Mig wire has corroded just sitting in the machine

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Hey all,I have a Hobart handler 135, 120volt, and I bought one of the biggest spool of wire that would fit. The wire is THYSSEN ER70S6 .024 diameter made in Italy 11 pound spool.The welder worked great for a long time. Then the welder sat in the house (upstairs in the living space, not garage or basement) for about a year before I used it again. The first 5 feet of wire I used worked great (what had been in the sleeve) and then the wire would slip in the rollers and jam or stick in the tip.I fussed with roller tension and spool tension and cleaned the rollers and put on a new tip all to no avail.To make a long story shorter, I noticed that the surface of the copper coating on the wire had oxidized and it looked brown and blotchy not bright and shiny. I finally unspooled enought wire to get down to clean material and the welder worked great again, even with the old tip.HOW do I keep this from happening in the future? IS THERE A WAY to clean off or salvage the oxidized wire before it goes thru the machine? The LWS offered to sell me a felt wiper with a special oil for 18 dollars but did not promise this would fix the problem.I really hate to waste a hundred feet of wire because it is oxidized.Thanks for any advice you can give.
Reply:Three solutions from a novice welder/experienced electronics technician:Do you have one of those FoodSaver vacuum bag machines?If you know you are not going to be using a specific spool for an extended period of time you can seal it in a vacuum bag.  An 11 pound spool is what? 8 inches diameter?  No problem.  My FoodSaver machine will do bags up to 11" wide which is just enough for a 8"Dia x 2" wide spool.  Store where it won't get punctured.No vacuum bag machine?  Save those little silicone dessicant bags that come in just about everything today, from electronics to shoes.  Put the spool into a 2 gallon zip-lock bag and drop in a couple of those dessicants.  Squeeze the excess air out and zip it up tight.  Store where it won't get punctured. (It may help to "bake" the dessicant bags in a 200° oven for ten minutes to drive out any moisture just before use.  Heat up the oven first, when it reaches temperature turn it off, then put the little dessicant bags on a cookie tray and slide it in.  Wait ten or fifteen minutes and pull 'em out.)Get an old apartment sized refrigerator that doesn't work.  Insert one 25W light bulb in the bulb socket, disable the light switch in the door jamb, and plug it in.  Put in the wire spool(s) and close the door.Member, AWSLincoln ProMIG 140Lincoln AC TombstoneCraftsman Lathe 12 x 24 c1935Atlas MFC Horizontal MillCraftsman Commercial Lathe 12 x 36 c1970- - - I'll just keep on keepin' on.
Reply:buhler,If you leave the wire sitting in the machine, there's no way to eliminate the oxidation.  What I would suggest is that, if you know you're not gonna be using the machine for a while, pull the spool, put it in a large Ziplock freezer bag, suck the air out of it, and zip it shut.  It's a little extra work spooling and unspooling, but it'll save you 100 feet of wire.Regards, kbnitI r 2 a perfessional
Reply:[QUOTE=Mondo;206415]No vacuum bag machine?  Save those little silicone dessicant bags that come in just about everything today, from electronics to shoes.  Put the spool into a 2 gallon zip-lock bag and drop in a couple of those dessicants.  QUOTE]That was my thought also since I'm always tossing those little bags of dessicants in the trash....til I needed some to put into some military ammo cans to store extra spools of wire. I couldn't even find the dang little bags anywhere and got tired of looking/asking about them and just bought 2 bulk cans on ebay(the bulk was less than the little bags) and I needed a lot anyway.
Reply:The felt wipers will not do anything about oxidation/corrosion issues.  They can help preclean and lube a wire from dust and things of that nature, and are more about keeping the liners clean to prevent feed problems.
Reply:Sorry, Mondo, I think we posted at about the same time, looks like you got there first  Jinx!!!I r 2 a perfessional
Reply:Other than what others have mentioned I would say. The wire you are using is available without the copper coating. We stopped using that wire in my shop due to the higher toxicity in the fumes due to copper. Secondly, If your using such a small amount of wire at a time the maybe you should be purchasing it in smaller spools.
Reply:What are the benefits or disadvantages of using the copper plated wire vs bare wire? I never even heard of the bare wire The more I learn the more I realize how little I know You have a point about buying the smaller spools, I just have a mental deficiency called "The More I Buy The More I Save"I had assumed I could put in the big spool of 024 wire and never have to fuss with it again. Looks like I will not be that lucky.Arrgghh.
Reply:Buhler,The copper prevents the steel from rusting.  In your situation, I don't think you'd want to consider bare wire.  You're not using the material up fast enough.KbnitI r 2 a perfessional
Reply:Thanks everyone for all your help so far.Is there anything I could spray on or dip the spool of wire into that would prevent corrosion over the long term and not mess up the welding machine?Otherwise it is baggie and dessicant time for me.. and since I can never predict when I will have time to use the machine again, I will have to do it after every use.How are you all keeping the wire from going crazy unspringing when you release it from the machine? This is a huge problem on the small spools of flux core wire for me.  Have heard of putting rubber bands over it but are there other ways?
Reply:You have to be careful about what you put on the wire. It is best to put it in a plastic bag when not in use. The spool should have a few holes on the sides around the perimeter. Cut the wire and hold onto the spool side. Just put the cut end in there and bend it over.
Reply:Originally Posted by Mondo.....Save those little silicone dessicant bags that come in just about everything today, from electronics to shoes.  Put the spool into a 2 gallon zip-lock bag and drop in a couple of those dessicants.  Squeeze the excess air out and zip it up tight.  Store where it won't get punctured. (It may help to "bake" the dessicant bags in a 200° oven for ten minutes to drive out any moisture just before use.  Heat up the oven first, when it reaches temperature turn it off, then put the little dessicant bags on a cookie tray and slide it in.  Wait ten or fifteen minutes and pull 'em out.).....