Where do you store your Mig?

[panrixx]

Obviously, being an electrical piece of equipment a MIG/TIG/ARC machine would be best stored in a nice warm and dry location. However, how tolerant are these machines to being kept in a drafty garage that becomes cold and damp in the depths of the winter? What would happen to the machine/electricals under these conditions.

Reason I ask is that my garage is not sealed at the moment as it needs fresh air to stop the uninsulated, corrogated, plastic roof from condensating too much.

I have planning permission to change this roof to a green roof. So when this is done the garage can then be sealed and heated. In the mean time I need to know if I need to keep it inside the house (the wife will be pleased).

 

[aametalmaster]

In my bedroom right next to me! Just kidding in the garage of course, cold in the winter and warm in the summer...Bob

 

[shenion]

Mine is in my garage. It does have a flooding problem. I keep my wire in ziplock bags, pust silica gel in bags of Al.

Mine is fine, but garage has very slow temp variations. If I was storing mine in a shed, I would remove the feed roller, tip, shroud and put in air-tight bag.

My old MIG feeder had a solid coating of rust on the feed roller. Was just surface rust, so polished off easily. It was in an open garage and not used for years.

Now, the new feed roller is bright and shiny thanks to aametamaster

Another option is to get a large trash bag, put the MIG in it (assuming it is a smaller unit) and put a can of Damp-Rid in the bottom and seal it up.

A big unit, you could put a can of damp-rid in the wire feed and bag up the wire.

 

[malcolm]

I have the welder in the garage. Condensation can be an issue in the winter so all the reels of different types of wire are stored in the house on top of a cupboard.

The insides of the welder do go a bit rusty over time (transformers etc), but that doesn't seem to affect the performance of the welder.

Do we get a photo of the new roller Shenion?

 

[aametalmaster]

Do we get a photo of the new roller Shenion?

Ya since i didn't take a pic before i shipped it...Bob

 

[shenion]

Here ya go:

You can see the rusted pinch roller, I did polish the edge with 800-grit sandpaper; still rusted on the sides.

The roller is 1 3/8" in diameter. You can see the gear behind it that also drives the pinch roller. Torque is amazing, it birdsnested 0.035 wire with no problem. If you look between the rollers, you can just see the tip of a guide tube that was missing. Wire would form an series of 'S'-es going down the tube to the Tweco connector. By the time it went through 15' of gun it would be enough drag to birdsnest.

The motor looks like a car window motor/gear assembly. Motor is about 6" long and over 3" in diameter.

Here is the roller itself:

Before you give Bob a hard time about the crooked key slot, I did that. Bob had included a set screw that would go into the woodruff key slot. Turns out the key is rusted to the shaft and I did not want to chew up the shaft to get it out. So used jig saw to cut slot by hand. My cheap B&D saw seems to want to do nothing but angle cuts.

Don't mean to hijack this thread too much. But the unit has corrosion all over it. Amazingly everything works like new and the motor/gears are almost silent. Just looks bad. One of these days, I take it all apart and polish everything up. I think the unit might have actually been left outside, I know the spool gun was, it was far worse, but it still works, but don't use it.

 

[dutch2u2]

I have stored my oxford mig set in wood shed for the 4 years along with the rest of my tools, no damp damage yet, even the wire has been ok.

Dutch.

 

[andrewg1323]

Mines sat in the hall at home, gets moved into my bedroom occasionally but i usually move it back out!
Spent all last winter in a cold shed no problems at all though!

 

[ems]

My welder is stored under the stairs, the metal shed is too damp - that's the excuse I gave to my wife anyway!

 

[Drains]

Err, the 300A Lincoln lives outside, but under the boat (not for long now). Not sure the salt spray is to good for it, although actually there's no rust and the oily fuzz over the internals seems to protect it nicely.

Poor beast, I should treat it better.

 

[Hitch]

Mine has been in my grandads shed for the last year.... prior to that, it was in the corner of the dining room disguised as a table.

Very rare i use my own, plenty at work to use

 

[snowcat]

My gear enjoys the rain and mud, Inverters only really produce a good weld when kicked over in a muddy puddle, And the shock tactics of welding in the rain keep you focused and as for oxfords well isnt that the reason there full of oil for waterproofing??

 

[shenion]

Err, the 300A Lincoln lives outside, but under the boat (not for long now). Not sure the salt spray is to good for it, although actually there's no rust and the oily fuzz over the internals seems to protect it nicely.

Poor beast, I should treat it better.

Heh, I have a R3S-325 Lincoln as part of my ebay steal.

Outside it is beat up, but works. Inside has an oily slime on everything. After cleanup the inside will look like new, outside is not as good; Control panel is oxidized and rest will need repaint.

Guess not cleaning equipment can sometimes be a good thing.

 

[Swampy]

...my 211 is currently living in my living room......the drive is not done yet which means I cannot build the compressor house on the back of the workshop...which means that the compressor has to currently stay in the workshop...which means that there is no room for the 211...sooooo it stays in the nice warm living room where it is all nice and happy...

...not sure how much longer I will continue to get away with this...but will milk it for as long as possible......after all she did make the mistake of buying it for me...so really it is her fault we are in this situation......using a womans logic against her is sometimes quite rewarding......but I am sure I'll pay for it somewhere down the line...oh well ignorant bliss till that time comes around I suppose...

 

[odleo]

My welder is in the garage. I have a small shipping container that it lives in when I am not using it. Keeps some of my relatives from borrowing it. Used to keep it in the house since my garage is not climate controlled but it was a hassle to take outside to use.

 

[FireStorm]

mine lives in the garage on a shelf, she is only small!!!!! garage stays cold even when it's hot, one window which isn't sun facing so it's nice in the summer but bloody cold in the winter!!!!

i got to oil filled heaters which we put on low dueing the winter.

 

[cobminor]

In the welding store.