Welding guides
Parts, troubleshooting, equipment, and life in the trade. Browse by topic or search below.
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Flux-Cored Wire Feeding Problems: Drive Rolls, Liner Drag, Burnback, and Birdnesting Fixes
Flux-cored wire feeding problems usually come from the wire path, not the voltage knob. If flux-core wire stutters, slips, birdnests, burns back into the contact tip, or feeds only when the gun…
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MIG Gun Whip Cable Twisting Problems: Wire Feed Drag, Liner Damage, and Proper Fixes
A MIG gun whip or gun cable that keeps twisting is not just an annoyance. It can kink the liner, increase wire drag, make the arc surge, cause burnback at the contact…
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MIG Contact Tip Thread Damage Causes: Cross-Threading, Burnback Heat, Loose Tips, and Wrong Diffuser Fit
If a MIG contact tip will not tighten, screws in crooked, seizes in the diffuser, backs out while welding, or leaves damaged threads behind, stop welding and inspect the contact tip and…
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Welding Glove Heat Damage Inspection Guide: Burn-Through, Hard Leather, Seam Failure, and Liner Damage
If welding gloves are stiff, cracked, burned through, oil-soaked, seam-split, shrunken, brittle, or thin at the palm and fingers, remove them from welding service. Heat-damaged gloves lose insulation, grip, dexterity, and electrical…
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Plasma Consumable Mismatch Symptoms: Wrong Nozzle, Electrode, Swirl Ring, Shield, or Retaining Cap
If plasma consumables are mismatched, the torch may start poorly, show cap faults, cut with heavy bevel, make a wide kerf, burn through nozzles, pit electrodes off-center, double arc, lose transfer, or…
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Plasma Arc Starting Then Stopping Troubleshooting: Pilot Arc Dropout, Transfer Loss, Air, Work Clamp, and Consumable Checks
If a plasma arc starts and then stops, fires briefly then drops out, starts the pilot arc but will not transfer, or cuts for a second and shuts off, troubleshoot air supply,…
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Plasma Torch Retaining Cap Damage Causes: Heat, Double Arcing, Loose Caps, and Wrong Consumable Stack
If a plasma torch retaining cap is melted, cracked, burned, cross-threaded, stuck, discolored, or causing torch-cap faults, stop cutting and inspect the full consumable stack. The retaining cap holds the electrode, swirl…
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TIG Ceramic Cup Cracking Causes: Thermal Shock, Over-Tightening, Gas Lens Fit, and Torch Heat
If a TIG ceramic cup cracks, breaks in a clean ring, chips at the end, splits at the base, or keeps failing after short welds, do not treat it as a random…