feed problem on Migmaster 250

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Hello all, last night when I was doing a small repair job,the feed rollers on my welder seemed to be slipping. I could dial up and down on the control pot and the feed motor would track up and down,but the wire would not feed or feed slowly or feed erratically.I adjusted the feed roller tension,loosend the feed roller tension,checked for crud in the tip,removed the tip,it only started working after I had pulled out about 10 feet of wire,(which showed no evidence of corrosion or kinking) I finished my project but I am at a loss as to what happened.The last time I used the machine there was no problem,which was about 2 weeks ago.The welder is in my garage in dry clean conditions. Any thoughts would be appreciated,I hate gremlins.The gun is an almost new Profax with little or no time on it. thanks, Jim McGuinness
Reply:your wire on the spool may have been tangled a bit adding excess drag on the wire.   sure your gun hose was not twisted in some weird fashion to cause the same problemTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:try blowing out the liner or replace maybe even pull it out and look at it don't take much or drag crud inside a lineridealarc 250/250 ac-dc tigidealarc 250/250 ac-dc tig #2 used for sticklincoln sp100hh125dual arbor grinder polisher30 yrs of hand tools52 pitch blocks 6p-26prake gauge -pitch gaugeG&D prop repair 918-207-6938Hulbert,okla 74441
Reply:Ditto what south and prop said. In addition, removing the liner and letting it soak in a coffee can of paint thinner is good for de-cruding too. Blow out and dry after, of course.If the roller rolls on the wire and the wire doesn't move, the roller will make a flat spot that likely won't go through the tip. Also, if the wire unrolled off the spool and you rolled it back on, it's not the same. there is a twist tension on the wire when spooled at the factory. This makes it feed off the spool correctly. Could be a bad section right from the factory. The spool holder in the welder could have snagged. Did you check/clean the V-groove on the non-drive roller?Yeah, mystery problems suck. Hope it doesn't get you again, but you just never know200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:Thanks guys,the spool looked like the wire had crossed over itself,the rollers are clean and were turning at whatever speed I set the feedrate at. The liner is as new as the gun,which probably doesn't have a couple of hours on it,but i'll pull it to be sure.It started working after I pulled some wire through the gun,so possibly it was as you suggested that the spool was bound up. I appreciate the help. Jim
Reply:I had the same problem with my migmaster 275. I replaced the liner since it was a used machine, new tips, and added wire lube pads. Now i make sure my gun cable is straight as possible and I have yet to have another feed problem.ESAB MigMaster 275Miller Econotwin HFMiller Syncrowave 250