ln-25 whip maintenance

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hey guys, have been using ln-25's and miller suitcases for a long time and seems to me most of the problems associated with them are from the liners in the whips getting gunked up. Yes I constantly change the kleen pads regularly by the rollers and blow out the whip every time we change wire with compressed air. Have tried the liner lube also, with mixed results.  Have a crew of 10 + welders and have recently switched to profax whips as you can change the whip liners out of them.  On this job have been welding hard w/ new machines for about two months and blowing the liners out good doesnt seem to help that much anymore.  Was wondering if anyone else out there does any other kind of preventitive maintenance and or if anyone has any links to any sites that discuss service life of whips or anything. Thanks fellas-J.2011 Dodge 3500 diesel duallyLincoln SA-200Lincoln SAE-300LN-25'sLincoln Idealarc R3RMiller Trailblazer 302
Reply:I just change the liner when it needs it.  I use Lincoln or tweeco guns.A new liner is about eight bucks from weldingdepot.com.  What is the big deal?David.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:right, hence the switch recently to profax whips as they have interchangeable liners.the stock lincoln whips we get up here you cant change the liners out of.2011 Dodge 3500 diesel duallyLincoln SA-200Lincoln SAE-300LN-25'sLincoln Idealarc R3RMiller Trailblazer 302
Reply:I have a couple of ancient K-126's that came with an equally ancient LN-22 and when I got them I ran a spray can of electric motor cleaner thru each one. An amazing amount of crud flushed out.Electric motor cleaner evaporates pretty quick, but I let them set out in the sun for a day anyway.If you try it and blow yourself up don't blame me. JTMcC.
Reply:Why can't you change out the liners? I am using a Lincoln Magnum 400 and Magnum 300. You can change those liners out.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Just curious, but what specific problems are you seeing most often?  Is it related to changing spools or inconsistent wire feed while welding?I've heard a lot of varying opinions about those felt pads in wire feeders, and whether or not they do more harm or good when they wipe excess lube off the wire....Some people always tear them out, and some people always leave them in and maintain them....  I'm not trying to (re)start a debate on that subject here, just mentioning it as something else you might try to cure your problem...Different MIG wire manufacturers use different types of lubricant when drawing wire.  Some of this lube remains on the wire and/or might be replenished after the drawing process.The lube might serve as a rust preventative, in addition to aiding in feeding the wire through the MIG/FCAW feeder.  I'm not sure, and I suspect each manufacturer has their own reasons for applying or leaving a coating on the wire...I've noticed that Lincoln uses what I think is a graphite-based lube on their FCAW wires.  Hobart/Trimark uses something different, and so does ESAB.  The point I'm building up to is this, if you can't find a solution to the problem by changing the hardware, maybe changing to a different filler metal supplier will help(assuming you have the flexibility to do so).Just my $0.02.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:mostly use esab coreshield 8 5/64. Best results are short profax whips w/  kleen pads changed regularly and no lube. Longer whips seem to have more "binding" problems if whip isnt as straight as possible.  Using lube in my opinion seems to help a little initially but tends to gunk up and cause more feeding problems/ impurities and inconsistences later on. Also being a lincoln fan for most of my welding career( still love the 200's for stick), i have found the whisper welders have a much smoother arc than the vantage series of welders. Ive used multiple new vantage 400's and 500's and own three 500 whisper watts, and when we are doing pipe splices that are going to be ultrasound tested everyone whants one of the whispers.2011 Dodge 3500 diesel duallyLincoln SA-200Lincoln SAE-300LN-25'sLincoln Idealarc R3RMiller Trailblazer 302
Reply:Originally Posted by Joker11Why can't you change out the liners? I am using a Lincoln Magnum 400 and Magnum 300. You can change those liners out.
Reply:yes the innershield guns have non replaceable liners.     I don't use any lube or wire cleaning pads on anything.The main problem with innershield guns getting fowled up is running to much tension on the drive rolls.  it crushes the wire and squeezes the flux out of the wire and fowls the liners.every so often I will take and blow out a whip with VERY CLEAN compressed air and you would be amazed the amount of crap that will blow out of there.   remove the entire whip assembly from the feeder, remove the gooseneck from the gun take the whip and straiten it out as strait as possible, using clean compressed air with very low moisture content, blow the liner out from the gun end first.when theirs no more powder coming out of the liner then switch ends and blow out the liner from the machine end. You would be amazed at how much crap comes out of their when you do it for the first time.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Yes, do not use any lube or pads at all, they tend to help when new but they just attract dust and particles causing more problemsWould not bother cleaning out liners too much, just replace themAre you using knurled rollers ?If so they can cause all sorts of problems if not set up properlyBilly