Setting tension.

[JeramyK]

Are there any tricks to making sure the spool and drive roll tensions are correct ? Or is it just a matter of adjusting until there is no slippage in the wire ?

Thanks in advance !

-Jeramy

[bitternut]

Well JeramyK no one seems to be giving you any tips so I will take a stab at it. I have a HH 175 and the drive roll tension is listed at the bottom of the chart located on the inside surface of the machines flip up access panel. I have always set mine to the specs listed for my wire diameter and type of material. Never had a problem doing so. As for the tension on the spool it usually takes a couple of tries so that wire has just a slight slackness to it when it stops feeding. The wire should not be straight and taunt when feeding stops. Experience will show you when you have the right tension. The less tension you have the less chance there is that you will crush or distort the wire which will then give you feeding problems through the gun tip. You still must have enough tension though to give positive wire feeding. Thats where experience counts. If you are experiencing feeding problems try taking the tip out and see if the wire feeds OK. If it feeds good with the tip removed you have too much tension on your feed rolls or the tip needs replacing or cleaning. Sometimes spatter will get on the tip and cause feeding problems. A file or wire brush will usually correct the problem.

The tension settings for your machine should be listed in your owners manual or some place on your welder.

[BillC]

With my Craftsman (JUNK!) MIG there is no official setting for tension. The instructions say to set the tension until it feeds smoothly yet still allow the rollers to slip without birdcaging if the wire jams outside the gun.

[JeramyK]

I guess there is no way to get it "perfect" per say. Even my Miller owners manual uses a vague description. They seem to leave it in the hands of the operator. Whatever feels "good" I guess.

-Jeramy

[Paychk]

A method I use is to aim the gun an inch from the floor and trigger it, the tension is right when the wire has enough force pushing it out that it curls up into a ball. Of course too much tension is when the wire creates a birds nest at the drive rollers when it is stuck to the contact tip. A welding tech told me that over twenty years ago when I first started using MIG and it has worked well for me. A note is that I use only commercial grade machines and I don't know how well this test will work for the home mini MIG machines. Good Luck!