How do I prevent wire feeding issues when using the MIG welding (GMAW) or flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) process?
Wire feeding issues can be caused by a variety of circumstances. Some of the most common reasons for wire feeding issues include:
- Drive roll tension: The drive rolls that push or pull the wire through the system have a tension that is either too great or too little. Adjust the spring pressure until tension is appropriate.
- Drive roll size: The drive rolls may be the wrong size. For instance, if 1.3 mm drive rolls are being used to move 0.9 mm wire, slipping will most likely occur.
- Drive roll type: Some wire require specific kinds of grooves for optimal feeding. Flux-cored and metal-cored arc welding wires typically require V-groove drive rolls that are knurled. Aluminum wires require a smooth U-shaped groove.
- Drive roll condition: Worn drive rolls will be ineffective at moving wire through the system.
- Liner size: If a liner is too small for the wire it will not feed. If the liner is too big, the wire may have too much freedom to twist inside of it, causing an unpredictable feed.
- Liner type: For most wires, steel liners work excellent. However, some wires, such as aluminum, require a nylon liner to help ensure proper feeding.
- Liner condition: A worn liner will be detrimental to wire feeding. Replace the liner if it is worn or damaged.
- Contact tip size: A proper contact tip size should be used. If the tip is too small, the wire will not feed; if the tip is too large, wire feeding and electrical conductivity may be negatively affected.
- Wire condition: Not all wire manufacturers put out the same quality product. Some wires may have thin and thick spots as well as lubricants that can cause poor wire feeding.
When MIG welding was first invented, it used a constant voltage source of electricity for the arc. While this method is still used today, the invention of pulsed MIG welding has allowed welders to realize several advantages over conventional MIG welding, several are listed below:
- Pulsed MIG can be used to weld thin materials. Conventional MIG welding runs at a constant amperage whereas pulsed MIG welding runs a peak and background amperage. The constant switching between these two amperages enables pulsed MIG welding to put out a lower overall heat input into the material. This helps prevent blowouts on thin materials.
- Pulsed MIG has less spatter than conventional MIG welding. Pulsed MIG welding uses a peak electrical currents to cleanly burn the wire off at a high amperage. Pulsed MIG welding also employs a lower background welding amperage immediately after the peak electrical current to prevent the interaction of the electrical arc and the wire from becoming unstable. This ultimately results in a reduced amount of spatter.
- Pulsed MIG welding is excellent for out of position welding. At the same voltage and wire feed settings, conventional MIG tends to have a weld puddle that is larger and more fluid than that of pulsed MIG. Pulsed MIG has more controllable puddle that prevents it from falling out when gravity is a concern during out of position welding. Furthermore, the reduced amount of spatter than can be achieved with pulsed MIG makes it safer for the welder to perform the out of position operation.
We are pleased to announce that we have added Abicor-Binzel Fume Extractor MIG Torches to our equipment rental fleet.
These portable, compact and powerful high-vacuum extraction units FES-200 & FES-200 W3 capture welding fumes directly at the source, protecting both the welder and the environment from harmful particles.
The machines come with an auto start-stop function so that the fume extractor is activated only when welding is in progress. Welding becomes safer, energy consumption is reduced and unecessary noise levels are eliminated.
You can rent these fume extractor welding torches from red-d-arc.uk
Red-D-Arc Welderentals™ an Airgas company rents and leases welders, welding positioners, welding-related equipment, and electric power generators – anywhere in the world. Our rental welders, positioners and specialty products have been engineered and built to provide Extreme-Duty™ performance and reliability in even the harshest environments, and are available through over 70 Red-D-Arc Service Centers, strategically located throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, as well as through strategic alliances in the Middle East, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and the Caribbean. From our rental fleet of over 60,000 welders, 3,700 weld positioners, and 3,700 electric-power generators, we can supply you with the equipment you need – where you need it – when you need it.
Are you looking for the best rates on portable welder rentals? We can fulfill your welding equipment needs. At Red-d-Arc, we offer you a wide variety of welding equipment for almost every purpose. We provide customized recommendations on each piece of equipment that we rent out.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about our welding equipment rental and long term welder leasing programs. We make it our goal to offer you state-of-the-art welding tools at the most competitive rental rates.
