On 8/31/2022 12:16 AM, Richard Smith wrote:
> Can't fault you for perseverance! :-)
> Best wishes,
I am not a welder. I am sure that's clear. The thing is everybody told
me how easy MIG was. I had a little flux core Horrible Fright wire
feeder, but it was pretty miserable. Even after cutting a giant hole in
the case and adding a cooling fan it still only made about 1-1/2 to 2
inches (35-51mm) of weld before going unstable. I finally broke down
and bought the Miller 212 some years back. All the wannabe pros at the
time were pooping on auto set machines so I went for a manual set
machine. It still was not cheap. After a huge learning curve I was
able to hot glue aluminum together with the spool gun, but it absolutely
sucked running GMAW with the regular stinger. I could swap the leads
(have to open the cover to do that) and run unshielded flux core all day
long (and its easier for out of position welding), but it absolutely
SUCKED in the most unpleasant way trying to MIG weld with gas. Finally
one day I decided I was going to do what I was best at.
Troubleshooting. (licensed communication contractor)
I walked into the back shop and told myself I was going to figure out
what was wrong with the stupid machine or destroy it trying. I powered
it up, put my hand in front of the stinger and pulled the trigger. I
felt gas. I saw the wire feeding. I pulled the hood, put my hand next
to the electrode, and pulled the trigger again. I saw the wire feeding,
but I didn't feel any gas. I ran my hand all around the nozzle and felt
gas coming out of the tip, but nowhere else. That didn't make any sense
to me. If that's where the gas comes from what is the point of the
nozzle. I didn't really know what I was looking at or what the parts
were called, but I knew something didn't look right. After some image
searching online I found a picture of the parts for other welding
stingers. One part caught my attention. It was called a gas diffuser.
The thing is all the ones I saw on-line had holes in them... I took
pictures of the pieces, and posted them on the Miller Welds Forums
asking, "What's Wrong With This Picture?" A few people got close, but
nobody got it. Then I didn't feel quite so bad. When I spilled the
beans somebody with Miller sent me a private message asking for my
address so they could send me a parts kit.
A few people tried to claim it was a used machine or a dealer restocked
machine or make some other excuse. Nope. It was purchased brand new
from Indiana Oxygen and drop shipped to me directly from Miller. Dual
solenoid, dual bottle rack, dual stinger setup for GMAW steel or
aluminum. Just swap singers.
I was really pleased after all those years I could finally start to
learn to MIG weld. I was also really frustrated, because I allowed self
doubt about my own abilities to over ride common sense. I thought all
that time there was something wrong with me when there was actually
something wrong with the machine. Something just snapped inside and
told me, "IT'S NOT YOU BOB!"
I remember trying to get help, and everybody seemed to have the same
attitude, "MIG welding is so easy even lower primates can do it. Just
get out there and practice." I'm not going to turn a tree shrew loose
in my shop with a MIG welder, but horizontal hot gluing steel together
isn't to bad now. I do get frustrated when I try to vertical or
overhead and forget its not flux core, but it finally works the way it
is supposed to.