Hot Wire Millermatic 185

[Gippetto]

Has anyone experienced a problem I am having with my Miller 185 MIG with a M-15 gun? The wire heats red hot between the drive rolls and the wire spool. I was tacking a patch using short hits when the wire stopped feeding. When I checked the wire feed area I found the wire had melted itself into the plastic inlet bushing right in front of the drive rolls. I checked for shorts in the spool area and found none. I replaced the bushing and tried again with the the same results. The problem just occurred. I was using the machine, lightly for the past few years when I purchased it in "new" condition.
I have a message into Miller's tech help but I suspect they will just recommend a repair shop. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[mongocanfly]

Might want to move this over to tools and shop section...but it sounds like you need to go thru all your electrical connections and make sure their all good..

[dwcsr]

You may have the polarities switched in the unit

if the gun is setup or came setup for gasless flux core the roller drive is the ground DCEN , so if your using regular wire with gas you need to swap polarity to DCEP

This should be in your manual or you can get the manual

https://www.millerwelds.com/files/ow...O1313L_MIL.pdf

[Gippetto]

I don't believe the polarity is reversed cause the welder has been fine since I bought it three years ago and the problem just started.
I just heard back from Miller's tech guy and he concurred that it might be a connection issue where the gun plugs into the welder. He said if there is no short in the wire spool and if the gun connection is good to replace the entire gun assembly.
Sounds too drastic. I am getting back to him depending on what I come up with when I check the connections.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Might want to move this over to tools and shop section.

Correct. It was in the wrong section. So I moved it.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Gippetto

I don't believe the polarity is reversed cause the welder has been fine since I bought it three years ago and the problem just started.
I just heard back from Miller's tech guy and he concurred that it might be a connection issue where the gun plugs into the welder. He said if there is no short in the wire spool and if the gun connection is good to replace the entire gun assembly.
Sounds too drastic. I am getting back to him depending on what I come up with when I check the connections.

Thanks for the suggestions.

if its work before then I would agree that the gun connection could be the issue. there should be a thumb screw that tightens the connection or some other type of screw. pull it out and make sure its clean and free of oils or grime

[Gippetto]

Thanks, Bill. I never noticed this section of the forum. Good stuff.

I have not gotten out to the garage to look at the connection, maybe in the morning.

[jeff967]

replace the wire liner in the gun. the one in it is most likely kinked and that will cause the wire to burn off back at the drive rolls. do not cut the new one too short or that will cause the same thing

[Gippetto]

I thank all who replied with a suggestion for my Miller problem. The Miller Welding tech support guy suggested looking for shorts in the spool area then removing the torch brass plug from the split clamp connector and scoth-briting male and female components.
I lucked out because that corrected the problem. The brass looked pristine but I polished its inside and outside diameters and got results. Luck for me, the next suggestion was replacing the entire gun. He said the braided copper sleeve that connects the gun to the machine was screwed from pulling the machine around by its hose. Sort of like an old girlfriend. That wasn't the case.

[mongocanfly]

Glad to hear you got it back going..that was a simple fix...I'm bad about giving my lead a pull when I'm in a bind...can't believe I've never had that copper sleeve problem..