I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the guy
would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco Mini-MIG
and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is shipshape,
but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and contact
tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see much
difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent bursts of
light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of voltages and
wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the welder) and
it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks like it's tubular.
I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't think of
anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying to diagnose a
problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could have dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:01:01 -0800, Grant Erwin
grant@NOSPAMkirkland.net> wrote:


I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the guy
would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco Mini-MIG
and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is shipshape,
but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and contact
tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see much
difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent bursts of
light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of voltages and
wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the welder) and
it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks like it's tubular.
I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't think of
anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying to diagnose a
problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could have dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE


Got the polarity correct?

Is your ground clamp ok?

Is the wire feeding out smoothly when you push the go button?

Bang bank sounds like too fast a feed and too little power.

I'll try highest power with real low speed, although I think I tried that
already.

I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the
guy would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco
Mini-MIG and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is
shipshape, but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and
contact tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see
much difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent
bursts of light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of
voltages and wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the
welder) and it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks
like it's tubular. I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto
the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't
think of anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying
to diagnose a problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could have
dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE

I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the
guy would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco
Mini-MIG and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is
shipshape, but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the
guy would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco
Mini-MIG and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is
shipshape, but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and
contact tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see
much difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent
bursts of light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of
voltages and wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the
welder) and it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks
like it's tubular. I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto
the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't
think of anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying
to diagnose a problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could have
dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE

Is it gas shielded or self shielded?

"Grant Erwin" <grant@NOSPAMkirkland.net> wrote in message
news:12t2hcg21ot6qcb@corp.supernews.com...

I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the
guy would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco
Mini-MIG and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is
shipshape, but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and
contact tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see
much difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent
bursts of light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of
voltages and wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the
welder) and it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks
like it's tubular. I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto
the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't
think of anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying
to diagnose a problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could have
dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and contact
tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see much
difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent bursts of
light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of voltages and
wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

Any ideas?

GWE

From your description it sounds as if the wire speed is too slow.
With wire feed welders the current varies with the voltage. So if you

I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and
the guy would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is
a Tweco Mini-MIG and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now
the gun is shipshape, but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a
crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and
contact tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see
much difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off
intermittent bursts of light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a
whole range of voltages and wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a
difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the
welder) and it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks
like it's tubular. I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto
the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't
think of anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying
to diagnose a problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could
have dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE

Cheap 110 MIG machines make good boat anchors. Be sure to cut the
cables so they don't get all tangled up with the bottom.

Steve

I picked up a little 110v MIG welder recently. It didn't cost much, and the guy
would probably take it back if I can't make it work. The gun is a Tweco Mini-MIG
and it needed a button, a liner and a new diffuser. Now the gun is shipshape,
but I just can't make the damn thing weld worth a crap.

It's loaded with .035" fluxcore wire (yes, I have the right liner and contact
tip) and I tried both polarities in desperation, but I can't see much
difference. The wire just goes bang bang bang giving off intermittent bursts of
light, so I never get a puddle at all. I tried a whole range of voltages and
wire speeds and nothing much seems to make a difference.

I checked to make sure the wire is really fluxcore (it came with the welder) and
it's very fragile and under 4X magnification it really looks like it's tubular.
I'd wondered if the guy had wound some hardwire onto the fluxcore reel.

It seems possible the wire is bad somehow, but other than that I can't think of
anything I can try short of disassembling the welder and trying to diagnose a
problem electronically. I suppose its output caps could have dried up.

Any ideas?

GWE

Steve B wrote:
Cheap 110 MIG machines make good boat anchors. Be sure to cut the
cables so they don't get all tangled up with the bottom.

Steve

Hey , I kinda like my little WeldPak 100 ! If it's used for light
materials it does just fine . I've used mine for mat'l up to 1/4" , just
gotta make more that one pass . I like it lots better since I added gas ,
never could get a fluxcore bead to look good .
Got a tombstone for the bigger stuff .

--

Snag aka OSG #1
'76 FLH "Bag Lady"
BS132 SENS NEWT
"A hand shift is a manly shift ."
shamelessly stolen
none to one to reply

I had a similar problem with my Lincoln SP120. Turned out the contact
surfaces on the ground clamp were oxidized. It looked clean enough but
obviously it wasn't. A quick swipe with an angle grinder and it worked
fine.

Cheers,

Kelley