Lorch feed issues

[Brad93]

Well feed issues are still ongoing, now I'm running a Lorch MW7500 water cooled torch and a brand new Lorch WUK5 water cooler.

Get half way through a weld and you start feeling the torch vibrate as if the wire feeder is stabbing the wire or it's getting bound up in the liner. Thing is every weld starts off nice and then the stabbing wire starts happening.

Absolutely at a loss now, spent £1600+ and still no where nearer to solving this issue.

I'm using new liners, new tips, new diffusers, obviously a new water cooled torch too, you name it. I've tried multiple different earth leads.

The only think I can think now is the wire feed motor is on the fritz.

Any ideas?

 

[Munkul]

steel or alloy wire?

 

[Munkul]

Have you made sure your capilliary tube from the feed rolls to the euro socket is in place? If you're going from alloy to steel, you'll go from over-long liner to standard liner... just a thought.

can it inch the wire ok? if it's inching ok it can't be the feed motor surely.

I always associate the vibrating feeling with something binding somewhere so either snagging, or a gap to try and jump the wire across.

IME it's usually a binding tip on alloy, but I did have an issue on mine where the liner wasn't snugged up to the tip in the gun, and i hadn't checked it properly. The liner had snagged on the neck and I'd trimmed it short thinking it was right up. The wire had to jump a gap or around 2". It ran... just... pretty terribly.

Does the liner in the MW7500 run to a tip holder, or straight to the tip?

 

[Brad93]

Steel wire

 

[Brad93]

The capillary tube is present, the one for steel.

The liner is fed right up behind the tip but I will check again.

I just checked in the neck of the torch, no leaks.

I'm gonna try another earth lead just for giggles.

 

[Munkul]

Ah man. Can you swap over to a gascooled torch that you know works, and see if its any different?

starting to clutch at straws... correct size feed rolls? Tension?

Crap in the liner from old wire?

What does the wire feel like in the tips you're using? I had a strange problem a couple of years back on the Miller and mb36 gun. Using binzel silver tips which are awesome, and bohler 1.0mm wire which worked perfectly to the end of the reel. Switched to a reel of esab 1.0mm wire and instant problems. Turns out the esab wire is a slightly bigger diameter and hated the tip size. You could feel the resistance running a loose tip over the wire. The cage was damaged too so i just binned it and got another reel of bohler. Never had another problem, and the tip lasted an entire reel of wire without any noticeable wear.

Esab wire in 1.2 running great on my S3 though. Apart from the tips wearing out every 5 mins... nearly used all 10 of that batch now on the same reel

 

[Brad93]

Correct rolls. Just cleaned them. Liner is brand new binzel.
tension is normally right at 2.5 but I've upped it to 3x

 

[Brad93]

Something has just resolved the issue.

I changed earth and clamped the eye ring direct to table.
I cleaned the rolls and reassembled.
I took the neck off the torch and then reassembled.

one of those was the culprit.

 

[Brad93]

I'm still feeling vibration at the torch handle, and I can't get the torch lead any straighter really. Maybe these aren't good liners. The wire is definitely struggling somewhere.

I dunno, my local Lorch dealer said these torches are fraught with issues. Didn't know that at the time of purchase. Just more to go wrong a swivel neck.

 

[500e]

Not a reassuring announcement from the dealer regarding what is supposed to be a Quality peoduct

 

[Brad93]

Not a reassuring announcement from the dealer regarding what is supposed to be a Quality peoduct

Well I didn't buy the torch from them so I guess they can say that. They've recommended a fixed neck torch.

 

[zeppelin builder]

is the end of the liner filed square /not just cut with snips and no internal burrs ? is feed tube clean between rollers to torch end and correctly located and unworn

some wires used to have a residual film of drawing lube which helped feeding

on the next job we had wire that was now thouroughly de greased and were having no end of trouble with wire binding in the liners and you could see swarf emerging out the tip
the techs put the wire thru an earplug soaked with wd 40 and it cured it instantly
next they fitted them with felt lubricators just before the drive rollers
dosed sparingly with a graphite compound
we would run the machines with fingers pinched on the liner and knew by feel if
it was time to stop and avoid a rash of
repairs

 

[Munkul]

I'm still feeling vibration at the torch handle, and I can't get the torch lead any straighter really. Maybe these aren't good liners. The wire is definitely struggling somewhere.

I dunno, my local Lorch dealer said these torches are fraught with issues. Didn't know that at the time of purchase. Just more to go wrong a swivel neck.

what a pain! It's basically a binzel torch isn't it?
You said it's a straight through liner from euro plug to tip, so there can't be too many things going wrong here... if its snagging at all you'd feel it with the tip removed too... worth taking out?

is the end of the liner filed square /not just cut with snips and no internal burrs ?

Good shout, I use a left handed drill bit to make sure there are no burrs inside the liner when i trim it.
It still sounds wire feed related. Re-seating the neck maybe did something to help?

 

[DSR]

Have you got a helper than can look and touch the feed motor while you are welding ? It's always difficult to sort out dynamic faults by yourself

 

[Brad93]

Have you got a helper than can look and touch the feed motor while you are welding ? It's always difficult to sort out dynamic faults by yourself

No unfortunately I'm here on my own most of the week.

 

[Brad93]

Issues occurring with aluminium too. Losing the will to live with this pos

 

[Brad93]

We've done four contact tips in 30 minutes. Something not right.

 

[Munkul]

That's worrying... two different guns and setups, and of course any problems will show themselves up as twice as bad on feeding aluminium.

Time to send back to the machine to a service place?

 

[Brad93]

That's worrying... two different guns and setups, and of course any problems will show themselves up as twice as bad on feeding aluminium.

Time to send back to the machine to a service place?

It's been back. "Nothing wrong with it"

 

[Jan-DIY]

Are voltage and amperage meters also struggling around?
Got some strange problems in the past. If iam correct, voltage sense line was in bad contact to mc board.
But dont know these Lorch units.
Inverter?