Lincoln WeldPak HD Experiments.. ? LONG..

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Ok. So I got a Lincoln Weldpak HD very cheaply to weld some 16, 14 and maybe some 18 gauge steel. Let's pretend it CAN NOT be converted to gas easily. Let's also pretend (not hard for me) that I am dead broke and my wife will leave me if I spend any more money. Let's pretend I am sick of reading "buy a Miller".Let's pretend I had nothing I could weld on today.. I didn't, but I will have some tomorrow. Today I finally got to mess with it. I wanted to try and make my first post informative, but it just raised more questions. I have High and low and 1 and 2.  Makes 4 combos. The wire feed speed goes from 0-10. The chart inside the door says to weld EVERYTHING with a speed of 9. Weird. this is the one that says 35-88 Amps. I wanted more information. Weldingtipsandtricks.com has a chart that shows wire feed for any thickness in metal etc. Their chart is for gas shielded wire feed welders and I have a flux core welder. But I wanted to find out exactly what my little welder does. I plugged it directly into a 20amp outlet I am lucky enough to have in my rented garage. I put on a new contact tip of the appropriate size.I have 0.035 flux core wire in the welder now with 0.9 rollers. Made in Poland and it is model # 10949So I hooked up a Multi-meter and attempted to read volts and amperage for each of the 4 power taps. I decided I would take 3 readings for each power level and average them. Turns out all 3 readings at all 4 levels were dead on the same, but it turns out there is no current (Amperage) unless you're actually welding. I thought if the circuit went through the multi-meter it would pick it up, but it didn't. I also did not weld my multi-meter  I guess you need the resistance from the air between the wire and work to produce current. But here are the readings I did get:Low 1- 19.26 VoltsLow 2- 20.9 VoltsHigh 1- 23.7 VoltsHigh 2- 26.5 Volts. I guess that's ok (there's no frame of reference I could find and I don't want to email Lincoln)There was some issues with wire speed though. I put it on Low -1 and attempted to measure the wire feed for 6 seconds. The wire didn't move until I got to 5. Then it went 1.25 inches. So WFS 5 = 12.5 IPMWFS 7 = 30 IPM. WFS 9 = 60 IPM.WFS 10 = 65 IPM. The whole time it was creaking and groaning and squeaking.. Didn't sound happy. I then did the same tests with the power at High -2 (Max) and got WFS 4 = 30 IPMWFS 6 = 90 IPMWFS 8 = 120 IPMWFS 10 = 180 IPM. Still creaking and groaning.. So I pulled off the spool (OLD wire) removed a layer of wire and reinstalled with NO tension on the wire or rollers (and it didn't birdnest on me)Then I did the same test at max Volts and got WFS 3 = 55 IPMWFS 5 = 145 IPMWFS 7 = 165 IPMWFS 8 = 190 IPMWFS 10 = 250 IPMSo here are my questions.. Where should my WFS be if I was looking for factory out of the box settings? I can tension it down to get to a certain IPM at a certain speed. What do you think the creaking and groaning was? It sounded like it was coming from the spool or maybe the drive roller housing. There was barely any rust on any of the wire, but I did see some small spots on that top layer. Is there a way to clean out my liner? I know I can google it, and I will, I just wanted to ask if anyone had any good advice for that. I'd love to buy a new liner, or a new welder, but I HAVE TO make the best of this one. Also.. and this is a big one I think .. My contact tip extends past the end of the nozzle by at least 3/8 of an inch. I dont mean the wire.. the fat copper contact tip sticks out past the end of the black RUBBER (WTF?) nozzle. Do I need much shorter contact tips? A longer nozzle? A metal nozzle?When I took off the nozzle and tip I noticed I had a diffuser at the end of the line.. I MAY be able to convert this thing to gas, but it does not look like it was supposed to be converted. That'll be another post. Thank you everybody for reading.. I appreciate any and all advice. I will test it out tomorrow.
Reply:Sounds like your liner is fill of gunk, an old timer I knew would squirt diesel into the liner and blow it out with compressed air.WD40 might work the same,it may help if you don't have an actual kink in the liner.The wire should slid effortlessly through the liner,The contact tip sticking out is fine for flux core.Last edited by Bluewelders; 09-02-2014 at 12:57 AM.
