[Sully2]

Originally Posted by orezok

I woke up this morning at about 3 AM with this thought in my head. On a standard MIG welder, I assume that the electrical current is "passed" to the wire at the tip of the gun. This means that the wire is electrically hot all the way back through the feed rollers and including the spool. Given the usual dusty work environment, minor slippage of the feed rollers causing a small amount of metal dust etc., is it necessary to perform cleaning maintenance on the machine to prevent lost amperage due to internal short circuiting?

Before you ask, my brain is very active at night and I subconsciously solve most of my daytime questions (or just generate more questions that I work on the next night!).

Lots depends on the enviroment where its used and kept. If its a covered model ( such as a Hobart HHxxx) and you keep it covered when not in use...and your shop doesnt look like a nasty landfill most of the time...cleaning is few and far between