sip 250 amp mig wire

[andy456]

i have a sip 250 amp mig with external wire reel and having problems with the wire getting damp and rusting slightly as i carry it in my van for work any one know of any spray to stop this that wont bother the weld? thanks

 

[Sean]

i have a sip 250 amp mig with external wire reel and having problems with the wire getting damp and rusting slightly as i carry it in my van for work any one know of any spray to stop this that wont bother the weld? thanks

wd 40
there was a discussion about it with lots of pros and cons - but i dont find it causes any problems ive a bit cotton pad held on to the wire with a clothes peg to help wipe the wire before it goes into the feed.

 

[andy456]

sounds good will try it thanks alot

 

[Windy Miller]

I had a mig in the back of a van for years with an external roll of wire on it. There was a fat bit of webbing strap attached to the back of the welder, that would drape itself over the wire inbetween the faces of the spool. I think the idea was probably to keep dust and sh1t of the wire, but I dont ever remember it going rusty.
A mate of mine saw it, and improvised with a cut down inner tube, and it worked well to keep it clean. Maybe that would be worth a try?
I would have thought that a good quality wire would be fine with the copper coating keeping the rust at bay. I assume that you are using good quality wire?

 

[andy456]

hi mate yeah i think some sort of cover and the wd40 trick will be the way forward thanks for the info and i am using murex wire so fairly decent stuff

 

[gordon stephenson]

Quite often your rust problem can be helped by only buying good quality wire,I find the lincoln wires particularly good, I never have any issues and my garage is far from dry in the winter months.
P.S. Instead of using cloth and a clothes peg, wrap a small piece of scotchbrite around the wire and peg it on with those metal bulldog type clips,

 

[Sean]

its to wipe the oily-ness, off not scrub rust.

Andy might be an idea to blow through or replace the liner before adding oily residue to the rust dust that may be in there

 

[gordon stephenson]

I realised the cloth was to absorb the fluid, But i my opinion really good quality wire does resist rusting in a damp atmosphere,The scotchbrite is good idea just for cleaning the wire before it enters the feed system, you can buy "special" scotchbritre pads for just this purpose from some welding supply shops etc,