Portamig help needed

[BChild]

I have a portamig 185 so similar but not identical

0.6mm v 0.8mm

I much prefer 0.8mm to 0.6 on the lowest setting with argoshield light it doesn't like it much normally have to be on coarse 1 fine 2 on 0.6mm but then it kinda defeats the point of 0.6mm when 0.8mm runs lovely on Coarse 1 Fine 1

Spool tension

It should just drag ie not over run - if it over shoots (over runs) tweak it up a smidge to increase drag - no point making the wire feed unit work harder than it needs too - drag increases as the spool gets lower

I can't see how close the wire reel runs next to the inner wall but I have a blue spool adaptor on mine that means the spool is much further out

Wire feed pressure

I don't run anything near that level of clamp on the wire feed unit - I always set the wire feed tension to the minimum I can get away with ie set the wire feed speed to say 5 on lowest power setting so you don't waste too much wire and then pull the trigger and try to stop the wire - you should be able to make the wire stop feeding with a small piece of plate if you can't then you have too much pressure on the wire feed

Wire speed

I have to increase the wire speed for 0.6mm and it's way more sensitive (ie harder to find a sweet spot - maybe a window of 2 that's it) - 0.8mm and it has a massive operating window I can run mine anywhere between 4 and 8 on 0.8

 

[Paul99]

I have a portamig 185 so similar but not identical

0.6mm v 0.8mm

I much prefer 0.8mm to 0.6 on the lowest setting with argoshield light it doesn't like it much normally have to be on coarse 1 fine 2 on 0.6mm but then it kinda defeats the point of 0.6mm when 0.8mm runs lovely on Coarse 1 Fine 1

Spool tension

It should just drag ie not over run - if it over shoots (over runs) tweak it up a smidge to increase drag - no point making the wire feed unit work harder than it needs too - drag increases as the spool gets lower

I can't see how close the wire reel runs next to the inner wall but I have a blue spool adaptor on mine that means the spool is much further out

Wire feed pressure

I don't run anything near that level of clamp on the wire feed unit - I always set the wire feed tension to the minimum I can get away with ie set the wire feed speed to say 5 on lowest power setting so you don't waste too much wire and then pull the trigger and try to stop the wire - you should be able to make the wire stop feeding with a small piece of plate if you can't then you have too much pressure on the wire feed

Wire speed

I have to increase the wire speed for 0.6mm and it's way more sensitive (ie harder to find a sweet spot - maybe a window of 2 that's it) - 0.8mm and it has a massive operating window I can run mine anywhere between 4 and 8 on 0.8

That kind of confirms what I feel about 0.8mm vs 0.6mm on these tec arc compact migs in terms of actual welding but that couldn't explain or rationalise. I suspect that had I ever had issues I'd have taken more of an interest / curiosity in what's going on exactly rather than just switching it on and getting on with welding - it's nice to know though that there is some sound / agreed principles behind the semi blind assumptions / conclusions I was making with regard to wire size and settings...

All that said 0.6mm should still work fine without the kind of feed issues as described in the OP so there must be some other issue aside from specific settings at play I reckon. It turns out I live within spitting distance of dfps so if all else fails I've offered to take my torch / wire / tips etc along to rule them out as the problem.

 

[BChild]

That kind of confirms what I feel about 0.8mm vs 0.6mm on these tec arc compact migs in terms of actual welding but that couldn't explain or rationalise. I suspect that had I ever had issues I'd have taken more of an interest / curiosity in what's going on exactly rather than just switching it on and getting on with welding - it's nice to know though that there is some sound / agreed principles behind the semi blind assumptions / conclusions I was making with regard to wire size and settings...

0.6mm is OK when you turn the wick up but it's a bit of a waste of 0.6mm wire

All that said 0.6mm should still work fine without the kind of feed issues as described in the OP so there must be some other issue aside from specific settings at play I reckon. It turns out I live within spitting distance of dfps so if all else fails I've offered to take my torch / wire / tips etc along to rule them out as the problem.

Great stuff

 

[mike 109444]

The comments by Tec Al on this post may go someway to explaining issues with 0.6
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/wire-quality-0-6-mm-x5kg.57911/