Problem with Imig 205

[Chris A]

I got this welder a little over a year ago but didn't have power set up for it until early this year. It welds somewhat ok, but it pulses a lot in the higher amp settings. I'm running 0.045 flux core wire. The power supply seems fine and I run a power plasma 80 on the same circuit just fine at 45 amps output. That thing is awesome. The length of wire stickout varies a lot, several times per second and it's really hard to get a good weld out of it. It's just as if someone is turning the wire feed speed up and down really fast while I'm welding. I've noticed the wire feed speed readout and the volt output numbers also vary in the same way during welding. Anyone have any thoughts? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[zoama]

Be sure you have a solid ground directly to the piece you're welding.
Do you have .045 flux core rollers in it ?
In my experience, you need to run one size larger contact tip than normal for flux core to make it feed smoothly and stop the wire from eventually jamming in the tip.
You also need the machine setup DC negative for flux core.

[DaveO]

Do you have .045 flux core rollers in it ?

...and is the drive roller tension properly adjusted?

Welcome to the forums, Chris!

[performance]

And are you sure the correct size has been chosen? And is the wire properly centered and not overtightened on the spool holder? Sounds like a classic feeding problem, which is usually easily resolved.

[zoama]

Running wire out of the gun with the cover open will help spot feeding problems. Sometimes the wire can bind coming off the spool if the wire is overlapped or pinching in the sides of the spool, which can happen to 8 inch and larger spools if they get bent or the plastic sides crack from being dropped. I have a full 44lb spool with the plastic side split half way around in the hub making it useless. Every time the wire is pulled from that edge of the roll, it's pulled down into the side of the spool and binds enough to make the wire come out jerky. I found the problem by running off wire with the cover open.

[everlastsupport]

Does the spool turn by hand with a small amount of drag. I have had a gun that the rubber the spool turns on we a hair too big. Remove and put a new smaller OD one in and that fixed it.