The Diesel Project

[Landsvw]

I had a flux core wire feed. But, when my dad passed away in 2008, I ended up with his flux/gas wire feed. He was using it only as a flux core. I got some gas for it and man, it’s the best welder ever. I highly recommend getting rid of the flux core and getting a gas bottle wire feed.

[cheesy]

If I had my druthers, I'd be TIG welding but I'm just about out of argon. It's 1.5 hrs each way to get a new bottle.

Once I'm retired for real, I'll get the Lincoln MIG kit but as I'm welding outside, flux core won't have its shielding gas blown away.

[cheesy]

Almost have the welder dialed back in. New contact tip, nozzle, .030 flux core wire, cleaned internal connection, and reworked the ground clamp. But, I found the real culprit. The wire feed drive roller is shot with a teeny tiny flat spot on it. Even with the clamp bottomed out, once the flat spot meets the idler roller, the wire stops moving until the flat spot is past the idler. Explains a lot.

I have a new roller on order. In the meantime, I flipped the roller to use the .025 side with just enough pressure on the idler roller to move the wire. Works a hell of a lot better.

[cheesy]

After I'm done with the frame, I'm going to convert the Lincoln to MIG, just because you can't have too many welders.
I priced the Lincoln kit and it's a heart stopping $379. Maybe $100 less at other places, and that's not counting the cost of gas and a bottle. A little digging and I found that, in true Chinarider fashion, I can make up my own MIG kit for under $75. Still have to cough up for a bottle and gas but saving three bennies at the start feels better.

[Landsvw]

Originally Posted by cheesy

After I'm done with the frame, I'm going to convert the Lincoln to MIG, just because you can't have too many welders.
I priced the Lincoln kit and it's a heart stopping $379. Maybe $100 less at other places, and that's not counting the cost of gas and a bottle. A little digging and I found that, in true Chinarider fashion, I can make up my own MIG kit for under $75. Still have to cough up for a bottle and gas but saving three bennies at the start feels better.

Yeah my dads is, umm, some no name brand he bought in the 1990’s. Mine was a craftsman about the same era. His had the gas attachments already on it tho. I found a short gas bottle already filled up for 100$ and sold mine, kept his and changed out the wire. I absolutely love welding with it.

[cheesy]

Save for the bottle of C25, the MIG conversion on the Lincoln is complete. I spent fifteen bucks on fittings. The initial purchase of the bottle and C25 is going to be over $200. After that, it will just be done on exchange.

Mrs. C was a bit miffed about the upfront cost of the bottle but I mentioned that I'd now be able to do those artsy fartsy projects she keeps on about. I have no plans to actually do them but that how I sold it.

[cheesy]

Well, hell. Best laid plans and all that.

Was planning on picking up the C25 on Tuesday but the Chevy decided that today was the day for its power steering cooler to pack it in. The earliest I can get a replacement is Tuesday.

In over fifty years of being behind the wheel, that was a first. Just like having the oil pan rust out from the outside in on the Jeep last year.

[cheesy]

Ya know there was an ongoing problem when you punch 'power steering cooler' into Google and the top response is 'power steering cooler failure 2009 silverado 1500'. The new cooler arrived yesterday and it looked different than the old one. Different enough that I thought I got the wrong one. Nope, it's a redesign. Instead of having the lower mount on the cooler itself, the lower mount has been relocated to the inlet and outlet tubes. The tubes are where my leak is. It's a beefier mount with a rubber isolator inside it. Let's see if I can get another 13 years out of this one.

[cheesy]

Truck is fixed and I picked up the C25. Now I have another wire feed issue I didn't have over the weekend. Sumbitch!

I'll get it squared away but a free welder is turning into a free puppy.

[cheesy]

I thought I ordered a new liner for the welder Wednesday. Turns out I forgot to hit 'Pay Now'. So it got ordered last night. If I'm lucky, it will be here next Friday. For shits and giggles today, I decided to try and clean out the existing liner. It was seriously crudded up. I had all I could do just to shove .035 flux core wire through the liner. I think I found my wire feed problem. I got the torch back together and tried a couple of beads with .023 solid wire. I had the heat a tad low but no more feeding problem.

[cheesy]

Surprisingly, the new liner showed up today instead of next Friday. After I did the days 'honey do' projects, I got it changed around. The old Lincoln is now a wire melting machine.


There's a lot of stuff to go on the sparky end.


I'm going to have to practice a bit before I start back on the frame. It's been a good six years since I've done any real MIG welding.