MIG Welding...........Learned Something New Today

[toobroketoretire]

Ever since I bought my 150 amp Lincoln Handy MIG several years ago I have had an annoying problem with the wire feeding out in jerks. Like there was too much friction in the feed line. Rather than the wire feeding out at a steady rate it pulsated or jerked continuously; making it difficult to weld anything. So this afternoon I took a can of McKay graphite spray and drowned the spool of wire and that did the trick. With a graphite coating the wire feeds real smooth with no pulsation or jerking. So from now on I'll drown every new spool of wire before installing it.

So if you have a MIG and it feeds in jerks try using spray graphite on it.

 

[Mac]

Does the graphite interfere with the welding at all?

Mac

 

[toobroketoretire]

Does the graphite interfere with the welding at all?

Mac

Not that I can tell. The wire feeds out perfectly smooth with no jerking at all and the quality of the weld is beautiful.

 

[toobroketoretire]

I did a lot of welding this morning and the wire is still feeding perfectly smooth. So it appears graphite is the answer to a jerking wire feed. I had thought about using oil to lubricate the wire then decided to use the graphite instead because graphite is dry. As the graphite is mixed with a fast-drying liquid carrier it penetrates all the way into the spool of wire then completely dries as the liquid carrier evaporates.