Reply:Thanks! I'm going to blow it out tomorrow and see what comes out.I've got diesel here. Also Wd-40. And also have Marvel Mystery Oil. I looked into it though and people are saying not to spray anything except air through it. Wouldn't want to contaminate the weld with Dw40 or whatever. Even though it would be minimal.
Reply:Charts on Voltage and WFS are rough parameters which need to be fine tuned, period.   There isn't one that will result in a perfect combo in most circumstances.  Every machine is slightly different.  You don't fine tune your WFS based on drive roll tension.   That needs to be set correctly and then you vary it with the WFS control dial.  Otherwise you'll never get any consistency, plus, that's not how it's meant to work.  Look up setting roll tension.  Generally you want enough tension so the wire feeds with some resistance but not so much that the rollers won't slip and create a bids nest in you welder if you wire sticks.As for you're squeaking, you'll have to do process of elimination.  Does it squeak with no roll in machine? With roll attached but not fed through rollers? What about if through rollers and not the gun? Etc...Your welder may have a different nozzle for flux core and gas.  Flux core requires no shielding, so there's generally just a tip sticking out in the wind with something around the gas nozzles to protect them from spatter.  Plus, stick out will affect welder output.  On your limited output 110V unit, the last thing you'd want is a recessed tip inside a nozzle.  That would force you to have an excessive stick out and less output.  Hope this helps.  Post your location in the user CP.
Reply:Thanks everyone. I was able to get some strong ugly welds in today. On 16 gauge round tube. Then I switched over to 0.030 flux core wire and it was way better. Maybe the 0.035 I had was just old,  but I felt like this welded much better .I found a Hollywood brand bike rack and in in the process of making it into a welding cart. Flux WILL burn through paint. That's true but it's a terrible idea. I tried. It would burn through the paint and then the steel or just pop and hiss and make ugly *** welds.
Reply:Liner in the gun can be changed. Liner S25351-50. To find out if you gun can supply gas. You will need to remove the gun clamp and inspect the end of the hose.  Should be two small wires, one large wire, liner and maybe a plastic gas tube. Might be cut off or just pushed through the panel and tucked out of the way. Black or white plastic tubing. Also must have a polarity panel to be able to switch the power to the work lead and miggun.To run gas you will need a gas valve with a coil voltage the same as the contactor. Some tubing and fittings. regulator for gas bottle.If memory serves me right, white tube is the liner and is held in a clamp near the drive roll.Gas line might be black. If it is there. You could post some pictures of the drive then take the gun clamp off and take a picture of the end of the gun hose. If your real careful take the gun handle apart and take a picture of the inside. Some of these guns had a gas valve inside the handle with the trigger switch. So electrical gas valve won't be needed.If you gun does not have a gas tube or valve, I bet Jeff at HTP America Could fix you up with a new gun, regulator and any extra tubing and fittings needed.He might need the same pictures to be able to match up a miggun.You will only be able to use 023 or 030 Mig wire.
Reply:.035 mig wire really needs more power than you have available with that tiny machine to weld well. .030 is a better match to that machine..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks. I'd like to try the 0.035 on some 1/8th inch or something but that's not what I'm working on right now. All I'm using is 14 and 16 gauge sheet with some 18 gauge tube
Reply:Ok. for the record here's what's in my machine. At the end of the gun 3 wires come out. One brown, one brown with white stripe and one heavy gauge (10? ) black. The brown ones go to the board as seen in the 2nd pic. The black one goes to a tranformer? Or something (3rd pic) and then on to a junction with  bolt and a nut. The junction is in the 3rd pic too but it's covered with a heavy sleeve. If I was to switch polarity for shielded welding it would be from this junction. The price of gas here is ridiculous. I doubt I would change this over even if I had a spare regulator , hoses etc.. BUT for future reference and anyone else interested. Do you guys think I have any of the conversion stuff necessary?  What more do I need? There is no hole in the back of the machine but I've got drill bits. I'm guessing those brown wires would run to a solenoid if it was easily convertible. The gun does have a diffuser on the end, but I'm guessing the manufacturer just makes one end and sells em as both flux and mig.Thanks for reading and any advice.
Reply:Here's the schematic if it helps. Lincoln weldpak 10949 schematic
Reply:Aaaand the inside of the gun handle. I tried to edit and add pics but couldn't.So. Can this gun carry gas through it? If not I'm definitely not trying to convert it. If so then maybe. The tip has a diffuser. Sorry. And thanks again.