Wolf MIG Welders

[GeorgeB]

Sorry, but I don't understand. I appreciate that the clamp and tip swap polarity for the two modes, but I can't tell which lead goes to which.

I think there may be a misprint in the brochure.

For gas welding:
- red wire to post marked +ve
- black wire to post marked -ve

For gasless welding:
Just swap them over, i.e.
- black wire to post marked +ve
- red wire to post marked -ve

It couldn't be simpler!

 

[nigelmercier]

I think there may be a misprint in the brochure.

For gas welding:
- red wire to post marked +ve
- black wire to post marked -ve

For gasless welding:
Just swap them over, i.e.
- black wire to post marked +ve
- red wire to post marked -ve

It couldn't be simpler!

Or is it the other way around? What would happen if I got it wrong?

 

[R Kraft]

They work better with the proper polarity , but if you get it wrong , nothing blows up.
Robert

 

[nigelmercier]

They work better with the proper polarity , but if you get it wrong , nothing blows up.
Robert

Work better in what way? I noticed a lot of spluttering, but that could be wrong settings or more likely because I'm a novice.

 

[GeorgeB]

It couldn't be simpler!

I should perhaps have added that, in certain situations, nothing is simple.

Use it whichever way round you feel like. It can't do any harm to you or the machine. Use whatever seems best. Tear up the rule book.

 

[dbeierl]

Misprint

I've just bought the Wolf 140A from UKHS via eBay. I can confirm that the tip is NOT live until the trigger is pulled.

I do have one problem though, the manual is ambiguous regarding the delivery cables (on Page 5 if you have the same manual). Both of the diagrams show red wire to red post and black wire to black post, and the pictures don't help as they are not in colour, see below:

It's a misprint - the post colors are wrong in the second diagram. +ve is the red post.

Yrs,
David

 

[Waz]

Can anyone explain the theory as to why this is necessary?
What actually takes place with the wire being the +ve or the -ve with the two types of wire?

 

[fannihall]

I just ordered a wolf 135 from ukhomeshlopping on ebay and it specifically says that it has a non-live torch. I'll check it out when the machine arrives.
Being ruled by budget, I had already ordered it when I read the tutorial mainly because the lowest (of 6) settings was 30 amps and I need to do bodywork on a historic car I'm restoring.
I also went for Wolf beacuse it's an old established brand - my father had a Wolf drill when I was a boy, well over half a century ago.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I also went for Wolf beacuse it's an old established brand - my father had a Wolf drill when I was a boy, well over half a century ago.

Hehe, the name may be old but the products aren't the old built-to-last ones your father knew!
Hopefully you'll get on ok with it, despite what's written on here.

 

[malcolm]

The specs for Wolf have improved somewhat since the first post. In the past they thought they could get away with a minimum of 40 or 60 amps and have a live wire feed. I thought that was plain dangerous. A new bunch came in a couple of years ago with minimum 30 amps and non-live wire feed.

As far as I know they are still in the cheap as chips category like the new surprisingly cheap welders in the Clarke range and Sealey Siengen and all the rest on eBay. I've not tried one. Has anyone else with experience of a proper welder tried one? Any good for learning?

 

[fused]

The specs for Wolf have improved somewhat since the first post. In the past they thought they could get away with a minimum of 40 or 60 amps and have a live wire feed. I thought that was plain dangerous. A new bunch came in a couple of years ago with minimum 30 amps and non-live wire feed.

As far as I know they are still in the cheap as chips category like the new surprisingly cheap welders in the Clarke range and Sealey Siengen and all the rest on eBay. I've not tried one. Has anyone else with experience of a proper welder tried one? Any good for learning?

Hi i am on the verge of buying one of these as my first welder, i will mainly be using it for work on motorbikes, including patching exhausts. Will the wolf be adaquate?
Thanks
fused

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the site, you have tagged onto an old thread which is ok but nice to introduce yourself in the relevant section.

