Installing your MIG welding wire is actually quite simple. The initial step is to ensure that you are using a very high quality
Troubleshooting the Wire Feed System. Why? You can have so many troubles with MIG welding wire not feeding, burning back, excess spatter, birds nesting and so on.

Assuming there isn’t any old spool of MIG wire on the MIG welder. The first think you need to do is physically open the welding machine or wire feed case up.

Then you will have to remove a cotter pin or a large plastic nut that is attached to the hub or axle the welding wire will slide onto. Now start the box of MIG wire, make certain it is the correct size wire that you want to use and the correct form of wire. Also provide a quick glance and look for rust.

Raise the spool and slide it onto the axle/hub. Replace the cotter pin or plastic nut.

Now navigate to the end of the MIG welding gun and take off the nozzle / shroud. This may either display or screw off depending on the brand of welding torch. When it’s off, take away the contact tip by unscrewing it with pliers.

Set the nozzle and contact tip aside.

Go back to the MIG wire, plus between the spool of MIG wire where the welding torch attaches towards the front of the machine or remote wire feeder there is an feed rollers or drive rollers.

You will see some kind of latch which is often flicked open. This action will raise the top feed roller and allow you to feed the wire onto the drive rolls.

Remember that on the feed rollers you will find usually two grooves. The wire needs to sit in one of these grooves. To the side of the feed rollers is a punched marking showing what size wire to use in which groove.

Usually MIG welding machines include two different sized grooves. As an example 0.9mm and 1.2mm which can be 0.035" and 0.045".

Ensure that the MIG welding wire diameter fits the proper sized grove inside the feed roller. When owning a precision welding wire you should utilize the right feed roller groove for your correct diameter sized MIG wire.

You can get away with using slightly different sized feed rollers advertising media are a cheap mig wire. Why? This is because the wire diameter tolerance will go up and down. And so the wire will be getting thicker and thinner on a regular basis which will make amends for the slightly wrong sized feed rollers.

I don’t at all recommend this for everybody who is serious about earning profits in a production welding environment or welding and fabrication business. It’s going to cause to much trouble.

You will have to carefully and I stress carefully find the end of the MIG wire and hold onto it , nor let go. Should you choose it will go whirl, whirl, whirl you’ll also find a big mess of MIG wire in all places.

With the end of the MIG wire feed it in to the driver rollers, you will have to go through a little feed tube. This can help guide the wire on the feed rollers.

Keep feeding the wire through beyond the driver rolls and in to the start of the MIG welding gun. Feed it through about a foot roughly.

Lower and lock on the latch for the drive rollers, and adjust it back to number 1 or the lightest setting possible. Then screw / adjust the strain down a little.

Next if you use gas, shut off the bottle in order to save your expensive welding gas lay you welding gun and cable out away from the welder and pull the trigger. The wire will slowly fed with the liner and take off at the tip holder. You are able to crank up the feed speed adjuster to get the wire through faster.

Now when the wire emerges put the contact tip or contact tube back on. Place the nozzle back on and trim the wire to around half an inch protruding.

You are almost done now. Turn you gas back on. Now ideally you would like the wire feed tension mechanism being as light as you possibly can so that it will not deform the shape from the welding wire. Deforming the shape of the welding wire will case premature wear on the feed rollers mainly because of too much force.

It’s going to cause irregular wear about the contact tip and the welding wire may have tiny components of material shaved and squeezed off it that will go down in to the liner with the torch, and also over time lead it to build up internal resistance that will cause more trouble welding down the track.