I am trying to put a welder power unit together

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I am new to this forum so If I come across a little short brained Please Forgive me.. I know, Just go out and buy one. But if I can build one for half the cost then why not build it. My question is, how many amps does a Hobart SpoolRunner gun pull, and I am referring to the motor that runs the wire out. Voltage from what I have read is around 24 max. but no one shows the amp draw.. Thanks for Your Help
Reply:the amperage is controlled by circuitry to maintain a consistent arc temperature to match the feed speed.if you want to build a welder to save money, put together a stick welder/buzz box. they are quite simple and there are instructions all over the interwebs. If you want to get elaborate, you can do AC/DC, add an infinitely adjustable output control, etc. A wire feed welder, however, contains enough control and feedback electronics to fill a college engineering course. This is why you probably can't find any plans out there. Save yourself the time, headache, and inconsistency (if you CAN get it running) and buy a cheap unit to get started on.These are the exact reasons why I upgraded from a homemade stick welder to a Miller TIG machine. now I know exactly what my settings are, making welds repeatable at different times. I don't have to worry about "oops I scorched my triac" or "there seems to be something funky in one of my power capacitors and I can't pin it down (or hold an arc!)".
Reply:You can buy a used stick welder for 50 to 150.00.As far as building a mig forget it.If you got all the parts free you would still fail.
Reply:With what's available at Lowes, Home Depot and (gasp) Harbor Freight or on the used market, it is almost impossible to build it for less than you can buy it.Save yourself a TON of aggravation and guesswork. Save up and buy a chi-com toy or used outdated piece of equipment and get welding. Then when you get good at holding an arc and following the seam, buy a REAL welder (red, blue or beige - doesn't matter).Save electronics/electrical experimentation for stuff that can't be had easily.Be wary of The Numbers: Figures don't lie,. but liars can figure.Welders:2008 Lincoln 140 GMAW&FCAW2012 HF 165 'toy' GTAW&SMAW1970's Cobbled together O/A
Reply:Originally Posted by Dan Huygensthe amperage is controlled by circuitry to maintain a consistent arc temperature to match the feed speed.if you want to build a welder to save money, put together a stick welder/buzz box. they are quite simple and there are instructions all over the interwebs. If you want to get elaborate, you can do AC/DC, add an infinitely adjustable output control, etc. A wire feed welder, however, contains enough control and feedback electronics to fill a college engineering course. This is why you probably can't find any plans out there. Save yourself the time, headache, and inconsistency (if you CAN get it running) and buy a cheap unit to get started on.These are the exact reasons why I upgraded from a homemade stick welder to a Miller TIG machine. now I know exactly what my settings are, making welds repeatable at different times. I don't have to worry about "oops I scorched my triac" or "there seems to be something funky in one of my power capacitors and I can't pin it down (or hold an arc!)".
Reply:What's going to run this spool gun? You can buy cheap spool guns for around $300 and some even less. There is no way you will be able build anything comparable. I bet by the time you make a gear box, drive rolls, power cable, gas hose, spool holder with friction device, gas solenoid, speed control, etc. you're not going to save anything and you'll have something that won't work. I would think a 5 amp power supply is too low but regardless it's not going to work and you'll just be out the money and time you spent. Save yourself the frustration and get something that's already out there.
Reply:As I had said in the other post that  I have 2 welders I forgot that I also have a Mig welder but it is only I think 90 amps tops and was sit up only for flux core wire, which is way to small, current wise to weld 1/4" aluminum. As being able to weld, I have been welding for the past 40 plus years, and get along at it very well.. as far as electronic I have had enough of that in school that I can build power supply and control boards that I think  I can put together what is needed to make a mig welder work.
Reply:I am going to buy the spool gun but need to build the power supply to run the motor that runs the wire out. From what that I can figure out by looking at welding diagram, the motor runs on 24 volts but I can not find out how many amps they draw.. If all else fails I will buy a spool gun and hook it to a battery charger and see how many amps it draw
Reply:Are you going to run it on a constant current or constant voltage machine? I think some Spoolguns can run off arc voltage on a CC machine but you have to have a special control box. It's not done much anymore because of the cost of the control box.
Reply:What weld power supply do you intend to use this spool gun with?  One of your stick welders?Where did you come up with the 24V operating voltage?  The SpoolRunner 100 motor is 12VDC.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Originally Posted by Welder DaveAre you going to run it on a constant current or constant voltage machine? I think some Spoolguns can run off arc voltage on a CC machine but you have to have a special control box. It's not done much anymore because of the cost of the control box.