Although there is a chance the newer Wolfs have improved a little..and perhaps only a little, I would still not buy one.

I had a new one about 3 years ago and it was a very poor machine.

Clarkes are much better, but you want one of the Clarkes that go down to 30 amp minimum power, not much feedback on the newer cheap models that are appearing with 40amp minimum.

 

[johniban]

i have a 140 wolf weld, it seems to weld quite nice. have converted it to big bottle gas. although the 140 amp clarke at work is MUCH easier to work with.
im selling my wolf weld to save for a bigger one

 

[fused]

Sorry for the lack of introduction, was just a bit over excited about getting my first welder, lol, thanks for the advice though.

I've just brought a second hand Clarke 110EN for £135 including postage, its set up for gasless at the moment, with a fresh mini spool, and heavy duty clamp, It looks to be in pretty good condition and is described as in excellent working condition.

Does £135 sound like a fair price? And is it novice friendly?

Thanks

 

[Cobbler]

Hi Fused, I think you will find the Clarke ideal for lighter use, I had a 100 for 20 years, saved me a fortune in odd repairs mot patches, mending exhausts & such. It was at the limits repairing the chassis of my sons Land Rover, so I have recently bought a 150tm to make life easier for myself. Certainly they are a great little machine, you will wonder how did I manage without one.

Cobbler

 

[fused]

Thanks Cobbler, just what i wanted to hear

 

[Cobbler]

Hi Fuzed, just a thought, I might be teaching granny to suck eggs, please disregard this post if I am. I am assuming from your post that you are new to welding so if you don't know the history of your welder, it would be worth checking the state of the liner to the torch. On the budget welders the manufacturers use plastic liners similar to windscreen washer pipe. The wire sticks to the inside & causes all sorts of feeding problems. Take the feed roller tension off & slacken the spool tension, then pull the wire through from the torch end. It should pull easily with hardly any resistance, if there is much replace with a new steel liner, they are not expensive, see the Weldquip site. Takes about half an hour to change & dead easy. Makes the world of difference & takes the load off the feed motor as well. There are several threads on the forum about this.

Good luck with it

Cobbler

 

[mr_spudly]

Hi all thanks for all the good advice concerning mig welders, I wish I could stick with my Oxford (no pun intended there) after listening to all the bad reports about the Wolf mig welders but I need to get back up to speed with my mig welding. I've seen the Wolf mig advertised on ebay and it looked a good bit of kit, the only thing that puts me off is the hobby gas size bottles that last about 10 mins. I need a good reputation mig welder that I can use to practise my mig welding as I haven't used mig for nearly 10 years. Any reccomendations would be greatly apreciated.

Many thanks

 

[Robotstar5]

All the welders that run on disposable bottles can be converted to run on the big bottles by using a readily available adapter pipe.

 

[ENVY SP]

Good day people. New to the forum. New to gasless fluxcore mig welding. But used to work at a metal shop makin buckets for caterpillar,an trash clamps for the trash/dump yards. But that was welding with big industrial argon gas mig welders. Easy learnin...15 years ago. Lol. Got a wolfweld mig 130 flux core welder,got a couple different types of wire,.030 an .035. Havin problems figuring out the settings?? Switch w/ 1 and 2, nother switch, min/max,then the wire speed dial 0-10? Only had thinner sheet metal to practice,burn thru,bird poo issues at first. Finally got a decent bead speed at 0, set 1+min. But i got welder to weld 5mm thick airbag suspension brackets on my '72 chevy truck. 8 brackets altogether,for bag mounting,same thickness. Two upper front brackets get bolted on too so not too worried bout crap weld there? The bottom front bag brackets are cups an sit in deep hole,slightly concerned bout getn good penetration in the hole gaps...all around honestly? Can someone help expl settings,so i can jus getrdone please?? 1-2? Min-max? Dial speed 0-10?? I dont have any idea?? Instruction pamphlet very vague....HELP...POR FAPLEASE? tanks lots. Nate~ENVY.