My MIGs broken. Replacement Parts??

[reb78]

I was just doing a bit of welding tonight, when the wire feed stopped. I could hear the motor, so thought the wire had jammed. I looked at the welder and it looked like the torch had disconnected from the body and the wire was spewing out there. On closer inspection, the torch was connected, and the section that it connects to had actually become detached from the wire feed tube. The threads had stripped where the section the torch locks into screws into the wire feed tube. This must have happened when it was made (2-3) years old i think and its been weak and finally broken.

This pic shows the broken part in situ:

This shows the stripped thread:

This pic shows the thread on the end of the wire feed tube (i've removed it from the machine at this point:

Can i buy the part in pic 1 as a replacement part? The welder is a Butters AMT 180C (since its where the torch connects, i'm hoping its common to many machines and not just this one!)

As a temporary repair, can i wrap PTFE tape around the end of the wire feed tube such that it sits tighter in what little thread is left in the broken bit? - if i use PTFE tape, will this either mess up an earth connection since the wire feed tube is earthed, or get too hot here (i've no idea if this part gets hot during use!)

Any other ideas to repair it??

Thanks

 

[Fintray]

reb78

You won't be able to use PTFE tape as this will prevent the current from reaching the torch, would be best to source a replacement socket.

 

[awemawson]

If the two insulated connectors for the triger wire can be pushed out ok then you can bore out the threaded hole oversize, and silver solder a threaded sleeve to bring it back to standard. However if the insulated connectors will not come out they would be destroyed by the heat of silver soldering. Relatively straight forward job with a lathe. Maybe 3 hours work with the setting up taking most of it.

 

[mike 109444]

As a temp fix use cooking foil like you would use the ptfe tape. The foil will conduct and if built up enough will give a tight fit without further damage.

 

[Sub-arc]

Another temp fix would be to drill and tap a couple of threads in the side of the block and screw in a couple of grub screws M8 maybe. In Pic 2 lets say the gas hose is at 8 o'clock , tap at 2 and 4 o'clock.

That whole part should be available at most welding suppliers. I think its called a euro block.

 

[reb78]

Thanks for all of the advice. A new part was suprisingly easy to obtain and fit in the end. I have the old parts and might look at repairing them somehow so that i have them ready if the same happens again. For those that might need to know, apparently that block i pictured is known as the CTA block. I got the replacement (including the wire feed section) for £18.00 plus vat. The wires and gas tube also came attached to it, so it was just a case of plugging them in at the other end.

With respect to fixing the broken bits, i guess i could braze them together perhaps? There is no reason why i would want to take them apart ever (that i can think of for now!)

 

[the snooper]

you could just soft solder them toghether even easier