Contact Tips

MIG contact tips in the styles Canadian shops actually run - Tweco 11 and 14 series, Tregaskiss 403, and Lincoln KP2744 - supplied in 10 and 25 packs because nobody buys one.

The tip is the arc

The contact tip transfers welding current to the wire microseconds before the arc. Everything about arc stability starts here. As the bore wears oval, the point of electrical contact moves unpredictably, and the symptoms follow: arc wander, inconsistent bead width, burnback into the tip, and wire that stubs into the plate.

Tips wear from the inside, so visual inspection tells you almost nothing until it is far too late. Change them on a count of arc hours or on first symptom, not on appearance.

Size to the wire, not to the gun

Tip bore is matched to wire diameter. A tip one size over gives a sloppy contact point and an unstable arc; a tip one size under causes feeding resistance and burnback. Check the stamped size, not the box it came out of - mixed tips in a drawer are a standing source of intermittent faults.

Heavy-duty and tapered options

400A copper alloy tips handle sustained high-current work better than standard tips. Tapered tips give access into tight joints where a standard tip and nozzle will not reach.

Buy in packs

Tips are the highest-turnover consumable on the gun. Shops running production wire should hold a 25-pack per wire size, not a handful. Volume pricing is available on standing orders.

Brand ranges: Lincoln Electric, Binzel and Parker.

Counter pickup in North York.