conventional style Push Pull gun

[6 milli billi]

Ask Jim about our "minidrive" intermediate wire feed unit, connects to machine like a torch via the euro fitting then can give you 10, 15, 20, 25m length, then connect a standard 3m torch to the other end!

...just seen Jim beat me too it last night

 

[Hood]

Unless I can also use a push/pull gun with it then the advantage of it is not great for me. 15m seems to be the max for Alu and then 3m probably for a torch. That obviously is giving me double the reach I have at the moment with the Push/Pull but it then means I have to pull the mini feeder about with me, doesn't sound too much of a hassle for most people but for the stuff I do it will be


Yes I know, no pleasing some people

 

[Richard.]

Unless I can also use a push/pull gun with it then the advantage of it is not great for me. 15m seems to be the max for Alu and then 3m probably for a torch. That obviously is giving me double the reach I have at the moment with the Push/Pull but it then means I have to pull the mini feeder about with me, doesn't sound too much of a hassle for most people but for the stuff I do it will be


Yes I know, no pleasing some people

I don’t think you can do what you want to do on the cheap mate.

 

[Hood]

I don’t think you can do what you want to do on the cheap mate.

I can but it would mean taking the feed rollers, motor, tach etc and extending the cables, wiring etc. I am not really wanting to interfere with the welder if possible but I may end up going that route. If I could find an old wire feed unit with suitable motor and tach then it would just require unplugging the one in the welder and plugging it in via an extension.loom.

Have still to get info/price on the translas microliner but not holding my breath on that being a cheap option

 

[Richard.]

It’s a shame you would need to buy another power source to use the ewm mini drive. It’s just a motor in a box hood it’s not going to be heavy or particularly large. It looks a bit wider than the kemppi super snake but it looks shorter. So dimensionally and weight it’s probably very similar to the SS.
I’ve not seen them in action before but I’d imagine they will carry the typical ewm robustness. I’ve seen lots of super snakes mind and they were/possibly still are to some the bench mark for ship building systems. If you decide to sell up or trade up I’d look at the mini drive system if I was you. Not because Jim can sell you one but because you like and are familiar with ewm. The super snake is a fantastic tool but don’t forget what’s on the other end of it.
That bit you might not like at all.

 

[Richard.]

an old wire feed unit with suitable motor and tach then it would just require unplugging the one in the welder and plugging it in via an extension.loom.

What do you need exactly

 

[Hood]

It’s a shame you would need to buy another power source to use the ewm mini drive. It’s just a motor in a box hood it’s not going to be heavy or particularly large. It looks a bit wider than the kemppi super snake but it looks shorter. So dimensionally and weight it’s probably very similar to the SS.
I’ve not seen them in action before but I’d imagine they will carry the typical ewm robustness. I’ve seen lots of super snakes mind and they were/possibly still are to some the bench mark for ship building systems. If you decide to sell up or trade up I’d look at the mini drive system if I was you. Not because Jim can sell you one but because you like and are familiar with ewm. The super snake is a fantastic tool but don’t forget what’s on the other end of it.
That bit you might not like at all.

Not massive and not that heavy, 300mm x 180mm x 200mm and 7.5Kg but still need to be constantly lifting it about every minute or two as I move along/over/under the stuff I am welding. As said if a push pull could be connected to it then it would be ideal but seems it can not.
The Kemppi Super Snake looks like it could be dragged around without issues due to the shape of it but likely wouldn't work with the EWM so... also not the cheapest route and money is tight at the moment with an uncertain future in the fishing industry.

What do you need exactly

Motor needs to be 42v DC, needs a tacho on it, seems to be a 3 wire tacho as far as I can tell from the wiring diags and really a 4 roll feed. Not much ehh!!!

 

[6 milli billi]

Not sure why it wouldn't work for you to use the minidrive and standard torch? If you can get to the location of the job without carrying the power source, then surely 3-4m of torch is enough to be at the job you want to do? Have you seen the minidrive on our website? it does not carry any wire spool and is small and light. Alternative, we offer a 16m push- pull torch.

 

[Hood]

Not sure why it wouldn't work for you to use the minidrive and standard torch? If you can get to the location of the job without carrying the power source, then surely 3-4m of torch is enough to be at the job you want to do? Have you seen the minidrive on our website? it does not carry any wire spool and is small and light. Alternative, we offer a 16m push- pull torch.

I did look at it on the site and it does look nice and neat but it does look like it needs to be lifted/carried as you go rather than dragging. As I weld mainly on fishing boats I am all over the place, underneath, over the top, in between things and often working my way along a frame or whatever quickly with short welds, it would not really be that practical for me.
16M push/pull would work but as I mentioned earlier I am not in a position to spend that kind of money especially with the boats I work on possibly having an uncertain future.

