Perhaps a REALLY daft question about wire drums.

[Poggle]

Ummmm, my drum squeeks as it rotates......As it squeeks it kindova stutters a wee bit, this is regardless of how loose the tensioner on the drum is.....I am guessing the plastic of the drum is rubbing on the plastic of the spindle bottom so, would it be too stoopid to put some grease or vaseline on to make it not squeek and stutter? I was also thinking of upping the tension on the wire feed wheels but...........

 

[Wozzaaah]

The tensioner should be just tight enough to feed the wire but not too tight that it continues to feed the wire if it sticks in the tip.
If the reel isn't turning evenly then you need to work out why.

 

[keith19]

Check the spindle surface and the corresponding surface on the inside of the reel to see there are any small plastic protrusions causing hesitation at some point in the rotation.
If necessary, use vaseline sparingly, you don't want it getting everywhere. Squeaks aren't so important but hesitation can affect the wire feeding into the weld pool. Does it feed okay when welding?

Also, just in case, study the wire going through the wheels to see if there is any hesitation there, and not just the drum.

 

[Tino]

More tension on the drum may stop the stutter. The squeak is caused by the plastic of the drum rubbing on the plastic of the spindle bottom, its acting as a brake (if you lube it, it wont be a brake any more) to stop the spool when you stop welding, and nothing to worry about. The welders I use sometimes have spells of squeaking.

 

[Wallace]

Ummmm, my drum squeeks as it rotates...... My first thought last night while I was crying about the welding mask!

But seriously......

I thought the SiP Migmate T135 manual might be some help to see if they are similar, SiP should be ashamed of themselves producing such a poor quality handbook. I then found the Rhyas manual online, the quality puts the SiP to shame but only shows a glimpse of the drum spindle.

From what I can see looking at your photos and the Rhyas manual the machine is capable of taking 1kg & 5kg rolls of wire. Reading from the instruction book:

* Unscrew the reel retaining nut from the end of the spool holder and remove the spring.
* Slide the unopened reel of wire onto the spool holder.
* Refit the spring and the retaining nut, take care NOT TO over tighten the nut.

The spring and nut indicates a friction device on the drum spindle which is needed to stop the roll continuing to unwind when you stop welding. What I cannot quite make out from the photos is does the spool holder rotate on it's own spindle or is the drum free to rotate on the spool holder? Looking at the picture below from the Rhyas manual there looks to be a screw (arrowed) that may be to lock the wire drum on the spool holder and if so that would indicate the spool drum rotates on a spindle. If this is the case then the squeak is probably from the spindle or the friction spring.



If your machine comes with the additional hose barb as shown in this photo to adapt the disposable regulator hose to a full size regulator I think that is a very neat feature on a machine that is ready to weld gasless for £150 delivered. I would like to compare the SiP Migmate T135 side by side with one of these Rhyas machines to see the differences and the SiP is listed as not being supplied with a regulator.

Mike

 

[Sean]

plastic often has a high static friction and so it chatters as it sticks and releases if it chatters fast enough its a squeek, could also be too big a hole in the centre of the drum causing the drum to orbit rather than rotate thats when it tries to roll up the side of the spindle.
Grease to stop the friction issues and i found that a nylon washer each side of the spindle gave smooth tension that stopped the big reel overrunning.

 

[Poggle]

Ok chaps, will be looking at it all again today. Never even noticed that screw either!!! Mike, can you send me the URL for the manual? The wee pamphlate that comes with the machine is a bit sparing in its info. As far as I can tell there are no problems with the wire feed, I pressed the switch and watched as I let out around a foot of wire and there was no stutter or jerk in the wire...........Only the bozo holding it

 

[Poggle]

The spring and nut indicates a friction device on the drum spindle which is needed to stop the roll continuing to unwind when you stop welding. What I cannot quite make out from the photos is does the spool holder rotate on it's own spindle or is the drum free to rotate on the spool holder? Looking at the picture below from the Rhyas manual there looks to be a screw (arrowed) that may be to lock the wire drum on the spool holder and if so that would indicate the spool drum rotates on a spindle. If this is the case then the squeak is probably from the spindle or the friction spring.


If your machine comes with the additional hose barb as shown in this photo to adapt the disposable regulator hose to a full size regulator I think that is a very neat feature on a machine that is ready to weld gasless for £150 delivered. I would like to compare the SiP Migmate T135 side by side with one of these Rhyas machines to see the differences and the SiP is listed as not being supplied with a regulator.

Mike

It does come with the hose barb in place and the drum does indeed rotate around the spindle, it gets pulled off by the feed wheels methinks. On the subject of hoses etc, the pic showed the hose attatched. When the machine arrives it is not attatched so it can be attatched to the valve doofer for the disposable bottles. How does that hose fit into the valve doofer? Do I just "shove" it in and it will grip???

John

 

[Wallace]

How does that hose fit into the valve doofer? Do I just "shove" it in and it will grip???

Yes, make sure the tube end looks neatly cut and round then push it firmly into the fitting, there is an O ring inside that seals the pipe and a barbed ring that grips. Those fittings are releasable by pushing the outer ring in and holding, that releases the barbed ring and the tube should come out easily.

The doofer is a regulator and you need to get that set for the lowest flow you can get away with to weld so you can save that precious gas!

Mike

 

[Poggle]

Yes, make sure the tube end looks neatly cut and round then push it firmly into the fitting, there is an O ring inside that seals the pipe and a barbed ring that grips. Those fittings are releasable by pushing the outer ring in and holding, that releases the barbed ring and the tube should come out easily.

Mike

AH!!! the light doth shineth!!

 

[Wallace]

One of these peashooter Gas Flow Tester's are a worthwhile addition to save money on gas.

 

[Wallace]

Ok chaps, will be looking at it all again today. Never even noticed that screw either!!! Mike, can you send me the URL for the manual? The wee pamphlate that comes with the machine is a bit sparing in its info. As far as I can tell there are no problems with the wire feed, I pressed the switch and watched as I let out around a foot of wire and there was no stutter or jerk in the wire...........Only the bozo holding it

It was in the posting Rhyas manual