i was at work yesterday from 8am - 11pm and welding most of the day...well making stuff up....then welding it..not welding for that long in a row. anyways...towards the end of the night while welding aluminum...it was like the welder just freaked out, and would not make a good puddle like it did all day long. after attempting to make a puddle....the metal just turned all weird looking, i really dont know how to explain it...like the metal was fuzzy is only way i can explain it. i tried cleaning everyting 1000 times, tried using new rod, differnt rod, new tungsten etc etc. took the whole torch assembly apart and cleaned everything. put it all back together and it was the same thing. after messing with it for 20 min. i got frustrated and went home. i came back this morning...cleaned everything exactly how i did last night...put it all back together.....and everything went back to normal. if i remember correctly my welder has like a over heat feature where if it gets too hot it wont allow you to weld anymore....so i dont think it over heated, however i can't figure out why it did that or what caused it to be fixed. anybody have any sugestions?

 

hum, sounds strange for shure

 

you think you hit a drity spot in the aluminum?

 

nope..that was my first guess.....so i skipped that spot and went to another....same thing....went to a scrap peice of aluminum...same thing....it was def. something weird with the welder. i welded some more stuff tonight with out any problems....the only thing that makes sense in my head is the fact that the welder was "on" for so long.....i did spend several hours total welding yesterday, but most of the time was actually spent fabricating, not directly welding. i hope it doesnt do it again......god i was frustrated.

 

just curious what kind of welder is it?

 

Your gas was still on?

 

yup....gas was still on....actually turned it off and turned it back on too. adjusted the pressure both ways...no luck.


lincolin 175 squarewave is the model.....

 

I think it's the machine. I had the same problem with mine a couple times. It wound up frustrating me, and was underpowered for my needs, so I sold it.

Buy a Miller next time. I sold my 2yr old Lincoln and bought a Miller that's probably 8 years old.

 

yes ive def. noticed even in the couple months ive been welding that this is def. underpowered. the price was right (free) so i couldnt really complain. i figured i'd try it out...see what i like/disslike and what i want/need before i purchase one of my own. not sure how soon i'll be in the market for a new one....hopefully sometime after the first of the year!

 

i'd take a free welder if any ones got it