Maintenance; General; Consumable Maintenance; Maintaining The Contact Tip - Clarke HOT SHOT SPOOL GUN WELDER FLUXCORE/MIG 135SG Mode D'emploi

MAINTENANCE

GENERAL

This welder has been engineered to give
many years of trouble-free service providing
that a few very simple steps are taken to
properly maintain it.
1. Keep the wire drive compartment lid
closed at all times unless the wire needs
to be changed or the drive tension needs
adjusting.
2. Keep all consumables (contact tips, noz-
zles, and gun liner) clean and replace
when necessary. See CONSUMABLE
MAINTENANCE and TROUBLESHOOT-
ING later in this section for detailed
information.
3. Replace power cord, ground cable,
ground clamp, or gun assembly when
damaged or worn.
4. Periodically clean dust, dirt, grease, etc.
from your welder with a damp rag. Every
six months, or as necessary, remove the
side panels from the welder and air-blow
any dust and dirt that may have accumu-
lated inside the welder.
WARNING
Electric shock can kill! To reduce the risk
of electric shock, always unplug the welder
from its ac power source before removing
side panels.

CONSUMABLE MAINTENANCE

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN THE
CONSUMABLES TO AVOID THE NEED
FOR PREMATURE REPLACEMENT OF
THE GUN ASSEMBLY.
The GUN LINER is intended to provide an
unrestricted path for the welding wire to flow
through the gun assembly. Over time the
liner will accumulate dust, dirt, and other
debris. Replacement is necessary when
these accumulations begin to restrict the free
flow of wire through the gun assembly.

MAINTAINING THE CONTACT TIP

The purpose of the CONTACT TIP is to trans-
fer welding current to the welding wire while
allowing the wire to pass through it smoothly.
24
Always use a contact tip stamped with the
same diameter as the wire it will be used
with.
Note: Due to inherent variances in flux-cored
welding wire, it may be necessary to use a
contact tip one size larger than your flux core
wire if wire jams occur.
1. If the wire burns back into the tip, remove
the tip from the gun and clean the hole
running through it with an oxygen-acety-
lene torch tip cleaner or tip drill.
2. Over time, the hole in the contact tip will
become worn by the wire passing
through it. The more worn this hole
becomes, the less efficient is the transfer
of welding current to the wire and eventu-
ally arc breakage and difficult arc starting
will result. Replace contact tips when
signs of wear become apparent.

MAINTAINING THE NOZZLE

The nozzle directs the shielding gas to the
weld puddle, determines the size of the
shielding area, and prevents the electrically
hot contact tip from contacting the work
piece.
CAUTION
KEEP THE NOZZLE CLEAN! During the
welding process, spatter and slag will build
up inside the nozzle and must be cleaned
out periodically. Clean the nozzle by scraping
away the build up with a nozzle cleaning tool
or a narrow metal surface similar to the tip of
a screwdriver. Failure to clean and/or replace
the nozzle in a timely fashion WILL CAUSE
DAMAGE TO THE FRONT-END OF THE
GUN ASSEMBLY.
For best results, coat the inside of a new, or
freshly cleaned nozzle with anti stick spray
or gel.
1. Stop welding and clean any accumulated
slag or spatter from the nozzle every 5 to
10 minutes of welding time.
2. When welding overhead, if any molten
metal drips from the weld puddle and
falls into the nozzle, STOP WELDING
IMMEDIATELY and clean/scrape any
build up from the nozzle.
3. If the slag cannot be thoroughly cleaned
from the nozzle, REPLACE THE
NOZZLE!