Problem with my Miller 210

[Flatty]

I was welding together a roll cage for a freiend the other day, and I noticed I had a problem. I was getting some serious kick back from my welder. The wire was coming out and splattering like crazy. The welder was also making a really loud whinning sound under load. What the hell is going on with this thing.

HEre is the info on the welder:
about 2 years old
Miller 210
.035 wire
35lb spool
was welding .120 wall 1.75" tubing

This is not eh first time this has happened. It seems as though it has been this way from the beginnning. I figured it was me, not the welder, but the more I weld, the more problems I have. What is going on. I never had this problem with my Miller 172 (got stolen so I stepped up to this one)

Thanks for the help guys.
Dima

[Franz]

First question would be how's the contact tip? Is it worn, or is the gunb loaded with spatter?
Has the wire gotten rusty?

The first rule of troubleshooting is to look at the last change that was made, that will generally give you the answer.

[Sberry]

Some of the guys here have 210's, lots of them on Hobart board.
http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/

[RawkRash]

Check the tension on the spool hub brake. It sounds like it's too tight.

I had essentially the same thing happen on my 251. It welded fine at first, but as I used the wire and the spool became smaller, it started acting up.

Releasing some tension on the big nut that holds the spool brake in place fixed it right up.