Need Help With Setup

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Hello Everyone,    I know you guys are probably tired of people asking for help with setup, but I've tried all sorts of stuff and can't seem to figure it out.   I'm new to welding and I just bought a Lincoln 125 amp wire feeder, or flux core arc welder. I guess it's a MIG welder,  but doesn't use gas.  Anyways, when I weld it seems like the wire hits the metal and pushes the nozzle away, I've tried turning down the wire speed, but it makes it where the puddles are too small. I've tried slowing down, but it still looks bad, not wide enough. It also seems like the wire looses contact with the puddle a lot. I see it hit the puddle and separate a lot. I can feel it through the handle.  I'm not getting that smooth crackling sound you should hear. Like frying bacon in a pan sound.  I have tried all sorts of stuff, my distance/angle is good, I'm not too sure about the spool brake and the drive roll tension. I have the brake set and about hard-firm to light-firm, the drive roll is from 1 to 5, I have it set at about half.  The setting is correct for the metal thickness and wire size. Spindle groove is correct size too. I did buy some new wire, since the roll that came with it unwound. Could I have bought the wrong type of wire?    Please help, thanks. Last edited by BakoGuy; 03-31-2012 at 08:35 PM.Reason: Forgot something!!!!!!!
Reply:Preface- I'm just learning. But I bought a similar (Lincoln 140A) welder recently. So that may count for something. I think yours is a flux-core welder. If it can't accept gas, it's not technically MIG welding. Make sure that you bought flux-core wire (Lincoln calls it Innershield). The included wire is 0.035" diameter. The new wire that you bought should be the same size, 0.035", not 0.030" or 0.025". Check that your wiring polarity, under the machine's door, is correct. For flux-core, there is a certain polarity that you need to use. The wire that comes from the wire-feed assembly needs to be connected to the - terminal. The ground cable will go to the + terminal. Be sure that the thumb-screw that holds the gun's main lead (from the gun to the machine) is nice and secure. The gun's lead should be pushed fully into the machine, then the thumb-screw should be tightened. The first time I installed mine, I did not have the wire pushed in all the way before I tightened the thumb-screw. Likewise, make sure the wing nuts for the ground clamp and gun wires are tight. Make sure that the metal you're welding on is clean and shiny. Rust, paint, etc, will cause problems. Grind/sand it down until you have shiny steel, both where you are going to weld, and where the ground clamp is attached. Position the ground clamp as close to the weld as you can (inches, not feet, away). Make sure the ground clamp's bolt to the lead wire is tight, and that the contact surfaces of the clamp are clean. When I've had either a bad ground, or been on dirty/rusty metal, I've had trouble getting the arc to start and be consistent. Get nice and close to the metal, to start. I've sometimes cut the wire off so that it's almost flush with the copper contact tip. Have the wire touching the metal, then squeeze the trigger. Of course, the wire feed & voltage settings to be matched up to the chart behind the door. For a given metal thickness, you need to select the appropriate wire feel & voltage, for the type and size wire you are using. I tried setting the wire feed differently one time, too high and too low, and got weird results in both cases. Set the spool tension light/low. Just enough so that when you release the trigger, the spool does not start to pull back and unwind. Then set the drive roller tension. I tried setting it so that, with the wire up against something "inert" (steel without the ground clamp attached, or with the wire on the garage floor, etc), there was enough tension to kind of push the gun away from the work piece. It seemed to me that, at least for testing, too much roller tension is better than too little. For reference, I had mine set to around 2.5, with 0.035" flux-core. Does this happen even at settings that you'd use for thin metal? "A" voltage, etc? Or only when you crank it up to D voltage? I think that, at least for testing purposes, you could "pretend" you were welding on thin metal, and pick the appropriate settings, even you only have something thicker. If it only happens with the higher voltages, it's possible you're having problems feeding the welder electrically? You don't want to be using any extension cords, if possible, and you should try to be on a circuit which doesn't really have other significant loads on it (preferably a 20A circuit). Mine draws about 10-11A from the wall even on A voltage. And up to about 25A at D voltage. I hope this helps a bit.Edit- Also, make sure that your contact tip size matches your wire size. Using 0.035" wire with an 0.030" tip probably wouldn't even fit through. But 0.030" wire through an 0.035" tip might cause something strange.Last edited by RedOctobyr; 03-31-2012 at 10:48 PM.
Reply:Review then read again--the sticky link below,it's appropriately titled :  110 volt migshttp://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=20883Blackbird
Reply:Check the AWS Number, then check what polarity you need.  DCEP or DCEN    John GSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:If the wire is pushing against the metal and you can feel it pushing the torch, then the wire tension is good enough.Sounds like you may be feeding more wire than the machine is burning.  I'd try either turning the wire speed down, or turning the voltage up.  With the wire speed turned down does it weld ok?  You said the bead is too narrow, but this may be a limitation of the machine.  More current will give a wider bead, but the machine may not be able to put out the required current.  How thick is your material?Also I've had an incorrectly installed liner cause similar problems.  The liner was cut too short so it was able to move around inside the torch.  This caused the wire to stop feeding for an instant while the liner shifted backwards.  Then the wire fed too fast when the liner sprung forward.  And repeat.... with the result being I was either shoving the wire into the metal (and feeling that through the torch) or burning the wire too short.  The drive rolls were feeding a constant speed, but the wire at the end of the torch wasn't.Also check that your ground connection is good.  A rusty/dirty ground connection may be making/breaking while you're welding.Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:Hi Bakoguy.I did not see what size steel you are welding. It sounds to me that you don't have enough heat. Remember that welder will probably weld 1/8" steel, but not much bigger.The other thing to be sure is to attach your ground clamp on shiny metal close to your weld.Good luck. Post some pictures.Burt _____________________Miller Syncrowave 250Millermatic 211Miller 375 Plasma Cutter Hobart Handler 12010FtDrillBit.com