3 Common Contact Tip Problems
Good quality contact tips are essential in producing valuable welded items. If they're malfunctioning, the operations will be stopped, and there'll be additional costs for repairs and replacements. Business owners like you can benefit from learning their common problems to recognize and solve them when they occur. Here are 3 typical ones.
Burnback
It happens when the wire passing through the opening of the contact tip burns back inside. This issue has many causes, but the most common ones are:
· Damaged Liner
· Erratic Feeding
· Faulty Ground
· Feed Speed
· Improper Electrode Stick-Out
· Too High or Low Voltage
· Weld Parameters
Since burnback results in downtime, it should be addressed right away. The easiest solution is to replace the tips with high-quality ones. To ensure it doesn't happen again, you may ask help from a professional who'll check the entire gun and find the cause of the problem.
Wire Whip
More commonly found in automatic rather than handheld welding, it occurs when the wire snug tilts off the center because it's not properly held by the contact component. The cable will be misaligned, and it won't reach the joint. The typical origins of this problem are:
· Cable Torsion
· Lack of Wire Straightener
To solve this issue, you'll need to adjust the position of the wire and manipulate the torch neck. If the equipment is automatic, it's best to call a contractor to fix any broken or malfunctioning part. You can also replace the tips with tighter ones since they offer more constriction, which keeps the cable from moving.
Premature Wear
When a wire generates too much friction as it feeds through the bore, it leads to premature wear of the contact point. It usually happens because of:
· Excessive Heat
· Improper Wire-to-Nozzle Ration
· Incorrectly Sized Components
· Low-Quality Materials
· Rough Center Bore
Defective parts lead to poor weld quality. If a tip is already worn out, replacing it is the only solution. Make sure to use a strong, right-sized one since it's costly to use components that get damaged immediately. You may also need to upgrade to a heavy-duty setup.
Problems in welding components cause decreased productivity and pose hazards to the machine user. Plus, they affect the value of your products, which influences customer satisfaction. To ensure your equipment will run smoothly and your buyers will be contented, use high-grade materials like silver contact tips.