welding problems (lincoln 135 plus)

[vince72]

i am new to the world of mig welding so be patiant please.
i have been welding with my lincoln sp 135 plus and i have had probs with the wire getting stuck in the gun and running rough when i use .035 flux core wire. today i tried .025 wire and it ran fine does this mean that i not only have to change the tip but also the gun?
i hope that i was specific enough if not please ask
thanks
vince

[Matt@RFR]

Do you know what a liner is? Do you know which one is in your gun lead?

Do you know what a drive roll is? Do you change it for the different sized wires?

Do you know how to adjust drive roll tension? How about brake tension?

[mikey]

It could possibly be that you liner is kinked from being coiled too tightly. Another thing to try first is when you are welding is keep the cable to the gun straight as possible. Higher guage wire doesn't travel around curves well as lighter gauge. A really cheap fix is to replace the contact tip. They can get buggered up easily.

[vince72]

mikey, i did replace the tip and will concentrate on keeping the gun straight.
matt, i am not for certain but isnt the liner the line the wire runs through. i dont know which is in the gun lead. i asume that the drive roll is the size on the roll dispenser if so i have not changed it. the roll does spin fleelly. i have only had the mig for two weeks so please excure my little to no knowledge, but if you help i will learn
thans
vince

[Matt@RFR]

I have to disagree, unless those tiny guns that come with the small MIGs are just-that-bad. I've never once had a feed problem that wasn't solved by a new liner, new tip or possibly some adjustment in the drive mechanism or brake.

[Matt@RFR]

Check your instructions, they should tell you what size liner came in the stock gun.

The drive rolls are the two small silver 'wheels' that have V grooves that the wire rides in. On the side of the drive rolls will be a number stamped in it, 023/030/035/045 etc.. The number that corresponds with the wire size you're using should be facing OUT...it does NOT correspond with the V groove on the same side of the roll.

Edit: Also, the spool of wire should not spin free. In the center of the spool mount there should be some kind of adjuster: A wingnut or maybe a nylock. That's the brake. The brake should be adjusted so when you let off the trigger, the spool almost immediately stops.

[vince72]

thanks a lot matt i will go over the intructions on lincoln's web site again. and adjust everything you said
vince

[kamaroman68]

Hey Matt is it possible he has to change the liner to use flux core wire? I could've sworn I saw somewhere you had too. Probably the drive rolls though. Chris

[Matt@RFR]

Chris, flux cored wire is the same on the outside as hard wire, the only difference being the flux rolled up in the middle of it. So no, flux core vs. hard wire should* use the same stuff for feeding.

*I've never used the type of flux cored wires you guys are talking about, so I could be missing something. However, I have run miles of gas-shielded flux cored wire, and my assumption is that they are the same as far as feeding goes.

[Camaro Zach]

back in the day when i had my lincoln pro core 100 and converted to *mig* from flux i had to change the liner. Its cheap and will most likely solve your problems. the liner you have right now is most likely only for .023 and .030 wire only.

[mikey]

I did'nt mean perfectly straight you can have bends in it. You just need to stay away from it making tight turns. The wider sweeping arcs you can keep the easier it'll move even with a liner that is getting worn. I learned this by working for cheap skate body shop owners.

[gt1guy]

The drive rollers for fluxcore generally have almost a knurled look to the grooves. Hard wire drive rollers are smooth in the grooves. If you crank down your drive roll tension with rollers made for fluxcore it will cut into the wire, and want to hang up going through the liner. You only want the tension tight enough to push the wire through and no more.

Kevin