MIG Liner?

Caver Dave

Caver Dave

Just holdin' it down here in BFV
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Mar 10, 2005
Location
Hooterville (24171)
The old HH175 I got from Zubz years ago is ailing...

The symptoms are very erratic wire feed when the lead/handle aren't absolutely straight/flat. IOW, if the lead takes a tight turn or the handle isn't perfectly aligned with the lead, it does all kinds of weird spitting/sputtering... impossible to run a bead.
Once it's straightened out & layed all nice & flat, it'll lay beads that are way too good to have come from MY hand!. :D
Unfortunately, crawling under the bowels of a Jeep involves contorting into positions that would have Chinese gymnasts contemplating suicide and welding positions that *require* the lead/handle not be completely straight!

Is this an indication of trashed liner?

If so, the Miller house is just down the road or are there better/cheaper alternatives?.

Any gotchas or tips to keep me from spewing profanity for several hours? :beer:
 
Yeap sounds like a liner, they are cheap so try it.....
 
I have the same situation with my hobart 120. I am thinking the liner is the culprit. That is the cheapest solution to try first.
 
If you just pull the trigger will the wire come out smooth?

Are you running solid wire or flux core?

If flux core your feeder wheels can flatten out the wire & it wont run smooth through the liner. If your feeder wheels are knurled & running hard wire the wheels will cut into the copper coat of the wire leaving pieces of the wire caught in the liner. if the wheels are to tight.

You can blow the liner out with compressed air, may help may not.

Hope it helps.
 
If it has the metal spring liner it can be taken apart and cleaned with carb or brake cleaner. While your spraying it run some wire through it by hand to find the bad spots. Also if your feed wheels are worn or not adjusted correctly it will do the same thing. I would invest in a wire cleaner it will pull all the trash from the wire before it goes in the liner. Its just a small filter that goes on the wire before the feed wheels. It will give you cleaner welds to
 
Caver Dave said:
The old HH175 I got from Zubz years ago is ailing...
The symptoms are very erratic wire feed when the lead/handle aren't absolutely straight/flat. IOW, if the lead takes a tight turn or the handle isn't perfectly aligned with the lead, it does all kinds of weird spitting/sputtering... impossible to run a bead.
Once it's straightened out & layed all nice & flat, it'll lay beads that are way too good to have come from MY hand!. :D
Unfortunately, crawling under the bowels of a Jeep involves contorting into positions that would have Chinese gymnasts contemplating suicide and welding positions that *require* the lead/handle not be completely straight!
Is this an indication of trashed liner?
If so, the Miller house is just down the road or are there better/cheaper alternatives?.
Any gotchas or tips to keep me from spewing profanity for several hours? :beer:
Click to expand...
All good suggestions from everyone else so far. Try cleaning the liner as everyone else has suggested. If that doesn't work, make sure your drive motor runs smooth without running wire. If it's good then you'll need a new liner. If not, call Hobart tech at 1-800-332-3281 and talk to them. You could have a dirty wire speed pot on the control board. This is a total stretch since it works when straight, but I'm just adding some more info to the thread. IIRC, the HH 175 has the same (Miller) M10 gun that my HH187 has. Parts and liners will be easy to get at any local Miller dealer.
 
Dave sounds like the liner as they said, I'd put a new one on it and be careful not to step on it or kink it. The little felt filter or wiper is a good idea also. I can make you one no problem, very simple
 
bring it over here, use my hot glue gun!
 
I have heard of people using cigarette filters before the drive roller to clean the wire. Just stick the wire thru the unsmoked filter, thru the drive roller and into the liner.
 
^I'd hope the felt 'scrubbers' arent expensive enough to necessitate the use of a cigarette filter (although what an ingenius idea!)
 
I had similar problems. I changed out the liner as it was the original, still had erratice feed problems. It ran fine if I manually closed the trigger wires, at the welder. The switch in the whip end, worked fine. I now have a franken-welder ghetto setup. I took an orange lead cord and bypassed the internal trigger wire to the end. Been working fine since. I need to by a new whip..

So lesson here is:

Stop standing on my welder whip !!!!

If you in someone garage, stop standing on their welder leads. If its on the floor step OVER it or pick it up. My lead is old (8+ years) and I'm sure its time was just up. BUT I can't tell you how many people i've had to yell at to stop standing on my welder whip..

Also, you shouldn't roll the floor jack over it also. While its possible if you pull it fast enough it WILL ruin the lead. Just stop and pick it up...
 
- Liner has been purchased (install tonight?)

- Scrubbers have been on it for 5 years now

- While nobody steps on the whip here (sure it never happened at CRS either :lol: ), it is 12-15 years old and sometimes stuff just wears out with use
 
Yager X2
 
Mid-term Update: After a few weeks of forgetfulness, I strolled over to National Welders during lunch. The guy had given me the part number & quoted $21.20 (+tax), so when I got there, found the part# and flopped it on the counter. THANKED him for his professional diagnosis & info on properly setting the feed roller tension, chit-chatted about the cool stuff, and walked out for $19.xx total. Glad he gave me a "discount" before asking about gas & I told him a competitor (that does a "piddly" $250K/year with my employer) filled my tanks for 1/3 the price as everyone else in town! :lol:

I was able to get it swapped in last week, burned a couple 3/4" beads (does seem to be MUCH better), but will be a few more weeks (doing some trailer mods) before I can call it solved...
 
I have to agree with Yager. On my old welder(Handler 125), I had a trigger lead wire chafe and ground out on the liner. I also had it to happen on a couple of Millermatic 250X's, while I was working as a TA in the college welding lab.
 
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