Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all, Picked up a 150A SIP mig welder cheap but it has a problem. the wire feed is very weak and irratic. If the "cable" is straight it is "ok" but not if it is looped.
I have changed the tip and liner but no change, just does not seem to "grip" the wire at the feed point, I have tried both grooves on the feed wheel but no real change.
Does anyone have any hints or know someone in the North West who can service the machine for me......or I may have to just go and blow £200 on a Clarke 150 from Machine mart

Have you tried new wire ?
If the old wire had been stored in a damp environment then slight surface rust can form and can cause the problem you describe.
I've thrown away several almost full 5 kg rolls for this reason.
Sometime you can unwind half of the wire and find the rest is clear of the rust.
I tend to store the wire in the house during winter if I'm not welding regularly.

You say that a new liner has been fitted. I suspect you will have installed it the same way as the old one but are you sure that was correct ? If the end where it enters the actual welder isn't a clear line with the path of the wire from the rollers then again that could be the source of the problem.

Paul Humphries.

Cheers Paul
I'm afraid, new wire and the liner is setup inline. the motor feed sounds like its on its last legs so may just be a dead duck. Any tips on where to buy??
Cheers
Mark

For obviously safety reasons I don't advise you try this but just in case you've done it already -
Remove wire completley from machine.
Wear a heavy pair of leather gloves.
Set wire feed speed to low
Gently apply pressure to the roller with fingers and press the trigger with other hand.
See if the roller "stalls" or is jerky - it should easilly have enough power to turn smoothly against the pressure from fingers.

Paul Humphries

Decided to treat myself
just ordered a Clarke 160TE and a large canister of Argoshield

The Clarke TE range are good welders. The 160 TE has a lot of power, should make for a nice stable arc and good penetration on the lower/medium settings needed for car body work. I have the older version the 150TE.

I generally find 2 Min good for thinner stuff (panels etc) and chassis/sills on 2 Max.

Also going to replace my helmet with an auto dim...
Really tempted by this but then at £200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats a space helmet not a welding helmet! ;-) no, seriously you can get cheaper (but still very effective) more basic auto dim helmets from under £100 these days. Go for one with a variable shade.

Yeah, dont want to look like Mavin the paranoid android ;)

OK so I'm a sucker for gadgets....now the proud owner of a 160TE and a Marvin head helmet

Auto dim helmet is worth it's weight in GOLD for Mig (and Tig, and Stick ) welding.

I have to agree. For the 10 minutes in my life I have welded, I really liked that sort of helmet.

It is a good thing that before you start with a new wire to blast the "flexible pipe"through with air from the compressor.It will remove the dirt that accumalates inside and that can also give troubles.
I hope you understand my rather primitive English.
Regards Jan

English looks near perfect to me - well done !

I wasn't satisfied with the word flexible pipe ,but the main thing is that you understand what I mean!
Regards Jan