The Best in Welding Equipment Rentals
If you are looking for a great deal on a mig welder rental, check out our selection. Metal inert gas (MIG) welder models are great for welding indoors or in enclosed spaces. These machines use flux core wire that makes them the perfect option when welding tears or breaks on farm equipment.
However, MIG welders have plenty of other uses that make them perfect for a wide variety of other types of equipment. Keep in mind, however, that you do need a particular set of controlled conditions in order to obtain the best possible results.
We carry a variety of models, including the following:
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Stainless steel contains a minimum of 10.5% chromium which imparts it corrosion resistance by forming an oxide layer on the surface. The most common stainless steel is the austenitic type (300 series) which contains chromium and nickel as alloying elements. Other types include ferritic, martensitic and duplex stainless steels. Most stainless steels are considered to have good weldability characteristics. Most common processes used for welding stainless steel are TIG (GTAW) and MIG (GMAW). But, stick welding (SMAW) is also utilized.
Differences in Properties:
The properties of stainless steel differ from mild steel, and these differences need consideration when welding as below:
- Higher coefficient of expansion, 50% more for austenitic – this results in more distortion
- Lower coefficient of heat transfer – welding requires lower heat input as it is conducted away slowly
- Lower electrical conductivity – using the correct and consistent stick-out distance is more critical when using MIG/TIG, higher wire speed for the same current is required when MIG welding
Why segregated work area?
Welding of stainless steel is carried out in a work area segregated from carbon steels. Moreover, tools dedicated for use with stainless steel must not be used to work on carbon steels. These tools include brushes, hammers, clamps, grinders etc. The segregation of work area and tools safeguard the contamination from carbon steels, which may cause welding defects and corrosion (rust) on stainless steel. You must also wear gloves when working with stainless steel as this will prevent oil from the hands passed onto the stainless steel.
Preparation is key!
With stainless steel, it is important that the joint surfaces are thoroughly cleaned before welding to remove any dirt, grease, oil etc. The filler wire also needs to be completely clean.
Additionally, the joint design including the joint gap must cater to the higher expansion rate of stainless steels.
Filler Material Selection:
Filler materials used generally are the same as the base metal. Special considerations are required to select a filler material if welding dissimilar stainless steels or stainless steels where no identical filler material exists. Furthermore, filler materials are selected to reduce the risk of intergranular corrosion and hot cracking.
Welding Considerations:
It is essential to protect the weld during welding using a mainly inert gas. Additionally, the weld root needs to be purged using a pure inert gas.
When welding austenitic stainless steels, it is important to restrict the heat input to a level which is just sufficient to ensure a good weld. The interpass temperature is limited to 350 F. Preheating is not carried out on austenitic stainless steels. Very low carbon grades (suffixed with L e.g. 304L, 316L) are used to prevent the formation of chromium carbides in the heat affected zones which causes intergranular corrosion.
Martensitic stainless steels are generally used as wear resistant materials in overlaying applications. To avoid cracking, accurate preheat needs to be applied and a minimum interpass temperature maintained.
Ferritic stainless steels are used mostly in automotive applications. The heat input in these steels during welding needs to be limited, and a maximum interpass temperature of 300 F is recommended. This will ensure that the grain growth in the material is controlled and the strength is maintained.
With duplex stainless steels, the heat input also needs to be restricted.
Cleaning and Passivation:
Stainless steel welds must be cleaned and passivated after completion to ensure corrosion resistance and good appearance. This is performed manually by mechanical (brushing, grinding, blasting), chemical (applying pickling agents and other chemicals) or electrochemical means.
Red-D-Arc has a wide range of equipment suitable for stainless steel welding for rent including the following:
Multi process welders capable of stick, TIG, MIG, submerged arc, air carbon arc cutting, flux core, up to 1500 A
MIG welding units up to 750 A
TIG welding units up to 750 A
Stick welding units – up to 625A
Also 4 and 6 Paks of welders available
Orbital welders – suitable for stainless steel pipe/tube welding
Various brands including Miller, Lincoln, Red-D-Arc
Have a look at our complete range of welding products.
By guest blogger David H.
Some years back I was working in a shipyard in San Francisco. The yard had several small repair jobs going, plus a fairly large project building six ocean-going barges. The supervisor who was in charge of the barge-building project was looking for volunteers to operate semi-automatic wire feeders, using flux-cored wire, to weld stiffeners to the skin of the barges. I had never used a wire feeder before, so I volunteered out of curiosity.
