Nightstalker
Member
- Messages
- 8
After getting sick of the common issues associated with SIP-style wire feeders, instead of doing somethign sensible like buying a better welder, I decided to embark on a voyage of construction insanity. I modified my existing welder and began building my own wire feed unit.
One of the main problems I faced was the lowest setting on the welder being entirely useless, even when attempting to weld 0.8mm steel with 0.6mm wire. The arc never fully formed, it would just spit and pop. My initial guess was insuficient current to sustain an arc, easy solution to that one, let's add some capacitors. After scrounging around in my junk box I found and hooked up a couple of 500v 5600uF electrolytics that I had salvaged from an industrial power factor correction unit some years prior. What a difference! I could actualy weld with the thing on the lowest setting, well, almost. The wire feed issue now reared it's ugly head, with the wire feed slowing down or speeding up at random intervals. I read the threads on here about fitting metal braces and transformers to welders then decided to go even further. Building my own wire feeder somehow seemed a good idea.
After some searching online I procured a monster wire feed unit and a eurotorch connector that would do the job nicely.
Now for something to put it in, the enclosure is made from 2.4mm thick sheet steel with some questionable edges that are nowhere near square ("angle grinder" and "precise" do not belong in the same sentance, must get plasma cutter!)
The various bits have then been drilled and tapped so I can mount a couple of toroidial transformers (small 12v one is for the gas solenoid and controll electronics, large 24v one drives the wire feed motor) some relays and a speed control circut. A bunch of other miscilanious stuff also gets stuck in there.
I then weld a couple of the plates together, I can recommend against trying to MMA weld using a MIG power supply, the arc behaves very strangely (no supprise there) so I will have to borrow my friend's AC buzzbox before doing any more welding.
I then partialy assembled and mounted everything to take the last three photos. The plate between the wire feed and the electronics is just held in place with the magnetic clamps at this point but I should have that weleded in place soon.
Once I have this thing finished I hope to be able to weld thin metal with a decent degree of precision and controll. If nothing else, this has served to keep me busy for a few days!
One of the main problems I faced was the lowest setting on the welder being entirely useless, even when attempting to weld 0.8mm steel with 0.6mm wire. The arc never fully formed, it would just spit and pop. My initial guess was insuficient current to sustain an arc, easy solution to that one, let's add some capacitors. After scrounging around in my junk box I found and hooked up a couple of 500v 5600uF electrolytics that I had salvaged from an industrial power factor correction unit some years prior. What a difference! I could actualy weld with the thing on the lowest setting, well, almost. The wire feed issue now reared it's ugly head, with the wire feed slowing down or speeding up at random intervals. I read the threads on here about fitting metal braces and transformers to welders then decided to go even further. Building my own wire feeder somehow seemed a good idea.
After some searching online I procured a monster wire feed unit and a eurotorch connector that would do the job nicely.
Now for something to put it in, the enclosure is made from 2.4mm thick sheet steel with some questionable edges that are nowhere near square ("angle grinder" and "precise" do not belong in the same sentance, must get plasma cutter!)
The various bits have then been drilled and tapped so I can mount a couple of toroidial transformers (small 12v one is for the gas solenoid and controll electronics, large 24v one drives the wire feed motor) some relays and a speed control circut. A bunch of other miscilanious stuff also gets stuck in there.
I then weld a couple of the plates together, I can recommend against trying to MMA weld using a MIG power supply, the arc behaves very strangely (no supprise there) so I will have to borrow my friend's AC buzzbox before doing any more welding.
I then partialy assembled and mounted everything to take the last three photos. The plate between the wire feed and the electronics is just held in place with the magnetic clamps at this point but I should have that weleded in place soon.
Once I have this thing finished I hope to be able to weld thin metal with a decent degree of precision and controll. If nothing else, this has served to keep me busy for a few days!
the wire feed looks good too, ebay ?
