HF Dual MIG 171 - HOT GUN!!

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Hey folks,I'm one of the beginners here and have a Harbor Freight  Dual MIG 171 #93793. While working on my first real project last night I found ALOT of heat was getting to my gun and was actually making that stinky plastic melting smell. I was welding rebar with .030 flux core and my settings were on max amperage (approx 140) and wire feed on 6 (what ever FPM that really is). The metal did get yellow hot away from the weld area at one point and my gun tip was warm through welders glove (ie VERY HOT) but I didn't get close to the peak of duty cycle for my settings. I assume much of this was radiant heat but I don't recall the welders from back in college ever having these issues but we also weren't running flux core. - So is it just a cheap gun and I am finding its limits?- Is it because I was running flux at max amps?- Is this amount of heat transfer just normal and I never really noticed it before?- Am I going to kill my gun by doing too much of this kind of welding?Any observations or opinions welcome!
Reply:Prob not watercooled gun.
Reply:#1= Yes#2= Yes#3= Maybe, well, probably for your set up. #4= YesJust slow down a little bit, give things time to rest.  Take more time to admire your work. Heck, with the money you saved by getting harbor freight, buy another one and just switch between the two mid project!
Reply:Thanks folks,Excellent answer Birdwell4. I know that the Harbor Freight stuff is not near professional grade but its all a guy like me can afford so I have to work within its limitations or do modifications. It would be cool to make a mod for cooling the gun, in fact I bet somebody already has.
Reply:Funny story.  I've had a 200 amp stinger that's on it's last legs that heats up like a SOB as of late, to that "Oh, bother.  I can barely hold onto it through gloves" temperature.  It would make a good hand warmer in the winter!   A lot of factors could play into the heat your gun is experiencing, but as opposed to wearing out, more than likely it is indeed the "pushing the machine" past what it is made for.  If you are using the machine cranked right out, it may be time to upgrade to a more powerful machine.  Other things that could play a part are the connections, the ground, etc.One shop I worked in, I must have ran miles of dualshield wire (the floating lids for them oil tank farms!) ...we would go through a roll of wire in a day and a half.  The gun's would get hot, but not to the cooking plastic state...we left that to the subarc operators.  the ground cables for the heavy subarc welding in the same shop were made up of 4 heavy gauge cables...all with the insulation cooked clean off!The gouging machines in that same shop were epic.  SA-800's.  The first time I turned one on, I damn near jumped back 10 feet.  It sounded like a plane taking off when the turbine fired up!  Burning 5/8" gouging rod by hand for the first time was also epic!  I guess what I'm getting at is, "More power, Mo' Powa!"