Took me 2 years to realize I was feeding my mig welder wrong

Honestly, I've been a boilermaker for about 6 years now and always ran my mig gun with the liner sticking out a bit past the tip. Figured that was normal. Last month an old hand at the shop in Gary saw me setting up and just goes 'you're gonna burn that liner out in a week, pull it back a quarter inch.' Tried it and my welds are way cleaner and I'm not changing tips every day. Has anyone else been doing some dumb setup thing forever without knowing it?

3 comments

3 Comments

betty_palmer21d ago

You're gonna burn that liner out in a week" is a bit dramatic. I ran mine with the liner sticking out for years and never burned one out. Maybe if you're running really hot all the time, but for normal jobs it works fine. I can see cutting it back if you're fighting with tip life, but it's not some universal rule. Feels like those old timers just like telling you you're doing it wrong to feel superior.

campbell.tara21d ago

Betting against a liner lasting years is already winning though.

luna89120d agoMost Upvoted

Three years with a liner sticking out about a quarter inch on my old Miller 210. Never had a single problem with it. Ran everything from thin sheet metal up to half inch plate with that setup. I actually forgot it was even sticking out until I had to change the liner for something else. The whole "you'll burn it out in a week" thing is just one of those shop floor fairy tales people pass around.