Linde Mig Welder

My question is the gun and wire feeder. Surface rust on the spool of welding wire will this have compromised the interior liner of the gun? I hate to muck it up.

Is there something I can do before trying it out to clean the gun liner so it feeds(WD-40). The spool of wire looks like I can peel off a few layers and get down to clean wire. The wire in the gun is an unknown. The machines been sitting in a unheated barn for a few years. I'm going to blow out the machine with compressed air (carefully) this afternoon. I have CO2 and I may have an Argon bottle in my barn.

Thanks for any help.

It has a tweeco gun. Thanks for the tip on the ear plug got plenty to spare thats for sure. Yep I cut the welding wire just before the feed roller and just like a bait casting reel it spun free once the tension was released. Should of checked in first.

I took the power supply case off last night and blew out the dust no mice bunch of spare capacitors the size of a V-8 cans though. Still have not put power to it.

Thank you,

Ray

"just like a bait casting reel it spun free once the tension was released"

And that's probably why they sold the machine. With the spool set without any tension, when you touched the trigger the spool would move too far forward creating slack in the wire, then as the wire was used up during the welding process and called for more wire, the wire would jump back towards the contact tip making the weldor think there was a wire feed problem and they would look at the liner/gun but not at the spool.

The spool tension should be enough that it takes effort to unspool wire off the roll at all times as this makes for a smooth wire feed. When the trigger is released then the spool should stop without any after run. Tighten the spool tension spring until this achieved.

T_Bone

Don't you think Ray meant that the wire spun free on the stationary reel once he cut it and released the tension. That's what I took it to mean that Dave was warning him against because that's what always happens if the free end gets away from you either accidentally or because you don't know about it.

All the best, Stan

It's a crap shoot weather you'll have to replace the liner or not. I've taken a few layers off the spool after backing out the wire in the liner, installed a foam ear plug for a wire cleaner. Just let the foam ride up against the wire feed guide. I'd cover the spool with a cloth when when not in use.

I've watched guys use WD-40 on liners using a small piece of rag blown thru with compressed air. This works some times but more time than not, the liner will need replaced, $30? First use the liner as is and see what you got.

Has it got a Tweeco gun? If not then when you replace the liner buy the Tweeco gun and liner as they are the finest Mig guns made.

T_Bone

Whatever you do to resolve this situation, please post your results. This is similar to a problem I'm going to have to deal with sooner or later. The person who is usually my best source of information on welding related matters won't even offer an opinion on any problem that involves trading time for uncertain results in an attempt to salvage compromised materials. It's not a bad policy but I'm not sure I could ever get there from here.

All the best, Stan