Well I'm pi$$ed off with this Camarc 200 amp MIG welder. I have had it about 5 years now and in the first year it spent more time back at base than working. I wouldn't mind but I specified a good welder and was prepared to pay for a decent one.

The problem is the burn back, when you start off it has this tendency to burn back too quick and stick the wire to the tip and mess up a length of wire that has to be cleared out when it kinks, a real waste of time.
If you screw the burn back pot up to stop this on normal welding you finish up with 2" sticking out, a quick blat to clean up and it stuck the bastich wire to the tip again.

I do a lot of quite precise welding if there is such a term on motor shafts without hitting seal track and other bearing surfaces etc.
I get thru about 6 or 7 30 # reels of 1mm wire a year to give an idea of use.

Last week on one job it snagged three times, that's 12 odd foot of wire scrap, no big deal, but about 20 minutes sorting the tangles out, big deal.
So a hunt round the back shed and I unearthed this big 3 phase 250 amp Butler MIG welder with remote wire feed, threw a few bit of wire on it and a new gas line and it works fine, very controllable with course and fine setting and a BIG choke ? knob.

Two questions from the welders out there, what's the choke knob for? seems to work better lower than higher ? and if I hang the wire feed vertical from the rafters so the torch is hanging down will the gas flow downhill ?

.