 

[Hood]

Just back from the workshop where I took some of the EWM panels off. Superb build design and quality and easy to get in to. Top panel unbolts and lifts off, same with the side, all switch/dial panels come off easy, basically there is a chasis that everything bolts/screws to so maintenance would be a piece of cake even on such a tightly packed machine

Anyway the reason I was doing that was twofold, I wanted to see if the plastic bag I noticed in the photo the last day was stuffed full of cash so that I could afford the Eutectic Tig from @Jim Davey, sadly not, it was just the wiring diagrams.
Good thing is the diagrams tie in with the manual diagrams so I know the manual is correct, also there is an parts list or order list of some sort which seems to suggest it is 2009 that the welder was put together. Further investigation of the circuit boards also proves that as there a labels on them from Dec 2008 and another Jan 2009. That means the welder is 2 years newer than I thought

The other reason was I was wanting to investigate the connections for the motor/Tach and the trigger switch. I first removed the Euro connector and then the tufnol plate with motor and drive rollers. Wires were tight but I managed to ease it out to get a look.

That was when I saw the Tach had 5 wires on it but the drawing only showed 3 so I thought maybe the drawing was wrong after all.

So next I had a look and saw that the top came off easily and I was then able to trace the wires and I saw that only three were connected so back to drawings being correct

Good thing is I now know that it will be quite straight forward to use the wire feed motor/rollers/Euro socket etc and place them in a suitcase style feeder if I want to. Extending the wiring will be easy enough as I should be able to source suitable plugs and sockets for them and that means I will not have to hack at anything at all, just make up an extension lead and plug it in. If I want to go back to standard it is just a case of remove the bits and remove the extension loom and place them back in the machine and plug them in. Even the panel that the Euro connector fits to comes away with 4 torx screws so I can make up a replacement panel for there with suitable plug sockets etc and leave the original intact should I put it back to original.

Now I am still not positive this is the route I will take but it certainly looks like it will be simple and effective and almost no cost, well cables and plugs/sockets etc, the biggest expense will be a suitable suitcase for the wire feed although I may go down the route of an old normal style wire feed unit if I can source one. Usually however they are open where the wire goes on and I would rather have an enclosed wire reel. I have seen plastic covers for the wire reel on some welders but so far have not really found any place that sells them apart from AliExpress.

 

[Jim Davey]

I can get you a spool cover, there’s a few aftermarket ones to choose from.
However any dealer with access to Technical Arc’s range can sort you out though so I’m sure there will be someone more local that could fulfil this requirement .

 

[Hood]

I can get you a spool cover, there’s a few aftermarket ones to choose from.
However any dealer with access to Technical Arc’s range can sort you out though so I’m sure there will be someone more local that could fulfil this requirement .

Oh forgot Tech Arc had them, just looked and they are the wrong side for the feeder I have seen but maybe I can find a different feeder, the one I saw was pretty expensive anyway
Will give you a shout if I go down this route

 

[Hood]

It looks like this will be the route I will take as I have had the quote from Translas for 16m of microliner and it is coming in at approx the online price of an EWM Mini Drive.
Now I need to decide whether I go the suitcase route or try and find an old SWF body to convert.

 

[matt1978]

It looks like this will be the route I will take as I have had the quote from Translas for 16m of microliner and it is coming in at approx the online price of an EWM Mini Drive.
Now I need to decide whether I go the suitcase route or try and find an old SWF body to convert.

I’m glad you’ve moved away from the idea of 16m MicorLiner, it wouldn’t of performed in the way you would of liked especially taking into account the cost.

Your 4 wirefeed rolls in the wire feeder can’t regulate the arc length over that distance with only pushing.

 

[Hood]

I’m glad you’ve moved away from the idea of 16m MicorLiner, it wouldn’t of performed in the way you would of liked especially taking into account the cost.

Your 4 wirefeed rolls in the wire feeder can’t regulate the arc length over that distance with only pushing.

I had been intending adapting the microliner to fit the Binzel Push/Pull and hopefully would have avoided that problem but at the price it was a mini drive would have been the best option and probably cheaper.
I have just purchased a PeliCase from eBay, bigger than I had wanted but it was a reasonable price so looks like I am on the road to making a suitcase wire feeder by using the parts in the EWM and making up extension wiring. If it doesn't work then I will not have spent a huge amount and will be able to just plug everything back in the way it was.

 

[Jim Davey]

I’m sure you can use a push pull gun in conjunction with the mini-drive by the way.
Next time I have one on I’ll give it a go.

 

[Hood]

I’m sure you can use a push pull gun in conjunction with the mini-drive by the way.
Next time I have one on I’ll give it a go.

You never know what is around the corner so it would be useful information to have.