Wire Feeder on Stick Power Supply

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I have an old Miller wire feeder off a CP200. Once I hooked it up to my AC/DC welder with CO2 and .045 flux core. I tried all polarities and it welded okay but only at very high amps, could not turn it down at all for good results. What's the difference in this buzzbox power supply and the one designed for it ?Also where can I get a contactor to keep the wire from being hot all the time?I know.....its a Frankenmig
Reply:Hello polarred21, you,ve got a couple of things that won't play well with your proposed "frankenmig". 1- the feeder unit that you are attempting to use is a constant speed, non-voltage sensing unit. It needs to be used with a Constant Voltage/Variable Amperage output power source. 2-a conventional DC stick power source is  Variable Voltage/Constant Amperage output machine. In order to use the good ole stick welder to wire feed with you would need a Voltage Sensing Feeder and even at that they don't short arc worth a hoot. This is the short of what is going on. Sometimes trying to frankenstein a system like this will cost you more money than just springing for a system that is designed for it's intended purpose. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:Thanks for the feedback!Okay, in my situation, what good is this old Miller feeder I have? If I buy a newer 180 amp machine that I'm in the market for, (leaning towards the Thermal Arc 181i) would there be any adaptation for this feeder to that machine say to use for a different type wire w/o having to swap out?Or...is there a market for it and should I just put it up for sale?Thanks
Reply:Hello again polarred21, you "could" hook it up to the 181i if you were creative. One of the problems that you will run into is that you will need to provide a separate 110 volt power line to your older feeder(likely this would entail wiring a 110 volt plug on the input power line feeding into your old feeder and plugging this into a wall outlet nearby), then you will also need to provide a plug on your old feeder that will match the plug on the 181i to accommodate contactor closure on the 181i when the trigger is depressed on the gun connected to your old feeder. This can be accomplished with a bit of time and effort and would allow for two different wire choices without changing the 181i over, but you would still need to unplug and plug-in the feeder of choice and also select the proper switch selection inside of the 181i to make it work properly(I believe this switch has two positions, spool gun or standard or something like that). Anyhow, good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:If you find a good used XMT 304 CC/CV, you'll have yourself much more of a machine than the TA at around the same price.  You could stick, DC Tig and mig from one machine.TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:Originally Posted by Drf255If you find a good used XMT 304 CC/CV, you'll have yourself much more of a machine than the TA at around the same price.  You could stick, DC Tig and mig from one machine.
Reply:Originally Posted by polarred21Thanks for the tip. I'm seeing these same machines around at work. Some are 304 CC/CV and some are 350 CC's. CL and Ebay prices on the 304 are $1500 and up, but I'll keep an eye out before I pull the trigger on the Thermal Arc.
Reply:Originally Posted by Drf255If you find a good used XMT 304 CC/CV, you'll have yourself much more of a machine than the TA at around the same price.  You could stick, DC Tig and mig from one machine.
Reply:Originally Posted by polarred21After studying this 304 machine some more, it's only good for 225a amps on single phase 230 volt, which is all I would ever need. Good suggestion but more machine than I need to spend money on right now.