Having a problem with Miller Alumafeed

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A guy I work next to is having a problem with his machine. If you didn't already know, Miller Alumafeed is a push-pull system for mig welding aluminum. Anyways, the problem is with his arc. Instead of the cone coming out straight to where the wire is melting, it bends down almost at a 45 degree angle, not from the tip, but again the wire. We tried to compensate for this by raising where the puddle is but it still wants to arc to its lowest position. I hope this makes sense. Anyone have any ideas why his arc wants to bend down instead of where it should? Forgot to mention the wire is 5636 3/64" and the stock is T6011Last edited by stackohdimes; 03-04-2014 at 02:10 PM.
Reply:Sounds like the contact tip might be worn out or to big.Lincoln pro core 125 14''chop saw7 inch grinder,2-4.5 inch grinders,electric die grinder.Half inch drillAnd alot of hand tools
Reply:Hello stackodimes, are you referring to the "arc length" adjustment? I don't believe "that" adjustment is the issue here, I would make an educated guess that there is some sort of ground issue or the relation of the proximity of his welding to someone elses. If you have experience with "arc blow" as it is commonly referred to I would say that this is what is going on. DC electric arcs can be influenced by magnetic fields, they will literally "pull" the arc around. Welding creates it's own magnetic field by the flow of the current from the wire coming out of the gun to the ground or visa/versa. Changing the proximity of welding by various operators can sometimes promote or decrease issues, changing the ground location of a specific welding machine might also address arc issues with a particular machine. Hope this possibly helps, would love to hear what specifically you determine to take care of it when you come upon it. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:You need to post way more information. Like cover gas, metal thickness, joint design, position, and the lot. Even volts would be helpful.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Arc blow described the problem to a t. I feel like such a noob cause it never crossed my mind. I've been doing MIG and TIG for about 5 years now and have never witnessed arc blow.I think the problem lies with the ground itself. I am going to try to paint a picture verbally on how our "maintenance crew" thinks our grounds should be ran. Our shop has exposed structural I beams. Our machines are on brackets for lack of a better term attached to the I beams on the wall about 9 feet off the ground. They have the ground wire clamped to a ground off spot on the I beam a few feet below the machine. With this in mind, the ground (not the ground wire) runs up the wall I beam, about 20 or so feet high, across the ceiling I beam, about 15 feet across, and then down another 20 foot or so structural I beam that is close to my table. They then welded a 3 foot piece of flat bar from the legs on my table to the piece where the I beam bolts to the concrete floor. This is what they consider a proper ground.I have to run my machine at 26+v and between 450 and 550 IPM to get decent penetration on 1/4" t6061.I also forgot to mention that I work for a company that mass produces car haulers, and have engineers, but none of which majored in welding. I work with a bunch of trigger pullers who only know that when you pull the trigger and the wire contacts the metal to be welded, it makes bright light and sparks. Last edited by stackohdimes; 03-04-2014 at 08:33 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by stackohdimesI work with a bunch of trigger pullers who only know that when you pull the trigger and the wire contacts the metal to be welded, it makes bright light and sparks.
Reply:Hello again stackodimes, yes, your grounding description doesn't describe an ideal situation by any means. Can't totally say that it is the responsible party in this situation either, yet, I would suspect that it could be a major contributor. Direct ground cable connection minus all of the "structural" components in between would certainly help. Make your best attempt at trying to get them to adapt a new grounding practice, although it sounds as if that might be a futile route. Best of luck and regards, Allanaevald
Reply:that grounding method works for structural welding but those guys are still out there moving grounds around if they start having problems. Generally speaking the closer the ground is to where you are welding the better, Try running the ground cable to the piece and see if that helps. If it doesn't you might have some worn components making the gun feed the wire funny, some things to look for are worn contact tips, worn gun liners, wrong drive roll tension, bad feed motors. Basically anything that touches or moves the wire.