MM251 & .023" wire

[10secBu]

I am currently running .030 solid wire in my MM251.

I also bought a .023 liner for the gun when I bought the machine. Seeing how much of a pain it would be to switch liners for a small sheetmetal job...

...is it possible to weld .023" wire with the as shipped torch liner? Are there any feed issues or arc instability using the larger liner for .023" wire?

thanks
Todd

[ASKANDY]

Good question 10secBU!

This is an issue that alot of welders struggle with. The truth of it is, most of us are too lazy to do the job right or have another gun with the proper liner set up. Feeding problems come into play when you feed such a small dia wire through a liner designed for .035. The .023 wire will snake around in the bigger liner and bunch up causing a jerky feed and erratic arc. If you lay the gun out completly straight, you might get away with it for a little while.
Think of it this way. At least you'll be able to blow the dirt out of your gun when you are changing liners so often.

Good question. I hope other welders read this. I can't tell you how many times I go out to fix a feeding or erratic weld problem and it's all because of mis-matched wire, liners, tips or drive rolls. Believe me when I say, I'm not too gentle in telling them they are messing up my day because of someones stupidity. You wouldn't put 4 different size tires on your car with different size rims would you??

Hope this helps.

Andy

[cope]

Andy, seems that some guns are more prone to this problem than others. Or maybe the liner on the 251 is actually designed for .045 also? If I had that issue, and .023 was used often enough, I think I would get a Tweco Mini-Mig gun for the .023. They are slimmer and lighter than the larger guns.

[ASKANDY]

That's right Cope. Our .030-.035 liner is a bit bigger than .035. Most companies make their liners that way until you get in the real small sizes or the real large size. The longer the gun the bigger the problem becomes. The Tweco Mini-Mig is a nice small light piece. It is very popular in the race industry because of it's tapered nozzles and tips that allow getting into tighter spots. The tapered tips don't seem to last as long and have a larger tolerance than the MILLER tips. Our race teams have found that the tip is half worn out when it's new and they will usually dimple the end of the tip with a side cutters to tighten the tip up a little for better spot welding. During long welds, they use a standard tip because of "swelling" from the heat.
The Tweco gun is fairly affordable too.

Andy