Spoolmate 100 HD barrel kit

[c-bolt]

Ok, so Ive been lurking for a while and have seen plenty of posts about the crappy tips on the sm100. I found aametalmasters mod to drill out the barrel and use the bigger tips and im thinking thats a great idea.


Has anybody looked into the HD barrel kit and adapter for the bigger HD barrel? I was thinking this would be even better with dissipating the heat. I'm going to be building a small boat (10-11 foot) and it will have a 1/4" bottom. It would always be nice to have a bigger gun, but I think this will work OK. What does everyone else think?

Basically it looks like Miller # 196848 and 195375. Its about $100 bucks.


http://www.brweldingsupplies.com/mil...195375-196848/

[Broccoli1]

Cant comment on the product but I do Like BR Welding supplies and would bet that it works well or they wouldn't offer it.

[c-bolt]

Thanks. I was thinking the same thing. Should take the bigger tips and keep the barrel cool...kind of a win/win.

Joe

[aametalmaster]

Thanks. I was thinking the same thing. Should take the bigger tips

Joe

Kinda hard to tell from the pic. But the tips look like the little tips with a fatter body. Same small thread...Bob

[tommy2069]

to me it's not the barrel that you have to worry about it's the tips. when the tip heats up it also heats up the wire and thats when you get the tip burn back. just keep a bucket of water handy and dip the barrel into it every foot of weld or so and it might help out. i do the ame thing with my tweco gun on my thermadyne suit case it keeps it cool and saves on tips.i have a small 100spool gun that i use on my lincoln i use it for a/c coils and repairing small joe boats but it heats up way to fast and burns the tips like crazy. i don't have the miller 100 spoolgun i have the 200 series and it does pretty good but i think that you might be pushing the limits of the 100 trying to weld 1/4 thick plate with it.

[tommy2069]

oh one other thing i have used a hobart 100 and it's pretty much a replica of the miller and the nozzel held up fine it was the plastic that always melted down when the nozzel got hot .js

[c-bolt]

Well, I guess if its the smaller tips I'll drill and tap it too!

[aametalmaster]

to me it's not the barrel that you have to worry about it's the tips. when the tip heats up it also heats up the wire and thats when you get the tip burn back.

Thats for sure. I have been using my Spoolmate 185 (3035) spool gun since 1999. I bought a new barrel not long after i bought it figuring it would melt down. Nope still in the package with the little tip tube in it. Never needed it. And i weld some parts both alum and steel where it should have melted. Was always more worried about the motor burning up. Zero problems after i did my first tip conversion...Bob

[c-bolt]

So do you think the bigger tips that come with this barrel would be better than the small tapered ones? Or would it just be worth it to modify this one too. I think I will go with the bigger barrel to help keep the gun cool while working on the boat bottom since its going to be 1/4.

[tommy2069]

thats alot of welding for that gun sure it can be done but i would invest in a bigger gun. you might get 6" maybe10" of weld with the 100 before the heat gets to much and then the weld starts to really look like crap. check out the pawn shops first to see what they have and checkout ebay if you can't find a bigger gun there then go to the lws.you won't regret steppin up to a bigger gun thats for sure.plus that 140 just won't cut it on 1/4" you'll have to pre heat the metal and even after all of that you will still not really be getting a good tie end and the butt welds will simple come apart a boat takes a beating when it hits wave so for you and your famillies safety i would not atempt it and expect it to hold.

[Cgotto6]

Let alone be water tight. A 140 is far too wimpy to be trying to do any large seam on 1/4", aluminum or steel but especially aluminum.

[c-bolt]

Who said anything about using a 140? I'll be welding with a mm211. Just for reference, I know of about 4 or 5 of these little boats that have been built with the smaller gun. Welds all look decent, but the guns eat tips from what they all say. Ha! Apparently they don't know how to google.

[walker]

I have the 3035 also, with the AAMetalmaster mod. I just finished an aluminum cart with it that went out to the local nuc plant. It passed the weld inspection, and load test but it was more than that little gun could do. I was running it off my TB on the truck welding 3/8" and 3/4" plate to the 1/4" tube. The SGA 100c was turned all the way up, which is about 750ipm, and must have been 28-30v. I could do about 3-4 1" welds before it started behaving oddly. I tried dipping it in water, but the steam would contaminate the next weld, so I just wrapped the barrel in a damp rag and let it sit for a few minutes. Bigger wire would have been nice, but it is supposed to top out at .035. I was worried about melting the housing. The 3/4" required preheating the plate with a torch.
It looks as though I may get more work from the same company, if so I am going to buy a 30A.

[Soutthpaw]

The old is new again. That looks like the barrel design of my older 30A spoolgun except it's made of brass/copper

[c-bolt]

Well, it arrived. Regardless of weather or not 1/4" is too much for the MM211, I'm sure this will help keep the gun cool and save some tips in the process.



left to right: crappy spoolmate tips, HD barrel tips, M-15 gun tips

The HD tips are the same size as the M-15 tips, with a shorter threaded portion. Would you all recommend the mod to the M-15 tips? or leave it with the shorter threaded version?