Had to choose between a Miller and a Lincoln for my rig last month

Picked the Miller 255 cause the local shop in Gary had a deal on it, but the first weld on a 1-inch plate sputtered like hell. Anyone else get a new machine that needed breaking in before it ran right?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_thomas1mo ago

Man, that's rough. My buddy down in Lafayette picked up a new Hobart last year and the first couple of passes on some quarter-inch looked like a spitting cat. He was ready to take it back and scream at the guy who sold it to him. Turns out the factory had the settings all jacked up or something, because after he messed with the drive roll tension and ran a few practice beads on scrap, it smoothed right out. Could be a bad ground connection too, you double check that? Sometimes those new machines just need a little love before they act right.

xena_fox391mo ago

My buddy Jim in Baton Rouge had the same issue with his Lincoln, turned out the liner was pinched near the gun.

paigem451mo ago

You used to think new machines just needed breaking in, right? I was the same way, thought most problems were just user error or bad technique. But after helping a coworker with his Miller last month, I totally changed my mind. He had the same problem, wire feeding all choppy and spitting like crazy. We spent an hour checking everything, drive rolls, tension, even swapped the gun, nothing. Finally I just yanked the entire liner out and it had a kink right near the handle, must have been pinched during shipping. Swapped it with a spare and it ran smooth as butter instantly. Now I always tell people to check the basics first, but a bad liner from the factory is way more common than I ever realized. It just made me realize that even brand new stuff can have hidden issues you wouldn't expect.