Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I've just bought a Telwin Bimax 132 MIG welder.

I've tried using flux cored wire, but as expected find it somewhat impossible to see where I'm welding & what is happening. IE I cannot see the metal melting or much else.

Today I bought some solid Telwin wire to try with Co2. The wire looks like copper & is built like a spring. Yes A SPRING. Which is the problem . I can get it fitted & the wire pushed through to the nozzle, by holding the wire reel steady. However as soon as I let it go it unwinds & sooner rather than later it kinks & jams.

There's no way to hold the wire spool in place using anything supplied by Telwin. The only thing I can think of is placing a couple of washers around the spool, so that the Telwin spring applies some tension to it. Rather than to the air it normally tensions .

Any thoughts, advice etc etc etc ?

tia
david

That's what I've had to do before shim with washers. Create some drag on the spool so that it doesn't unwind. I've also found that certain brands of wire tend to do it more than others of the same alloy. Doug

The tensioner on mine has a couple of washers on it to make the drag more adjustable...kind of like a slip clutch. It seems like at least one of the washers are made out of plastic...if you are adding washers maybe try making a couple out of plastic so that the tensioner isn't quite so on or off.

Most Lincoln or Miller just have a big old tensioning nut you adjust. Don't have to add or modify anything.....

Dale

I almost tried some washers this afternoon. but their holes weren't big enough. I'll buy some plastic ones @ the weekend & let you know how they go.

I'm also planning to see the "welding expert" at the store I bought the welder from & see how he solves this problem & hopefully get a full reel to replace my 25% used one.

david

It seems that the spindle on my machine is 3mm longer than the one in the shop . So one plastic washer later & I seem to have solved the problem.

I wasn't able to test weld, due to other priorities ( homebrew ) .

thanks for the advice.

david