Changing Mig Wire

[Jim Timber]

Some of you seem to like making things far more difficult than they need to be...

Needle nose pliers? Really?

 

[Big Barn]

It was a "suggestion" for the OP. Just tryin' to help....

 

[arkydog]

eye site, old age, arthritis, shakes, hangover, in a hurry to go to the outhouse, poor lighting, what ever reason would be a good reason to try this method. i have done it with pliers, tiny picks, miniature plyers, side cutters, what ever else you can think of, i like unscrewing the mig gun & cable and running the wire outside the machine and inserting into liner. then putting gun back into machine with wire threaded into gun.

 

[Big Barn]

eye site, old age, arthritis, shakes, hangover, in a hurry to go to the outhouse, poor lighting, what ever reason would be a good reason to try this method. i have done it with pliers, tiny picks, miniature plyers, side cutters, what ever else you can think of, i like unscrewing the mig gun & cable and running the wire outside the machine and inserting into liner. then putting gun back into machine with wire threaded into gun.

While your mig gun is disconnected, take the opportunity to blow out the liner with compressed air. Disconnect the tip and blow from that end.

Terry

 

[5030]

my miller is pretty straight forward,, I take the roller off and clean the groove out, I also put the felt and paperclip on the wire to pre clean the wire

Try an unsmoked cigarette filter (regular or menthol don't matter) in between the wire spool and the drive rollers. That is the cheapest wire wiper made, every welder I know that runs a wire machine uses that trick.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Try an unsmoked cigarette filter (regular or menthol don't matter) in between the wire spool and the drive rollers. That is the cheapest wire wiper made, every welder I know that runs a wire machine uses that trick.

That might have been cheap when cigarettes were 30 cents a pack, but at $8-10 per pack (and not a lot of folks still smoke), not a very cheap route anymore and they wont work as well or as long as the proper felt wiper. You can also add a few drops of wire lube to the felt so it not only cleans the wire but lubes it a bit so it slides more easily thru the liner.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't see what all the hoopla is about changing spools. It is not a difficult task, just open the roller feeder and place the tip of the new wire into the liner a few inches, close the roller and pull the trigger. It is easier if you remove the contact tip because it will sometimes bind up at that point especially if using aluminum wire. This is also a good time to clean the contact tip and blow dust and whatever out of the liner prior to feeding in new wire.
What is harder than putting in the new wire thru the rollers is keeping the wire tension on the spool so it doesn't bird nest on you while getting it into the liner. It takes a lot more attention to do that than putting the wire thru the rollers and into the liner.

 

[arkydog]

if you have to pay a lot more attention to keeping the wire tight to keeping it from bird nesting, its easier to just remove the gun since the roller closed already have tension on the wire. just remove the gun, one wing nut, turn wire speed up and voltage down since you have to do it anyway, and pull trigger. easy.

 

[ovrszd]

if you have to pay a lot more attention to keeping the wire tight to keeping it from bird nesting, its easier to just remove the gun since the roller closed already have tension on the wire. just remove the gun, one wing nut, turn wire speed up and voltage down since you have to do it anyway, and pull trigger. easy.

Who would have ever thought you could get this much activity with "Changing Mig Wire" as a thread title huh!!!!!

 

[crystallake]

I wonder if op is not raising the roller off of the tension catch? This is not a big deal. Several YouTube shots of this procedure. Takes less than one min.

 

[CJONE]

Cut the bent end off - problem solved.

Never had an issue with feeding anything through a mig except for 4043 (aluminum) through my 30' Push-Pull gun. Talk about a pain! Gotta have the line stretched out straight or it'll have too much resistance and kink at the feeder before it gets out to the gun. And that's with a Teflon liner.

WORD! on that. I don't know what would be worse changing small spoolgun reels all the time or fighting with a long gun/lead. I did learn to blow out the liner when using aluminum. I normally have to fix a misfeed when the tip screws up so I learned to blow the liner out with compressed air each time, it helps a bunch. CJ

 

[CJONE]

Take the tip out of the gun, load up your new spool (keeping tension on it), open drive rolls, feed wire (with clean cut end) into the liner a couple inches, close drive rollers, pull trigger and wait for wire to poke out the end of the gun, put tip back on, cut excess wire, get back to welding.

In 15 years, from 120v hobbyist (junk), to the highest end digital feeders made - this method has never failed me.

+1 Never had a issue with steel. I do use the felt wiper at home. Welder is in my basement garage and it is a damp area so the wire will get a slight covering of rust if it sits awhile. The wiper helps with that. CJ

 

[Shield Arc]

I don't see what all the hoopla is about changing spools. It is not a difficult task

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Mostly dealing with Lincoln LN-22s, and LN-25s. Lincoln must have figured little kids were the ones who would be changing the wire spools. Talk about tight quarters trying to get your hands inside the feeder to work. Very unusual for the companies to buy self shielded wire smaller than 5/64-inch. So feeding it into the gun was no problem, but 9 times out of 10 the wire would jam just before going into the gooseneck, let alone the contact tip.

 

[/pine]

What I can't believe is the condescending overtone in some of the replies to a valid issue...
It's not a major issue and nobody said it was...The OP offered a tip that solves an issue that may or may not occur to everyone...

Add a few factors...aging eyesight, a welder not accessible at work bench level, poor light etc., etc...and usually working with one hand (while the other is on the spool)...
Removing the torch lead/liner does make it easier/quicker at least with smaller spooled wire...and I don't care how many times you cut the end off a 2# spool of flux core wire...it's still going to have a slight arc to it...no getting around it period...!

 

[Big Barn]

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Mostly dealing with Lincoln LN-22s, and LN-25s. Lincoln must have figured little kids were the ones who would be changing the wire spools. Talk about tight quarters trying to get your hands inside the feeder to work. Very unusual for the companies to buy self shielded wire smaller than 5/64-inch. So feeding it into the gun was no problem, but 9 times out of 10 the wire would jam just before going into the gooseneck, let alone the contact tip.

Haha. JUST personally experienced the LN25's "tight quarters" with .068 wire on the 25# spool.

Terry

 

[Jim Timber]

What I can't believe is the condescending overtone in some of the replies to a valid issue...
<snip>
...and I don't care how many times you cut the end off a 2# spool of flux core wire...it's still going to have a slight arc to it...no getting around it period...!

2# spool is small enough you can hold it in your left hand and feed the end into the liner before attaching it to the feeder.

What gets me is how some of you can't handle being told how your problem isn't a problem because we've already found ways to make it not a problem but you seem bent on insisting that since you couldn't figure it out that somehow we're demeaning you. We've given you the solution, but you still want to whine about it.

Just being blunt and sincere like someone's sig line claims they are.

 

[ovrszd]

2# spool is small enough you can hold it in your left hand and feed the end into the liner before attaching it to the feeder.

What gets me is how some of you can't handle being told how your problem isn't a problem because we've already found ways to make it not a problem but you seem bent on insisting that since you couldn't figure it out that somehow we're demeaning you. We've given you the solution, but you still want to whine about it.

Just being blunt and sincere like someone's sig line claims they are.

Pretty good for a guy from Maine.......

 

[Jim Timber]

Pretty good for a guy from Maine.......

I wish we had lobstah here!

 

[ovrszd]

I wish we had lobstah here!

Glad you got it.....

 

[arkydog]

i want to thank everyone on here that replied. i like the information about blowing out the liner and about using felt or an unused cigarette filter butt on the wire. whether the replies were pos or neg they were informal which is what this thread is meant to be.

thanks again rob

any other hints or help appreciated!