A wire feed welder operates by feeding a continuous strand of wire through flexible tubing which is attached to the welding gun. When the trigger of the welding gun is pulled the welding wire is fed into the weld at a rate that can be adjusted by the welder. The rate of the wire feed can be adjusted using a spring tension device that allows the welder to set the tension on the spool that will provide them with the best quality weld. Once the welder has determined which speed of tension is appropriate, the wire should easily flow from the welding gun to the weld area.
To adjust the tension of the wire you should first open the welder. On many models this can be done by lifting or detaching an external hood located on the welding unit. Once you have located the hood and opened it you will be able to see the spool of wire located inside the welder. Your next step is to locate the tensioner. The welding wire is wrapped onto the spool and is kept tight by a spring loaded device that remains in constant contact with the welding wire. The tensioner is what keeps the wire on the spool and from getting tangled inside the welding box.
Now that you have located the tensioner you are now going to adjust the spring tensioner until you achieve the tension needed to properly perform the weld. You will need to locate the thumb screw which will allow you to increase or decrease the pressure on the wire spool. To increase the pressure on the wire you should turn the thumb screw inward. To decrease the pressure on the wire you will need to turn the thumb screw outward. You will know when you have the correct amount of tension when the spring is pressed halfway on the tensioner shaft. Now that you have set the tension on your welding gun you can now replace the welding box cover and replace any screws that you had to remove to access the tensioner. You should now be able to press the welding gun’s trigger and feed the wire without binding.
