Got my first welder; Snap-On 130 Turbo.

[Willl]

I meant to make a thread a couple of days ago but I've been a bit busy, I drove around to the other side of the M25 to pick this up, I think I got it for a fairly good price and the guy I bought it from was nice to deal with, which was a nice change of pace recently. Now I need to learn all the intricacies of the machine and get some gas. Picture dump:

IMAG0325 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

IMAG0324 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

This is the part commonly called the 'torch'. You put wire and gas in it, and weld comes out of the end.
IMAG0326 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

The earth clamp is rather crusty, I'll likely get a new one soon.
IMAG0327 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

The plug, its pretty fudged and will be replaced. Does anyone know where I can find a guide online?
IMAG0328 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

The fitment for the gas, a super-rookie question but is this suitable for the larger bottles or the small hobby bottles? or both?
IMAG0329 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

The wire feed and whatnot. The spool is rather loosely wound on the last few coils and the spool itself has a bit of play on the spindle, will either of these cause me any problems? Also note the cracks around the rollers.

IMAG0331 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

IMAG0333 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

The guts. I assume everything looks in order? It says turbo on the front but I'm yet to find one.

IMAG0334 by geeteearggh, on Flickr

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll get some gas soon and be welding all the metal stuff I can find together.

 

[arceyered]

Good luck with your first welder,
Turbo just means there is a fan inside,the gas connector is for the bigger bottles you can get an adapter for the small bottles, but small bottles cost a fortune and are a waste of time.
If the earth clamp works don't worry about the rust.
The wire spool friction spring or drag brake may be to loose causing the spool to run on after releasing the trigger may be causing the loose wire, a little play in the spool arbour I wouldn't worry to much about.
Can't see any cracks.
Could do with supporting the wire as it leaves the wire coil with a bit of plastic tubing into the feed rollers.
Keep the torch as straight as possible tip tight and wire clean an give it a go.
And don't give up practice, practice, and did i mention practice.

 

[mike 109444]

Ref the gas connection I would say it's to big for the small bottles BUT as it's on a piece of pipe (the crimped bit ) then that should only be connected t a regulator NOT direct to a bottle at full pressure !!
Did it come with a regulator ?
If you get wire feed issues don't over tighten the pressure roller knob.
Get a Good quality 3 pin plug that can withstand being dropped onto concrete and won't shatter.

 

[Rig Pig]

There a nice little machine, I have had mine for years.

 

[Willl]

Thanks for the input chaps.

Good luck with your first welder,
Turbo just means there is a fan inside,the gas connector is for the bigger bottles you can get an adapter for the small bottles, but small bottles cost a fortune and are a waste of time.
If the earth clamp works don't worry about the rust.
The wire spool friction spring or drag brake may be to loose causing the spool to run on after releasing the trigger may be causing the loose wire, a little play in the spool arbour I wouldn't worry to much about.
Can't see any cracks.
Could do with supporting the wire as it leaves the wire coil with a bit of plastic tubing into the feed rollers.
Keep the torch as straight as possible tip tight and wire clean an give it a go.
And don't give up practice, practice, and did i mention practice.

Since I started researching all this I've intended to to get in on the volkzone deal or whatever it's called now, but I'm not sure if I should go monthly or annually yet. I'll have a little tinker and see if I can get it all tight and in order and get some support on the wire. If you click on the penultimate picture to enlarge it, you can just about see some cracks in the tensioner housing, going out from the roller at about 6 o'clock and 8 o'clock.

Ref the gas connection I would say it's to big for the small bottles BUT as it's on a piece of pipe (the crimped bit ) then that should only be connected t a regulator NOT direct to a bottle at full pressure !!
Did it come with a regulator ?
If you get wire feed issues don't over tighten the pressure roller knob.
Get a Good quality 3 pin plug that can withstand being dropped onto concrete and won't shatter.

I'm aware of the need to regulate the pressure, I think I could predict the outcome of 230 odd bar going through that little plastic tube. Welds would definitely be shielded though, assuming the gas wouldn't push the hot metal through like a hot knife through ****e. I didn't get a regulator with it, admittedly it slipped my mind while I was making the purchase. I have changed the plug for a rubber one from toolstation, it seems decent enough quality.

There a nice little machine, I have had mine for years.

Good to know, I hope mine lasts as long.

 

[the snooper]

although it says snap-on they are a cebora as are many migs like that BOC did one identical and they are a good machine, I still have the manual for mine but unfortunately some low life has the machine

 

[mike 109444]

I can now see the cracks you mentioned. It's possible someone has over tightened the bottom left screw, but more likley that the housing just above there is also the location of the motor bush/bearing and it could be excess pressure (as I mentioned earlier) on the wire tensioner that has pushed down to hard on the motor roller (and thus the bush/bearing).
Is that emery cloth under the rh side of wire feeder ?

 

[Willl]

Yep, I've recently been reading this and committing it to memory. I'm definitely the type of guy to research everything 101% before I do it, I enjoy reading and have a lot of spare time.

 

[Willl]

I can now see the cracks you mentioned. It's possible someone has over tightened the bottom left screw, but more likley that the housing just above there is also the location of the motor bush/bearing and it could be excess pressure (as I mentioned earlier) on the wire tensioner that has pushed down to hard on the motor roller (and thus the bush/bearing).
Is that emery cloth under the rh side of wire feeder ?

Not sure what that is to be honest, I'll have a look when I next dig it out, and hopefully get some better pictures. Over-tightening the tensioner was my first guess too, it shouldn't cause me any problems as-is, should it? Assuming it doesn't get any worse.

 

[mike 109444]

This is a good manual, not for your machine BUT does explain quite well what is going on in the weld pool and the effects of power and wire speed. Note it does also talk of "spray transfer mode" but this is really only on higher voltage machines as in industry

 

[mike 109444]

Well if you are careful with the tensioning and make sure all other parts are setup correctly (spool tension, liner, tip etc) Then you should not need to over do it.

 

[Willl]

Cool, thanks or that.

 

[Ollyk]

Just got one of these. Performance was rather poor, but then I noted the spring in the gun had rusted. I am guessing this is where the current flows to the wire, so needs to be clean for good operation. Given that your machine has some rust, I'd recomend check the neck spring!