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Last I calculated there have to be at least 250,000 MIG?whatever made in China machines sitting on shelves in US Mancaves gathering dust either because the machine ain't a welder or because the cave dweller won't ever be a pimple on a weldor's azz. Also by my calculation at least half of the Inturdnet Xspertz on welding machines are addicts to Master Card or one of its kin. They are conditioned to BUY new toys and will find virtue in a lump of buffalo crap painted blue regardless if they can light it or not.
I been at this craft a while, going back to when SubArc was the current version of wire welding, and have developed a bit of knowledge of what makes money and what don't.
When MIG came along 40± years ago, a whole bunch of people went about making MIG work with aluminum wire, and until Cobra did it with the baseball bat pull gun, the fallback was the spoolgun. You don't need to look at a spooler -v- suitcase or any other feeder to figure out why, and that why is distance between wire waiting to burn and the tip it will run thru just before it burns. Aluminum flat don't like being pushed. The solution has always been minimizing that distance while retaining some semblance of ergonomics for the operator.
COST of inches/feet of deposited metal is always a major consideration in selecting a machine. If your aluminum deposits amount to a few feet a week, a spoolgun is probably cost effective. Couple hundred feet a day,, you can't afford a spoolgun, even if you retain empty spools and rewind them cheap from a roll of wire. Spoolgun probably won't last long in that level of service anyhow. Don't forget to factor in the time for spool changes. Also factor in the cost per foot of wire of them doughnuts.
Secondary consideration, which tool fits the job you intend it to do? Can you get a pull torch in the space?
Probably ought to factor in how the environment of your shops housekeeping works in combination with 20 feet of gun cable running across the floor from a suitcase is going to work. I like overhead tacks for solving this problem, they work out cheaper than replacement gun cables.
Third consideration that comes into play more as you age is ergonomics. Less weight you gotta hold in midair for a few hours a day = better welding..
If you ain't 60 years old, spare the world from your wise comments on the subject of holding weight in the air. You got no talking position.
I'll not waste keystrokes on the geniuses in tool trucks peddling machines they can barely turn on.
I personally don't do enough aluminum to swap the spoolgun for the MIG gun on my GENUINE Miller Electric MM-200. It's a steel world here, and I can dial 7 digits and have one of the best on any aluminum work faster than I can set a machine up, but I have the spoolgun on the shelf.
When the "technicians" in the car shop insisted they needed an aluminum capacity to suplement the MIG machines there so they could weld aluminum, I found a CK Systematics rig with a spoolgun for them. Man who sold it with a pair of 80cf tanks kept telling me his dad could use it just fine, but he never could. I knew that when I saw the spool of e 70 S6 wire in the gun and 2 Argon bottles on the porch. I handed him $300 and loaded the machine fast. The "technicians" have managed to repaint the housing in the 3 years the machine has been decorating the shop. They need to go to school to learn to use it. Oddly, I was able to use it after I pulled the sides and inspected the machine. CK still makes more or less the same machine in Pennsylvania every day, and they still sell parts and have people who answer the phone if you need more help.
Fourth consideration is the powerunit. I love 3Ø power units. They produce far nicer DC than single phase rectifiers ever can. That's probably why every car alternator put under a hood since 1960 has been a 3Ø machine. If you don't have 3Ø power available, doa hands on test of the machine before you buy. Pay a lot of attention to ventilation of the power unit too. Amps pumped thru the tip to the wire relates to waste heat in the power supply.
You buy the right machine it's a walk in the park, even a girl can run it. Wrong machine, you got a nightmare. Gasoline is cheap, ride from dealer to dealer and test dance a few of them girls.
I been at this craft a while, going back to when SubArc was the current version of wire welding, and have developed a bit of knowledge of what makes money and what don't.
When MIG came along 40± years ago, a whole bunch of people went about making MIG work with aluminum wire, and until Cobra did it with the baseball bat pull gun, the fallback was the spoolgun. You don't need to look at a spooler -v- suitcase or any other feeder to figure out why, and that why is distance between wire waiting to burn and the tip it will run thru just before it burns. Aluminum flat don't like being pushed. The solution has always been minimizing that distance while retaining some semblance of ergonomics for the operator.
COST of inches/feet of deposited metal is always a major consideration in selecting a machine. If your aluminum deposits amount to a few feet a week, a spoolgun is probably cost effective. Couple hundred feet a day,, you can't afford a spoolgun, even if you retain empty spools and rewind them cheap from a roll of wire. Spoolgun probably won't last long in that level of service anyhow. Don't forget to factor in the time for spool changes. Also factor in the cost per foot of wire of them doughnuts.
Secondary consideration, which tool fits the job you intend it to do? Can you get a pull torch in the space?
Probably ought to factor in how the environment of your shops housekeeping works in combination with 20 feet of gun cable running across the floor from a suitcase is going to work. I like overhead tacks for solving this problem, they work out cheaper than replacement gun cables.
Third consideration that comes into play more as you age is ergonomics. Less weight you gotta hold in midair for a few hours a day = better welding..
If you ain't 60 years old, spare the world from your wise comments on the subject of holding weight in the air. You got no talking position.
I'll not waste keystrokes on the geniuses in tool trucks peddling machines they can barely turn on.
I personally don't do enough aluminum to swap the spoolgun for the MIG gun on my GENUINE Miller Electric MM-200. It's a steel world here, and I can dial 7 digits and have one of the best on any aluminum work faster than I can set a machine up, but I have the spoolgun on the shelf.
When the "technicians" in the car shop insisted they needed an aluminum capacity to suplement the MIG machines there so they could weld aluminum, I found a CK Systematics rig with a spoolgun for them. Man who sold it with a pair of 80cf tanks kept telling me his dad could use it just fine, but he never could. I knew that when I saw the spool of e 70 S6 wire in the gun and 2 Argon bottles on the porch. I handed him $300 and loaded the machine fast. The "technicians" have managed to repaint the housing in the 3 years the machine has been decorating the shop. They need to go to school to learn to use it. Oddly, I was able to use it after I pulled the sides and inspected the machine. CK still makes more or less the same machine in Pennsylvania every day, and they still sell parts and have people who answer the phone if you need more help.
Fourth consideration is the powerunit. I love 3Ø power units. They produce far nicer DC than single phase rectifiers ever can. That's probably why every car alternator put under a hood since 1960 has been a 3Ø machine. If you don't have 3Ø power available, doa hands on test of the machine before you buy. Pay a lot of attention to ventilation of the power unit too. Amps pumped thru the tip to the wire relates to waste heat in the power supply.
You buy the right machine it's a walk in the park, even a girl can run it. Wrong machine, you got a nightmare. Gasoline is cheap, ride from dealer to dealer and test dance a few of them girls.
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