New member hoping to learn a bit.

[arkrite]

Hi all I was introduced to this site by one of your moderators rtbcomp.
He posted up a rather nice drawing of an upgrade to a volvo headlite fixing.
I'm in the oxfordshire area and spend all my time owning volvo's.And funny enough not one has ever had welding done or needed it.
I bought my first mig welder way back around 1984.I had a small arc welder but it lacked control for small jobs.So off I went and bought one of the first mig welders around.It is by Cebora and is a pocket mig welding star 883.Throw away bottles and first had a floating ball bearing gauge but was changed by the dealer for a standard gauge.
I've welded many things with it but it does have it's annoyances.Like not feeding the wire if you have even the slightest curve in the lead.

So hoping to exchange allsorts of ideas and maybe making a few friends along the way.
Regards Brian.

 

[Norm]

Hi Brian and welcome along, looking forward to seeing you around the forum.
Regards Norm

 

[arkrite]

Thanks for the welcome Norm,having just completed a search for my welder on here I see it's not the most practical.I have got used to it's little foybles.The wire feed is rubbish and always has been.The tension arm is a tiny flat leaf spring pressing a steel wheel onto the wire which in turn sits in a small slot cut into the drive spindle.When it welds it's fantastic but trying to keep the lead straight while crawling under a car is no fun.It's latest problem is the trigger,as soon as the gas bottle is attatched the pressure pushes the valve in the trigger out and it wont go back in.So me being me tied a piece of wire around the trigger to stop it coming out.Sorted for now anyway.
Regards Brian.

 

[Robotstar5]

Hi Brian, welcome to the forum.

have you ever cleaned out or changed the liner? build up of dust inside can cause drag slowing the wire feed

 

[arkrite]

Hi Robotstar5 no actually I haven't ever taken it apart.And yes I'm guilty of trying to use rusty wire.Well when you suddenly need it after sitting dorment for years you forget the wires probably had it.

I shall give it a good service now if I have any queries I'm sure to get a few good answers.
Regards Brian.