Welder Maintenance

[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!).

[MrJimi]

I own two MIG welders and I blow the insides out and make sure the contact points are clean of any dirt, I think they are very maintenance free machines. I have a Miller and a Hobart and I like them both.

[AlanB]

Sometimes, if you weld a LOT, you will need to replace the liners of your gun.

That usually happens more when some junk gets fed in there, like a rusty wire etc.

Usual maintenance that I am familiar with is as Mr. Jimi said, blow them out occasionally and keep the wire clean and dry, other then that it is usually tips and cones (whatever you call the outer thing)

[J_J]

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!).

On most MIG welders, the tip is not hot until you pull the trigger. Once you pull the trigger, the wire, shaft, are electrified back to the base of the shaft which has a wire from the transformer or rectifier assembly attached to it. Some where close to that is the terminals where you switch polarity when changing from MIG to gas-less cored wire welding. .

[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