the house until I come to use the machine again, do most people unwind the wire when it's not in use? I was always too lazy to do this, particularly as re-loading the wire is really fiddly on this machine and I usually have to pull the swan-neck to bits to thread it through.
The wire feed motor is powered from a 24V PSU as described in one of the guides on here. It also had the orignal torch liner replaced with a Binzel one some years ago, these mods made a huge difference at the time.
First obvious problem, the welder lives in a draughty damp shed and the wire has gone rusty over the winter. Usually this means the liner is also full of rust, so I ordered a new Binzel one.
When I came to pull the old liner out, the plastic covering seems to have melted over about a 4" section. The cable carrying the welding current also looks a bit melted in the same place:
There are no obvious signs of damage to the outer sheath of the torch, so it looks like the wire overheated rather than me lying the torch down on something hot. Maybe some of the strands broke and the remaining ones couldn't cope? Either way, melted plastic inside the liner isn't going to help.
I'm going to replace the cable, but the standard one looks a bit weedy to me - it measures 8mm^2 compared with 16mm^2 for the cable on the earth clamp. Is it worth going up a size or two, so long as it still fits in the sheath?
I've unwound and thrown away the top layer of wire off the spool and what's underneath looks OK. I'll keep the spool in the house until I come to use the machine again, do most people unwind the wire when it's not in use? I was always too lazy to do this, particularly as re-loading the wire is really fiddly on this machine and I usually have to pull the swan-neck to bits to thread it through.