mig tips

Does anyone have an idea as to how long a mig tip should last, assuming all mechanical issues are normal and an experienced welder is welding? For example lets say a welder is using .035 steel wire. How many pounds of wire should the welder be able to consume before the tip needs changing. The reason I ask is this: I am involved in the welding retail and we sell welders at minimal mark-up (low profit) in the theory of making it up with consumables. Is this a common practice elsewhere? In my opinion if this were true we should have a warehouse full of tips and that is not the case.

Reply to
harlech
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I typically go through 1 or 2 ten pound reels of .030 solid wire on one tip unless my son uses the welder a lot. Then it might be half a reel per tip. :-( I think the biggest difference is that he's not paying for them! :-D

The other difference is probably that I always spray the tip with anti-spatter before starting and then a few times throughout the time I'm welding.

What I think of though as the consumables you should be making your money on is wire, etc. I'm a hobbiest so I don't use nearly as much as a pro. A pro would probably buy quit a bit of wire for their MIG, rods for stick and filler and tungsten for TIG.

Of course gas is another consumable if you happen to handle that too. My son used to work for a single-truck welding company and he would often swap out the O2 tank twice a week for a job where there was a lot of cutting.

The anti-spatter spray is another consumable. I even spray it on the metal itself in some cases to minimize cleanup. It makes quite a difference!

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Reply to
Keith Marshall

I have seen some guys toss tips on a whim and go throgh five to ten a day. If one is prudent a tip should last for at least twenty pounds worth of wire. By then the hole is worn egg shaped and electrical contact is irregular. Our newer Powerwaves can handle a forty pound roll of wire on one tip. My last year of my apprenticeship was under a man who was a "child of the Dirty Thirties" He would make me use the same tip for months. I would have to weld crap until he finally allowed me to change it. He would send me into his office for a new tip and there in his right hand drawer were three or four spares. ( Had to ask for my paycheck at quitting time every payday, he was so cheap.) Randy

Reply to
Randy Zimmerman

In my own experience ......... and I am an EXPERIENCED welder ............. a mig tip can last a very very long time. I bought a Lincoln 175 about a year ago. I got a couple of extra tips with it. On my first trip to the welding supply store, I bought a sixpack of tips and a nozzle. I have yet to replace either a tip or a nozzle.

Fried tips are usually the result (for me) of not paying attention, and getting too close to the puddle. And then, though, sometimes the wire can be pushed through, or enough filed off the end to not have to replace the tip. Selling to the inexperienced, or production shop would probably be a whole 'nuther animal.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

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