Welding Tips and Tricks

How do you keep the wire from unraveling from the wheel

There is usually a brake on the shaft that you put the wire on. If there is a bolt or screw head in the center of the shaft, tighten it until there is just enough tension to stop the spool from spinning when you let off the trigger.

Thanks Jim sorry , I should have been more specific this is when I took it out of the packaging and held it firmly in my hand the tension on the wire itself began to unravel, without the spool moving.

The end of the wire should have already been ran through a hole in the side of the spool as it came out of the packaging. Put the spool into the machine and secure it in place. Then snip the wire using side cutters, and feed the end of it into the drive rollers, while holding tension on the wire from the spool. (your question is sorta vague, but I think this is what your asking?)

Ok thanks I will try that next time.

What I do is when I unpack my wire, I first make sure I have the wire firmly in my grip so it does not unravel like a snake. I then allow abut a foot of wire to unravel and then put a little bit of painters blue masking tape on the wire to prevent it from unraveling any further. That allows me to put the wire roll on the machine without it going crazy all over the place and I can then feed the wire into the rolls. Once the wire is in the rolls, it will not unravel. I make sure I pull the tape off so it does not plug up the wire feed.

If I need to pull the wire roll off the machine, I just tape down the wire to the wire left on the roll and cut it just before the gun feed line. I can then just pull the wire out of the gun and not have a big birds nest of wire all over the place.

It seems to work for me!