Hobart 210 / Miller spatter issues

[Poke]

I recall a thread where a dozen or so of us reported the same inconsistent spatter issue. What was the fix? I am blowing molted balls all over the head, floor, sxs… its super smooth puddles one day and like a sparkler the next. Its currently unusable even thought the last time I used it, it was fine.

And the lost tech to VS strikes again...

 

[Void_of_Light]

Gas or flux core? My dads Hobart is real picky about wire speeds. Just a tiny adjustment causes all sorts of problems. It doesn't help that the knob is super easy to turn either. It always seems to get bumped.

 

[Poke]

Gas

 

[Johann]

Gas

That is my first thought. Or Liner if the wire is coming out inconsistently. I had one do something similar. Run great till the lead hose moved and slowed the wire

 

[mdmike]

Following.

I have a Hobart 210 that does the same thing. One minute I feel like a rock star fabricator, the next I feel like I'm taking tips from the "Ghetto fab/hack jobs" thread.

Disclaimer: My welding skills are probably right smack in between the 2 if I'm lucky.

 

[Huntmaster]

You have reversed your polarity for the gas haven't you?

That, and watch your gas flow and stick out. Too far out, a bit of breeze, and you're not shielded any more. THAT would do it from moment to moment.

 

[dnsfailure]

is the cable maybe coiled to tightly somewhere?

 

[Mac5005]

Gas flow, dirty nozzle, worn tip, old liner, are all things to check. Also dirty material can cause some of the same. Even different steel from different manF can have different impurities in the mill scale can be troublesome.

generally if it is pushing through the arc and popping like a machine gun, too much wire speed

if it is burning the wire back towards the tip, balling up, and falling out in big globs, not enough wire speed.

Some millers are inherently bad due to their hot start and inductance characteristics that can’t be changed until you go pretty high up in the model line.

I had a lot of trouble with:

once I set wire speed to make a nice long 7-12” weld, it would start and burn back to the tip

if I changed the wire speed to fix the start issue, then I had too much wire speed to complete the weld the way I desired.

The ultimate solution for me,

I sold the miller and got a Lincoln that I can adjust the run in wire speed and inductance. This let me fine tune the parameter to exactly how I wanted them, vs having to change my welding technique based of what machine or position at the time.