Anyone adapted the 100 series spoolgun to the 175 yet?

[JCByrd24]

Benny,

So the 175 handles the aluminum ok? I've been thinking about getting the spoolmate and had 95% concluded it could be done with just wiring, but I've read that the 180s have much better arc starts than the 175s. I'm wondering if the aluminum is terribly tricky on a 175 or pretty straightforward. What thicknesses have you tried and what gas?

[JCByrd24]

Not much activity in this thread but I thought I'd post my progress. I ordered the spoolmate and my MM175 is old enough that the plugs did not match. I had to snip the wires to the drive motor and add bullet/spade terminals to wire it to the switch. Also, the trickier part, my gun wiring receptical on the mm175 only had 2 of 4 sockets wired (M10 gun only needs switch wiring). I had to rig the other 2 sockets to run the spoolgun motor. The plugs did match, I knew this from the PNs in the manuals. This is working, but I think I'm loosing some voltage to the spoolgun drive motor as it seems to be spinning slower than the drive motor in the 175. Where it is a smaller diameter wheel this would seem to be too slow, as the speed ratings should be close (stock 175 is 720 ipm, spoolmate on the 180 is 600ish ipm). For example with the wire speed on the lowest setting, the mm175 drive motor will spin slowly, the spoolmate doesn't turn at all.

I haven't gotten straight argon and done an actual test yet so don't know if this is actually an issue, I'll report back. Anyone know what the electrical components in the switch wiring that came with the spoolgun are?

[Johnny]

brwelder wrote :

" Miller does not recommend the spoolmate on the earlier models because if the spoolgun becomes shorted it can take out the pc board on the millermatic . "

it what kind of situation the spoolgun can be shorted? Is it verry dangerous ( for the pc board? Is it possible to protect the board?

Thank you

What are saying?

[therrera]

Hello all,

I picked up a used Spoolmate 185 thinking I could adapt it to my Betamig 2510. The power source has a Prince 250A adapter for their cobra spoolgun. I bought it this way.

Can the Spoolmate 185 be hooked up this this mig welder? Do I require the use of the SGA-100 controller? When I bought the gun I didn't realize it needs the controller. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Tony

[Miller Kevin]

Tony,

To add the Spoolmate 185 to the Beta-Mig 2510 you will need the SGA 100 adapter (pn 043856).

[cruizer]

Too bad, would have been easy to modify a Miller 30A to fit the 2510

[therrera]

Thanks for the reply,

I will go on the lookout for the SGA-100 controller then.


Tony

[brwelder]

The BetaMig 2510 uses a M-25 gun which has the same brass end as a Spoolmate 100 . The switch kit 300409 is used to add the two wires and pins to the 4 pin trigger plug . And to splice into the wires gouing to the drive motor for power to the switch and to add power to the spoolgun and origional drive motor.
The spoolmate 185 or 3035 can also be used with the same switch kit . Basically the spoolgun lug is placed on the positive terminal, the switch kit adds voltage to the spoolgun ( 8-28 volts ) and the gas hose has to be hooked up to a gas diverter valve ( miller 195539) so you can switch between the regular mig gun or spoolgun . The valve is not needed on the spoolmate 100 setup.
As far as the gun getting shorted , the trigger wires need to be touching the welding wire . This can be caused by a gun being driven over, pulled out at the machine -by pulling machine with gun, or when it was made . The trigger wires are on the outside of the inner sheath and not near the power cable. I have in 25 years seen 3 guns shorted . Two Lincoln and one Miller . So if you think about it , thats great odds , as I am sure that there are a few hundred thousand in circulation and word would have gotten out .
The Millermatic 185 and DVI require a 207642 switch kit as they have a harness set up already . All most all mig machines use 12-28 volts to drive their drive motors the same as the spoolguns . There might be a wiring difference in some models and the reversing of the red and black wire on the switch controls which way the spoolgun drive motor turns . Its a DC motor so polarity makes it spin one direction or the other.

[JCByrd24]

So I got the welder up and running this weekend, MM175 with 100 Series spoolmate. As mentioned previously, I used the switch that came with the 100 series and had to cut the wires to the drive motor, no big deal. Also had to make up the recepticals in the gun plug for the 2 additional wires. It sounds like perhaps the retrofit kit would have taken care of this. In any event. After I turned the gas on (straight argon) after the first attempt, everything worked very well. I was primarily playing with 1/8" flat bar coupons and also some 1/4" I had kicking around. I was running harbor freight 0.030 4043 wire and used a stainless wire brush (manual) for prep. On both the 1/8" and 1/4" the 175 w/ spoolmate was able to make great looking, good penetration welds with almost no spatter, tig looking at times. The process and sound was different than welding steel, but very quiet, clean, and fairly predictable. Overall a huge success. For th 1/4" and anything above I could definitely use .035 wire. The only thinner stuff I had was really too thin and with the exception of a piece of old diamond plate that was maybe 1/16" thick, I blew right through. I was able to stick the diamond plate together but not with the success of the 1/8", but I didn't play with it very long. I'm guessing I should be able to do that thickness but not much thinner based on the chart that was included with spool gun.

[benny365]

when you purchase the retrofit kit it comes with everything including a new parameter sticker for the inside off your machine. Mig definitely Burns hot and fast on aluminum.