Reply:Powering the spoolgun drive motor will do you no good without a constant voltage power supply, and a fairly good sized one if you want to weld alum. You will max out a 180 amp class mig on alum doing 1/8" in both output voltage and wire speed. You really need to be looking at a minimum of a 200-250 amp constant voltage power source to have a good usable range for adjustments.Understand you are looking at having to build a couple of things. #1 is a DC constant voltage power source. #2 is the control circuitry for the "feeder" in this case your spoolgun. This isn't going to be a simple build unless you just happen to be an electrical engineer. Just making the spoolgun motor go round and round is probably the easy part. Making the constant voltage power supply is going to be harder..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:As for power supply my gas engine welder is only 150 amps with is to small and my buzz box is 295 amps which would be big enough if it was DC.. how every I am working on a 225 amp power supply that I am putting together from 2 big transformers rated at 225amps each and running that through 2 pairs of 300 amp diodes.. then I though that I would put about 120,000 MFD cap. plus a big choke that I am going to wind.. As for the 24 volts for the spool gun motor I pull that off of some of the welder diagram that I had look at.. but if you say that it is 12 volts DC that will make it easier to build..
Reply:When you are talking constant voltage power supply I acumen that you are talking about a DC supply.. If that is correct they I think I have got that for most part figure out.. 2  225 amp transformer running through 2 pair of 300 amp. diodes with 120,000 mfd cap. and a choke that I am going to wind.. Will that get me what I need ?
Reply:it sounds like you are doing an awful amount of guessing. You say you've had EE training?? Engineers do not guess. And there is a lot of physics that goes into electrical engineering; that's why they call it engineering. And there is a lot of electrical engineering that goes into building a welder. a lot as in 100%. just because you can weld doesn't mean you can build a welder. just because you can drive doesn't mean you can build a car. and most mechanics will tell you to instead buy a car.that being said, it sounds like you are building an arc welder from what you've stated about your plans/thoughts/guesses. an arc welder is constant current. it will have a higher ocv and then as the circuit is closed and the energy flows, the amperage will increase to the set level and the voltage will decrease (also depending on the resistance of the arc). In a constant voltage machine, the feedback electronics sense the voltage of the arc (which is directly proportional to the resistance of the plasma/arc) and vary the output amperage to maintain plasma temperature which melts the wire therefore at a "steady" rate. otherwise, if you slightly adjust your electrode/mig gun away from the material, you will have problems with not enough voltage to maintain a steady arc, or too close will cause a voltage drop and amperage spike, which will then burn too hot for the feed rate. basically it's ohm's law, if you're familiar with the physics of plasma.now, to maintain control of the voltage throughout the voltage range you desire, you are going to be looking at some really beefy very expensive diodes. not the kind you find at digikey or mouser... in fact sourcing them will be a task, and you will pay a tremendous price for them when you do find them. miller, Lincol, everlast, esab, tweco, whomever buys them BY THE THOUSANDS. Again, you will pay up the A$$ for a small quantity! I'm no EE, but I'm guessing you are goin to need to probably start somewhere around a triac type setup... you will need at the very least a solid MC to read the feedback and control the diodes... your arduino is not going to have fast enough bitrade for that, you could maybe get away with something more like the rasberry pie setup. and you'll need to build the programming to control your mcif all of this is Greek to you, trust me, go buy a weldor because you've got more money than know how (no matter how little $ you think you have).that's about as far as I can get you, its been a long time since high school (when I built robots from scratch) and I don't remember most of it. the stuff I did know was actually very small, I have twould buddies that are ME, another is an EE, and another is now a civil engineer, they are the biggest reason I was ssuccessful at that time.
Reply:I think you've got your AC and DC's mixed up. You can weld aluminum with CC, I read somewhere it's actually recommended when using 300+ amps. I remember seeing a video on youtube where a guy hooked up a spool gun to a couple of car batteries and welded with it. It's doable, but would cause a lot of aggravation. I know you want to build this, but trust me, it won't cost half the price! Even if you get all the materials for free, no one's time is free. Even if you think your time is free, why don't you go invest your time into actually making money instead of wasting your time trying to figure out how to build a welder.John 3:16(2) Miller Pheonix 456(2) Millermertic 252Dynasty 210DXHobart 210MVPDoringer D350 SA Cold SawScotchman 350LT Cold SawWebb 10x50 MillWebb 15x40 LatheGeka Bendicrop Ironworker
Reply:Originally Posted by Chuck BAs for power supply my gas engine welder is only 150 amps with is to small and my buzz box is 295 amps which would be big enough if it was DC.. how every I am working on a 225 amp power supply that I am putting together from 2 big transformers rated at 225amps each and running that through 2 pairs of 300 amp diodes.. then I though that I would put about 120,000 MFD cap. plus a big choke that I am going to wind.. As for the 24 volts for the spool gun motor I pull that off of some of the welder diagram that I had look at.. but if you say that it is 12 volts DC that will make it easier to build..
Reply:Chuck,Your idea of designing and building a welder, makes me smile because that is very similar to something I planned while I was in High School (mid 1950's).I am not going to tell you that you can't do this because given enough time and money, anything  can eventually get done.Enjoy your dreams, but they most probably will not put beans on your plate.The highest use of your time and treasure will feed you and your family well and enable you to build toys, not tools.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
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Reply:http://diy-welder.com/ You might find some useful info here. Have fun.---Meltedmetal
Reply:I,m going to play the devil`s advocate hereGo ahead and build it and show us what you come up with. Post pics of beads put down and video of welder running. After all its your time and money not ours.