Damn welder jammed !

[Jordan325iC]

I've got a cheap little Century 80amp flux-core welder. Looks like this:

I ran out of welding wire today just before I started welding up my exhaust. When I re-loaded it, the wire broke when it had run a few feet into the hose. My attempts to fish it out failed and now that welding wire is stuck a foot or two in. This blocks me from running more wire through the gun.

Here is a picture of the welder in its current state of disassembly:

On the left, you see the inner metalic hose with the short piece of rubber hosing on the end where the wire feeds in.

You can also see the gun with the cover removed on the right.


This is my first welder and I have no instruction booklet, so I'm at a loss for how to get that piece of wire out from the gun hose, and I really don't want to take it apart any more without knowing what I'm doing. Any help or advice?

[der affe]

just to clarify....the wire is stuck in the liner (the hose leading from the welder to the gun) right?

it looks like you bought it used, prob. if it has super hours on it you may need a new liner. just the hose part, not the gun in most cases.


if you need to get one, may i suggest these people

http://www.htpweld.com/

great prices and helpful people

[der affe]

if you have to buy the whole thing, gun included see if this will work on your welder:

http://www.htpweld.com/products/mig_gun_parts/tweco_mini.html

i up graded to this on my matco wfw160 and love the shit out of it!! it is small so it fits in places where a regular mig gun will not fit.

[Jordan325iC]

just to clarify....the wire is stuck in the liner (the hose leading from the welder to the gun) right?

Yes, that's correct.

This welder has been doing me very well, but it's just a temporary one. I will be replacing it with a real MIG sometime soon, so I'd rather not spend any money on it.

Furthermore, the only thing keeping me from dropping the car off the jack-stands and driving it is this exhaust, so I reallly don't want to have to wait a week or two for some part to ship to me if there was just some sort of temp fix I could do. Even if I bought the new liner, I still don't have any clue how to disconnect it from the gun (if I did, I would just do that right now and run a coat hanger down it to get the rouge wire out).

[kowalski]

if its auto feed, just feed more wire in behind it to push it out, or try putting compressed air through it.

[sumyungguy]

try putting compressed air through it.

+1.. has worked for me in the past..

[Huff]

if its auto feed, just feed more wire in behind it to push it out, or try putting compressed air through it.

+2 Use a air nozzel and put that in the line. The dude that taught me to weld showed me that trick...

[newman]

just buy a new liner. they are like 15 bucks.

[turboeta]

I agree with what everyone said about the compressed air, my Miller did this one time...it sucked

[einstein57]

spin it around like a lasso

[der affe]

if its auto feed, just feed more wire in behind it to push it out, or try putting compressed air through it.

compressed air, yes give it a try. if the liner is frayed inside (it is like a giant coil) you are screwed. if you want to fix it right away call local welding supplies and see if they carry parts for century welders. it shouldn't be that difficult to find parts.

DO NOT FORCE MORE WIRE IN TO TRY TO CLEAR IT!!!!!
you will make it worse.