How to maintain FCAW liners in the field?

Date 07-16-2008 14:27

Hello awspartb, I have been in a few shops that did try to maintenance their gun liners, they would soak them in solvent and then blow compressed air through them and let them dry. In the cases where these liners were being used for gas shielded flux-cored wires I believe it did help to clean them out and keep them feeding more freely. After the cleaning they would coil them and bag them in large zip-loc bags and identify them as to which gun they had come out of. For the shops that had a full-time mainentance tech. he would generally try to have them on a rotational cycle of roughly once a week, I believe. A little off-topic yet applicable I believe, is to be sure that the liners are installed correctly. Many times when new liners are installed not enough attention is paid to cutting the liners to the correct length and following the manufacturers recommendations. A bit to consider. Best regards, aevald

By awspartb (***)

Date 07-16-2008 21:59

Thanks for the info. The FCAW machines we are using are for outdoor construction. They are being stored in a conex with no climate control. They've been used since February with no liner change or anything. Contractor could care less and blames operators. Opinions appreciated.

By mountainman (***)

Date 07-17-2008 14:36

i would just take five minutes and change it out with a new one, if the one in it is hanging up. some small things that make a big difference that most people overlook are as Allan already stated and to also keep it from looping up while welding, i think it probably cuts the life in half from all the added friction. and i've also noticed that when you put a new spool on and are running the new wire through the liner is if you don't take the contact tip out, the wire can hang-up on it and the feeding wheels will spin-out on the wire and crush or flatten it and then when it goes through the liner it seems to help the residue build up quicker and create a clog that restricts easy pass thru for the wire and before you know it the wire won't pass thru, it'll just plain stick.