cheap ebay spool gun

[ned]

Hi all,


I read into the cheap mig spool guns before and decided to go with a short mig torch instead. However Ive found it difficult to buy a short mig gun secondhand.

Ive mentioned it once or twice on this forum and each tiume people asked why not try a Chinese spool gun

So I had a look on ebay, and this is what I'm looking at:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Miller-MIG-S...sh=item58d375cffb:g:48QAAOSwo3pWglHG#shpCntId

Does anyone have any experience with this model at all? I mean its very cheap, so it could well be worth the risk, if it was any good at all. Its rated for 200 amps according to the markings on the gun. I have a 170 amp mig so should be roundabouts right for it.


I'm not sure if i can tap a 24 volt supply outta my welder, its an Inverter Fusion I-Tech 170 mig, I'll have a look this evening.


Question: I want to weld 6mm aluminium , what kind of amps do I need to do that?

 

[brokenbiker]

to get full penetration on 6mm ali i would think you would be looking at more than 170 amps...just using the 40amp per MM rule says 240 amps...

 

[HughF]

I have the exact same spool gun, imported from aliexpress... The tip thread was m5, I drilled and tapped it to take standard MB25 M6 tips.

Have yet to try it in anger, but the build quality is OK - it's an exact clone of the miller spoolmate.

 

[Robotstar5]

I'm not sure if i can tap a 24 volt supply outta my welder, its an Inverter Fusion I-Tech 170 mig, I'll have a look this evening.

Hopefully your welder has a 24V wire feed motor fitted so you install a switch to swap the supply from the welder motor to your spool gun motor.

 

[ned]

cheers lads.

HughF thats good to know, I'll buy the thing so and have a go with it.
Robotstar yah I was thinking the motors are of a standard voltage.
Brokenbiker Its not safety critical, more aesthetic, so in this case full penetration doesnt matter.


Sound )

 

[Jim Davey]

If it has the usual problem the drive rolls don't mesh properly and it constantly slips, damaging the wire and causing endless jams.

 

[choco]

I converted a clarke 160en and it works great. The clarke has a 12v motor so I got a 12v spoolgun from eBay. Rated at 150 amp I think. Cost about 90 euro as far as I can remember. I can get full penetration on 5mm alloy at full whack once the alloy heats up.

Also if your motor is 24v there are better chinese guns on lcd-vision's site. That gun in your link is just the bear gun, no leads etc

 

[HughF]

If it has the usual problem the drive rolls don't mesh properly and it constantly slips, damaging the wire and causing endless jams.

Mine seems to feed just fine under testing with 1mm wire, the rollers seem to mesh together OK with good alignment. The motor/gearbox assembly in the handle is a solid metal affair.

 

[ned]

Hopefully mine will be fine too, we'll see i guess. good to hear that its metal anyway.

Choco honestly, it was the rock bottom price that drew me, I'm all spent for this month. I'll bodge together some leads when it arrives and then buy the gas. Good to hear about your success.


The fact that its a copy of an existing product is handy as well, there should be plenty of introduction videos on youtube.

 

[Jim Davey]

You must be lucky Hugh, I refuse to sell or work on those guns anymore. Too many unhappy customers with them.

 

[brokenbiker]

cheers lads.

HughF thats good to know, I'll buy the thing so and have a go with it.
Robotstar yah I was thinking the motors are of a standard voltage.
Brokenbiker Its not safety critical, more aesthetic, so in this case full penetration doesnt matter.


Sound )

if you did find you werent getting enough for a certain job you could always preheat before welding. if its just for looks and holding something together then it shold be fine

 

[ned]

Hugh is it possible you could take a pic of the roller assembly please?

 

[HughF]

Certainly, I'll do that tonight Ned.

 

[ned]

cheers thanks )

 

[penfold]

You must be lucky Hugh, I refuse to sell or work on those guns anymore. Too many unhappy customers with them.

Not surprised, you sell to people who work for a living and you need to be able to a)be able to fix things quickly if they go pop b)be reasonably confident they won't got pop much, wreck your profit margin and take the food from your table. As leisuretime/hobby tinkerers the rest of us can be more relaxed about function and reliability, and at the price these things are I'd consider it a kit of parts rather than a finished product ready to do work.

 

[Jim Davey]

You think so? Leisure users actually seem expect more for thier money than most pro users. If it doesn't work well straight out of the box on a high profit margin item I can live with having to do a little fettling. It's poor performers at the low cost end of the spectrum to be avoided as there is very little you can do before it costs somebody money. And the whole time it's within the warranty period it's going to be the supplier that bears the brunt.

 

[HughF]

I would never expect a welding supply company to stock something as cheap and nasty as a chinese spool gun. I'm of the opinion that if people want one then that is what aliexpress if for...

 

[Jim Davey]

I would never expect a welding supply company to stock something as cheap and nasty as a chinese spool gun. I'm of the opinion that if people want one then that is what aliexpress if for...

Take a close look at the one Technical Arc sells, let me know if you spot any similarities.

 

[HughF]

I would never buy anything from them having seen inside one of their 'professional quality' footpedals and having had one of their feeders apart... Shocking build quality.

 

[Jim Davey]

Shhh! As far as everyone on here is concerned it's bespoke British Engineering...