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Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by Legacy37 I was trying to run a bead on a piece of 1.5” angle iron, it currently has flux core in it (has regulator and valves for gas they seem to be working son’t want to spend $$$in a tank if this thing is a boat anchor) I cannot find polarity or a way to change it. If it was set for solid wire mig with gas and you are using it with flux core, the polarity is wrong. It's usually a matter of bolting and unbolting wires inside the spool panel. Download the manual, read it twice
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Definitely need to work on CTWD. That's what, about 2.5 inches? Sorry Legacy, you need to watch some good beginner videos on MIG/flux core welding, preferably from Weldint Tips & Tricks on Ebay. Very reliable source.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat New pot should help. Lets hope it is not the control pcb. Just for kicks, clip you dc meter to the drive housing and the other clip the the contact tip. run out about 2 inches of wire. trigger welder read the voltage drop across the miggun. a good gun will read less than 1 volt. a bad gun will read over 15 volts. gun is pulled apart and weld conductor is open, only the liner is carrying current. Unfortunately there is nothing helpful on the Lincoln web site. Try calling 1-866-236-0044 this is tech support for century products, new and old. They should be able to e-mail you manuals for your machine. might have it on my old computer but it started a virus scan and can't use it until it is done several hours from now.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by Legacy37 we figured out the potentiometer for the wire feed is all over the place. there
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by ccawgc if your welder is a 100 amp welder it will not weld .035 mig wire. use only .030 or .024 it is a 117-003 welder. I got gas .030 wire, and tips. It is better but not right.....figured out the potentiometer for the wire feed is all over the place. 70 inches per minute to 580 in one step up on the dial. Locating the part now....bet it runs right when the wire speed is correct!
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat if your welder is a 100 amp welder it will not weld .035 mig wire. use only .030 or .024
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat See if you can find the model number printed on the welder case. It will be near where the welder specs are printed. I am guessing it will be 117-001 through 006. If so your welder is MIG only. Positive on the wire and must use gas. Model number will start with 117-. You can go to Lincoln electric's web site. Pick the support tab then find parts. Then guest. enter the model number in the code number box. wait for a selection to show up and select it.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Got some CO2 gas and wire, this is the best I could do...didn’t get the frying bacon sound more of a rapid popping like a machine gun. I played a bit with the heat and wire speed Attachment 1713187
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat I'd try the stickout from tip to work like we had mentioned. If that's not it and polarity can't be changed and you were ok with fluxcore then maybe rent a 5# CO2 tank for low cost to test the machine before you jump all in with 75/25.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Yes, that is the gas line
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by tapwelder So, that is the gas line at the power lug. Yep....
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat If it has connections for gas then maybe that's the only way to run it. Mike
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat So, that is the gas line at the power lug.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by Welder Dave Those instructions are what I was referring to in post 18. I'm sure the polarity could be switched but can't see how long the upper cable is at the drive rolls is. Bottom cable looks like it would be long enough. This is most likely a Century machine and although lower end not some $80 dollar special at the liquidation store. Lowest end machines are usually straight polarity only for flux-core not the other way around. those instructions show how to move a jumper wire to change from 208 to 230. The upper cable appears to be solid. I don’t think it will bend very much
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Those instructions are what I was referring to in post 18. I'm sure the polarity could be switched but can't see how long the upper cable is at the drive rolls is. Bottom cable looks like it would be long enough. This is most likely a Century machine and although lower end not some $80 dollar special at the liquidation store. Lowest end machines are usually straight polarity only for flux-core not the other way around.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat I see a mter in one of your pictures, what polarity is the machine currently configured to? In the one picture there appears to be some instructions covered in dirt and grime, maybe they would shed some light on if it is switchable?
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by ronsii judging by the distance between the wires I am not sure they were meant to be switchable??? but yes normally you'd swap the one going to the ground plug and the one on the torch...WARNING!!! some machines were grounded differently and swapping the leads could short out the whole machine!!!! kind of a similar thing to the really cheap chopper power supply welders that use an earth ground for the mains input as the work ground - but in that case when you swap things it makes the work ground connect to the HOT input mains so touching the work piece will electrocute you !!!! i am guessing it is not switchable. Flux core will not work properly unless reversed from what I understand. Guess I am off to by gas and wire tomorrow.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat judging by the distance between the wires I am not sure they were meant to be switchable??? but yes normally you'd swap the one going to the ground plug and the one on the torch...WARNING!!! some machines were grounded differently and swapping the leads could short out the whole machine!!!! kind of a similar thing to the really cheap chopper power supply welders that use an earth ground for the mains input as the work ground - but in that case when you swap things it makes the work ground connect to the HOT input mains so touching the work piece will electrocute you !!!!
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Attachment 1713126Attachment 1713127 Originally Posted by tapwelder Looks like the the cables need to be switched for polarity change. The bottom/ground looks like copper stranded the top on the power lug looks like the wire in back is copper stranded. Perhaps your neighbor neglected to change the polarity and thought it no longer worked. Good luck Looking forward to the results. the leads are both solid wire, Not sure how to change polarity
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat He said it quit working properly after he tried to weld stainless with it. It had a weird copper looking wire in it. I put the flux core for testing as I had it on hand. I am good with buying some good wire and gas if this thing is salvageable.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat It does look like you have way too much wire stick out. What are the other controls on the front of the machine? Wire speed controls amps. Voltage basically makes it weld smooth and shapes the bead. Clean off the tag in the machine. It might tell you how to change polarity but polarity may not be the issue. Did you put the flux-core wire in it? It doesn't look hard to change polarity. There's only 2 cables for welding power. The machine was most likely made by Century which was bought out by Lincoln. Weldmart may have some info to help you. https://www.weldmart.com/main/techni...eshooting.html
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Looks like the the cables need to be switched for polarity change. The bottom/ground looks like copper stranded the top on the power lug looks like the wire in back is copper stranded. Perhaps your neighbor neglected to change the polarity and thought it no longer worked. Good luck Looking forward to the results.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Hard to tell n the video but I'm gonna guess you're using way too much gap from metal to guntip... should be no more than 1/4 inch... also looks like you have too much tension in the rollers... possibly from wrong rollers for wire size.... plus you need to restrain the wire roll so it doesn't have a bunch of loose wire on it(needs to spin easily but not free) and in the video it looked like you were jumping all over the place the tip of the gun should move slowly with where you want the weld bead to be.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat Originally Posted by mla2ofus Be interesting to see how much voltage drop on the power is when you strike an arc. Mike Put my meter on one leg of input power, 118v. When arc was struck dropped to 116v then returned to 118 when I stopped.
Re: Mig will start an arc but has almost no heat As in line in voltage?
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