Converting a Wire Feed Welder to Tig
I have been thinking about this for a little while so yesterday I stopped by the welding supply to find out if It can be done and what is needed to do it. Man I talked to was a good guy, but the person I needed to talk to wasnt there. Figured I could get the advise I needed here so here goes.
About a year ago I bought a idealarc 250/250 stick/tig machine. Machine is maybe 10years old, but had been used very little. In fact, except just to try it out, I havent used it any. My old ac/dc tombstone and 175miller mig seem to get me by just fine. I am about to start a pretty large project and feel the 175 might be a little undersized for the welding I will be doing. Mostly 1/2 and 3/4 steel. My thoughts are to purchase a wire feed to attach to the ideal arc so I can take advantage of some of the higher amps the machine offers. Problem is, the guy at the welder supply didnt know if it could be done, nor what to tell me to look for even if it could be done. We looked at some of new wirefeeds in the book and all those prices seemed pretty high, so I am thinking maybe to look for something used. I dont know what to look for, or how to hook it up if I find one. Except for seeing a few of the wire feed systems belonging to other folks, I know nothing about how they are supposed to be setup for welding. I need a little advise before I blunder head long into something that could prove to be a large expense. I thought about tradeing in the 175 for a bigger machine, but kind of like it for what it is usually used for.
I'm sure your Idealarc 250 is just a CC machine, for Mig you'll need a CV machine. But if you are OK with running self shielded flux core you could find a good price for an LN-25 you can run some Hobart 21-B. We did this for years before CV engine drives came out in the 1980s.
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/ Attaching wire feed to a stick welder
- Thread Starter
#3
Are you saying that if my machine is cc and cv then a wire feed should work? I dont know if my machine is or isnt CV, but I seem to remember CC/CV in little black boxes decaling on the front. Might be wrong tho.
Well if it's a CV machine you have it made! But if not double check to make sure it doesn't put out more than 72-OCV, (open circuit volts). Other wise the LN-25 will not feed wire. But if your machine is only CC, you most likely won't believe the things we use to build with self shielded wire on CC engine drive machines. Personally I can't see any difference in my LN-25 running Mig than any other Mig machine I've run in my life.
Lincoln LN-25 | eBay
Wait a minute, are you saying that a CC stick welder can run flux wire?????
/ Attaching wire feed to a stick welder
- Thread Starter
#8
Well, I went and looked to see what I have.
Model tig 250/250
code 8809serial# U1960504383
Max OCV 76
I didnt see any CV lables on it so I guess I just dreamed that part. I do hope someone can tell year of make by the Serial #
I anit paying $900 or so dollars on a wire feed, this is just a one time project and I can get by with stick for the heavy stuff. I think I will see what the welding supply will give me trade in on my 175mig if I go with one of the newer 250 machines.
I know that there are "voltage sensing" wie feeders that claim to be able to run from a cc machine, but not sure how well they work. One of Miller's suitcase welders makes this claim. I too have an idealarc 250 tig/stick machine, and have contemplated the same, so I will be watching this thread.
In your case though, why not just stick weld it? I find thicker metal way easier to stick weld than thinner.
Well, I went and looked to see what I have.
Model tig 250/250
code 8809serial# U1960504383Max OCV 76
I didnt see any CV lables on it so I guess I just dreamed that part. I do hope someone can tell year of make by the Serial #
I anit paying $900 or so dollars on a wire feed, this is just a one time project and I can get by with stick for the heavy stuff. I think I will see what the welding supply will give me trade in on my 175mig if I go with one of the newer 250 machines.
Sorry my response was late. I definitely don't think you will find a wire feeder with that capability for under $900.
Source: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/attaching-wire-feed-to-a-stick-welder.294713/
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