After a very short training period, possibly all of 30 minutes but I think a bit less, I was off and running. I was impressed by the quality of the welds and the speed at which they were deposited. Without question I was outpacing anything that could be done by stick welding, and I felt it was easier to maintain a uniform weld size too. The machine itself was light enough and small enough to move without difficulty, and the spools of wire lasted long and were quick and easy to replace when the spool of welding wire was finished.
Red-D-Arc has nearly a dozen semi-automatic wire feeders available for almost any application. We also carry fully automatic wire feeders, which are faster still and appropriate in certain circumstances – like building storage tanks – especially for large-deposition welds.
Red-D-Arc Welderentals™ an Airgas company rents and leases welders, welding positioners, welding-related equipment, and electric power generators – anywhere in the world. Our rental welders, positioners and specialty products have been engineered and built to provide Extreme-Duty™ performance and reliability in even the harshest environments, and are available through over 70 Red-D-Arc Service Centers, strategically located throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, as well as through strategic alliances in the Middle East, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and the Caribbean. From our rental fleet of over 60,000 welders, 3,700 weld positioners, and 3,700 electric-power generators, we can supply you with the equipment you need – where you need it – when you need it.
“You should give as much consideration to the preparation as you do to the actual welding”
Pipe welding is utilized all around the world in diverse industries. A variety of pipe sizes and material grades are joined to manufacture components of various shapes and lengths – from a few feet to many miles. Even though most pipe welding jobs have custom specifications – there are some fundamental aspects of pipe welding that form a common thread for welders and welding engineers alike in order to achieve high quality welds in pipes.
Selecting The Right Pipe Welding Equipment
Equipment selection is the top requirement for producing good quality pipe welds. The highest priorities when selecting welding equipment for pipeline welding are reliability, consistency, accuracy and process control. It is also critical that the equipment is easy to use and the controls are intuitive. In addition to equipment performance, the work environment also needs to be a key factor for equipment selection. There are pipe welding configurations designed for offshore welding, remote land based pipeline welding, general fabrication shop use and custom configured automated pipe welding systems. Selecting the right one can be a daunting task – it is always good practice to seek expert advice. Be sure to ask about the various options, capabilities and limitations of each system. When welding CRA (Corrosion Resistant Alloy) grades, it is necessary to use weld purging in order to guarantee the corrosion performance of the root run. The importance of this should not be underestimated.
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Red-D-Arc Welderentals™ an Airgas company rents and leases welders, welding positioners, welding-related equipment, and electric power generators – anywhere in the world. Our rental welders, positioners and specialty products have been engineered and built to provide Extreme-Duty™ performance and reliability in even the harshest environments, and are available through over 70 Red-D-Arc Service Centers, strategically located throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, as well as through strategic alliances in the Middle East, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and the Caribbean. From our rental fleet of over 60,000 welders, 3,700 weld positioners, and 3,700 electric-power generators, we can supply you with the equipment you need – where you need it – when you need it.
Earlier this year, Red-D-Arc delivered several of our MIG/MAG 4-pak and 6-pak multi-operator welding packages to Heerema Fabrication (HFG) for their yards in Zwijndrecht and Flushing, Holland. HFG manufactures complex steel structures for use in the offshore oil and gas industry.
In addition to maintaining high-quality welding standards, HFG was able to increase both worker productivity and safety by employing Red-D-Arc’s multi-operator packs for the welding processes at their fabrication yards. The packs include six welding power sources and wire feeders with gas lines to accommodate up to six individual welders – and each welder has his own 115VAC power supply as well as an airline that provides filtered breathing air to the welder’s helmet. All input power, shielding-gas and breathing-air connections are made via single connections in the pak’s enclosure in order to simplify hook up as well as enhance portability.
“With the multi-packs our operators can get set up faster and start welding immediately. The time savings and increased efficiency easily covers the cost of the packs.”
After receiving their initial order of 6-paks, HFG placed a second order for 4-paks, having recognized the benefits of the system.
Red-D-Arc 4-Pak and 6-Pak MIG/MAG Multi-Operator Welding Packages are available for rent, lease or purchase. Contact Sales to learn more.
