Campbel Hasfild..oops

[herrsoft]

I was side blinded to purchase one of these........But Im on a tight budget. I will soon evolve to Miller. My mis is using .24, C25, Power set to low or high. I get build up of the weld very easy. I reduced the gas Then it gets messy. It appears the Power is not stable. How Can I getby with this Machine, Besides using it as a Boat anchor?
I was going to purchase the miller 135 but at the time it was too pricy.

HELP

[Scott V]

I was side blinded to purchase one of these........But Im on a tight budget. I will soon evolve to Miller. My mis is using .24, C25, Power set to low or high. I get build up of the weld very easy. I reduced the gas Then it gets messy. It appears the Power is not stable. How Can I getby with this Machine, Besides using it as a Boat anchor?
I was going to purchase the miller 135 but at the time it was too pricy.

HELP

Maybe some .030 self shielded flux-core would help?

Just a guess but it does have a pretty wide operating window.

[fun4now]

boat anchor

cant realy think of any way to make a sad welder happy

any chanc you can still get your $$$ back by returning it???
you can get the mm135 on e-bay for around $550 and even less if you go with a hobart.

i got the farm hand but never turned it on took it back and almost got a red 1 but looked on the net got some feedback and got my mm135 in jan. and have had nothing but great things to say about it with bolth shielding gas and with flux core wire tought myself to MIG (still no pro )
it has worked great for me through many projects. extended my trailor, built a welding cart,fixed an exost on brothers van, fixed other stuff, started a metal shed (20ft X 20ft X 17ft), and am making a yard truck now out of an old lawn mower i had laying around

your first thought to get the mm135 was a good 1
i have also heard good things about the hobart 135/140 on the hobart forem site.

[tackit]

Sorry herrsoft, but I'm not understanding your post.

Somethings you can check are your contact tip to make sure it's the right size for the wire you are using and it's clean, check the guns holes under the tip to make sure they are free of dirt and opened up so the gas can flow through the nozzle, clean nozzel, check the pressure on the drive rolls and make sure your ground clamp's wire is tight and remember to always weld clean metal. I hope this is of some help, others here maybe able to understand you better and will be glad to help you out.

[Teeps]

I wonder if we shouldn't make a mig welding faq.

Some things I have run into, and I agree with the above.
Actually I found even Lincoln's owners manual for the 135 amp units (actually the weld pak 3200 in my case) is quite helpful for any 135 amp welder.

Make sure your gas nozzle on your mig gun is on tight, like mentioned, make sure your contact tip (the part of the mig gun that transfers power to the wire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) is sized right, and clean.

I thought mine was "clean enough" but I just made some ugly welds, and I'm pretty sure the contact type being a bit dirty, and corroded is a big part of my problem.

Use right around 20 on the gas guage, experiment with the wire speed on a scrap piece, start with a higher weld speed, just to test making a pool and manipulating it. This is in the lincoln manual, and probably several miller manuals, but electrode stick-out is very important. you want to experiment with E.S.O, when you have it at the right distance, you will hear a very rapid short circuit sound, kind of like one of those old bug lights, snaping off and frying bugs like 4 times a second. Or popcorn popping really fast. You'll notice the sound.

You should be able to pull wire by hand from the spool, but as soon as you leg go of the wire, it should not move another millimeter. So just set the tension so that it can move smoothly but not let out slack. As mentioned previously, make sure gas can flow through the cone, and also, clean metal helps, dirty metals makes my welds look ugly, even with good penetration, form, and L56 wire made to clean out inpurities, or atleast move them out.

You will want to have a nice 4 1/2" angle grinder, I love my dewalt, a die grinder can help as well if you have an air compressor. I need both.
Then you can get all kinds of discs, and cut off wheels, and fine grit for polishing a bit.

Might want to post something about what your trying to weld on, or do, what gas your using, wire, how thick material, what type of material, etc.

Good Luck!!!

[ASKANDY]

herrsoft,

I bet the machine came set for flux core wire. You will need to check the polarity of the machine and make sure it's set for Elecrode Positive. This means that the gun is + and the gnd clamp is -. You should be able to change these wires around usually on the drive motor housing or a terminal block in the machine.

Andy

[Teeps]

Good Point!!! Forgot about that reversing the polarity.

Also, make sure you dont have any issues with supplying the required power input to the welder. 110v and required current.

[Tinker]

Teeps makes another good point on that 120v input power. I had to use an extension cord to get my Century 135 GS MIG to some work and really noticed a difference since I was operating on the hairy edge of it's capability. I finally ended up swaping out the short, light power cord on the welder for a heavier gauge cord that was long enough to reach directly to a wall outlet. Seemed to make just enough difference to keep me smiling until I also can upgrade