TO_Bud
Silver Member
Having a problem with my Millermatic Challenger 172 welder, hope the collective can point me in the right direction. I'm not a novice welder but I'm also not a pro but I've done a lot of welding with this welder over the last few years. I'm building a "Tree Scoop" bucket and was well on my way to finishing when I ran out of wire. Went and bought a new 12 # spool of ER70s and began welding again. All was well for about 20 minutes but then I started experiencing a lot of spatter and poor penetration of the weld. I'm using recycled 5/16 plate for the project and it has been a challenge to get it good and clean but it has been ground. Shielding gas is argon/CO2 mix and is the same tank. Not sure of the actual amperage I'm set at but per my chart I'm at my highest output. Speeding or slowing the wire feed is not helping. I took the cover off the welder and checked all my electrical connections-all good. Blew out any dust inside and blew out the hose to the handle. Reinstalled the cover and checked the volume of gas flowing with the trigger pulled. It does sound like maybe the whoosh is not quite as loud as it used to be but there is gas moving. I turned the regulator way up (50#) and the weld improved a little bit. That's it, any advice as to what to do is appreciated.
Thanks, Bud
Thanks, Bud