linde 225 wire backlash

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My linde 225 works fine for 10 minutes then backlashes between the feed wheel and the wire feed tube. It doesn,t seem to matter how the spring tension against the wheel is adjusted. I am using .030 wire which is listed in the chart on the access cover...but maby it's too small for this unit??? Any help is appreciated. I like this old welder and would like to keep using it. I don't have any confidence in the repair people I talked to so I havn't taken it in for repair.   .......The MUrph
Reply:Do you mean that the wire "bird nests", or piles up in a bunch of kinks and bends?If so, sounds like the drive wheels work fine to push the wire but something downstream is causing too much friction which makes the wire bunch up.  Maybe the liner is dirty/clogged, or you are putting too severe of a bend in the liner, wrong size liner or tip, etc.Also, minimize the gap between the wire feed tube and the feed wheel so that there is no room for the wire to bunch.  Slide the feed tube in closer, make a new feed tube or modify the existing one.
Reply:Pulser's advice on minimizing the gap between the tube and the drive wheels is excellent.  We have this problem once in a while with the aluminum wire feed welders at work.  I've found that if the machine is generally set up fine, the easiest fix is sometimes to just try a new tip on the torch and see if the problem goes away.  Old tips get dirty inside, or if the wire has been burning back into the tip the hole gets melted at the end and the wire doesnt want to slide through easily.  If that doesnt work, cut the wire after the feed wheels and pull the wire out of the torch, straighten up the torch lead, release all tension on the drive wheels and feed fresh wire wire off the roll into the torch cable slowly By Hand so you can feel where its hanging up.  You may have to release all tension on the wire roll axle if your feeder has a spool brake on it to be able to feed it off the roll by hand.  Often times if the problem is in the torch cable/liner it will hang up either right at the beginning by the machine or at the end right before it goes into the torch which are the 2 areas where the torch lead usually gets bent the most.  Other times it will hang up in the liner in the gooseneck of the torch.   You can try blowing it out with air or change out the liner for a new one.   Liners do get grooves worn in them and need to be changed once in a while, especially the one in the gooseneck of the torch cause of the bend it goes through there.  Once you get it going again, try to keep your torch lead fairly straight while you're welding and when you store it, dont coil it up in a tight circle or let it get any sharp bends in it.Good luck with it, hope you get it welding good again!
Reply:Nice advice DesertRider!  When you said "old machine" I had to laugh. We were trying to limp along an original model Snap-On mig for years, the company wouldn't even look at it anymore. Yours doesn't sound too bad, 50/50 the lead needs to be blown out with compressed air, or needs to be replaced. Give it a thorough blow-out from both ends with 100 lbs of air and see how that suits you. Good luck!If you don't have the time to do it right, then you definitely don't have the time to do it over.