gas mig welding problem

[boydogs]

I have a Snap on 130 turbo welder,i used an argon gas bottle and was welding fine,I went to it the other day and would not weld properly,when i pulled the trigger the wireturned to a blob and stuck to the tip, i cleared tip and each time it did the same,I bought and fit a new tip, tried again, same result so i turned the gas off and it welded ok.Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks boydogs.

[bmcecosse]

Too much gas flow?

[mogbob]

Always back to basics.
Plenty of wire on the reel, tension correct and wire moving freely.With power OFF, are the main cable connections secure.
Earth clamp secure and clean.
Gas bottle not empty..you're hearing a hiss of gas, when you press the trigger ( no don't point the torch at your ear...it's an old welders joke !! ).Controls at the right / usual settings.Wire speed control not been knocked, so that it's at the top speed.

Hopefully it's something simple.First time I used a big wire reel, it lasted so long I'd forgotten about.Couldn't figure out why the welder wasn't working...eventually found the empty spool.I had " a few words " with myself... along the lines of "stupid boy ".
We've all been there.... at least once.
Bob

[kennatt]

the symptom you describe is caused by the wire feed, .The usual cause is the tension/wire feed control control,either not high enough speed or more usual, worn tensioner or drive wheel.It can also be caused by damage to the umbilical plastic sleeve,which can easily be damaged when replacing wire. If you are certain that the feed is ok try holding the umbilical straight without any bends. If it now welds ok then replace the tube.if not then internal fault. Have a look on the MIG forum loads of advice on there.Its nothing to do with the gas,even with an emply bottle it will still weld although the weld will be poor and be splattering all over the place,but it will still work without run back.
is the wire running off the spool without snagging,sometimes if left for a while the wire can rust and bind to the lower layers which would also cause a feed problem,with the speed turned up pull the trigger and see if the drive is spinning without pushing the wire at the same speed. If so strip off a good lenghth of wire and see if that helps.
The drive usually has two grooves to suit thicker wire, it can be turned, after a small grub screw is loosened,it could be that the usual groove is worn and that you may get away with using the other,you would need the thicker wire and welding tips of course. But these parts drive wheel and tensioner can be bought for little money,just got a tensioner for one of my migs for £9.00

[boydogs]

Thanks for the tips, i will check these out and get back to you, Thanks for now.