Device and method for identifying defects during the feeding of a welding rod

System as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that an adjusting mechanism (33) is provided to generate the contact force of the rotating wheel (28) on the welding wire (13), in particular to generate the deflection.

System as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the rotating wheel (28) and/or the retaining element (29) is connected to a contact element (36).

System as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the contact element (36) is provided in the form of contacts (37, 38) and a contact strip (39).

System as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sensor system (27) is a tubular sensor.

System as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sensor system (27) is designed to emit a “feed pressure too low” signal when the extent of bending or deflection in the welding wire (13) is too low and to emit a “feed pressure too high” signal when the extent of bending or deflection is too high.

Method of detecting faults in the welding wire feed rate, characterised in that a feeding pressure and a feeding traction of the welding wire are detected by a sensor system in the welding torch and the sensor system emits a signal whenever the feeding pressure is too high or too low.