Lincoln Pro Mig 175 upgrade to use spool gun

admin

I have an older Lincoln Pro Mig 175 that I would like to use a spool gun with.  I checked with the factory to see if the Magnum 100 SG spool gun would work with the welder I have, and they stated the circuitry would not support this spool gun.   Does anyone know if there is a third party kit that will retrofit these machines to take a spool gun?  I know Hobart makes an accessory for some of their welder to allow spool gun use, and was hoping the same item existed for Lincoln.  Any information would be appreciated Thanks.
Reply:I haven't seen anything else that would work for that welder. I have the lincoln spool gun for my welder and I think the lincoln is the only one that will work.Miller Dynasty 300dxSpeedglas 9002XMiller Spectrum 375 XtremeLincoln PowerMig 255xtLincoln PowerMig 140cMilwuakee Portaband
Reply:Thanks for the reply SIDTHSS, but I have found a fix for my Lowes Lincoln Pro-Mig 175 welder.  I purchased a universal switch kit from Welding direct.com.  This DPDT switch allowed me to tap into the motor power leads, and contactor leads on the welder.  Once this switch was wired in, I could toggle between the Spool gun and Mig gun.  This switch was also prewired with the AMP CPC four wire connector that is needed to interface with the Lincoln Magnum Spool gun.  This simple fix has saved me from having to purchase the new Lincoln Power Mig 180 welder.  After trying it out the modification to the welder, and the Magnum spool gun seem to work fine.  The problem now is for somebody like me who has never welded aluminum before to develop the skill to do a decent weld.  So far on 3/16th metal the welds look Ok, but when I try to weld the thinner aluminum I blow right through, and create a bigger hole, the more I try to fill it in the bigger the hole gets.  Talk about frustrating.  Anyway I hope this post can help some others who want to use a spool gun on an older machine.
Reply:Trig, I'm glade to hear that this setup works.  I'm looking for a spool gun for my SP175 plus.  I have been using the conversion liner kit for a while but I'm still an amature.  Here are some of the things I discovered.1.  I can not weld anything thiner than 1/8" unless I anm welding sheet to heaver stock.2. I use the heat and wire speed up all the way regardless of the thickness.3. If I'm welding angle, I start at the outer edge and work towards the corner, otherwise the edge will evaporate.4.  I use a longer stickout than with steel5.  Most important,  move real fast.I get perfect welds with 1/4" plate.  With the conversion cable liner kit I have continuious feed problems (burn back or tangled mess at the roller.  Someties I can weld for an hour without problems and then I can't get it to work for hours.I hope this helps.
Reply:Hello, new here. I bought what I'm assuming is the same switch kit you bought which is a Universal Spool Gun Switch Kit (Spoolmate & Magnum)Item# 707_1850 from weldingdirect.com and I've got some questions. I hope you're still active on this thread! So I've got 6 wires that need to be hook up. White and green go to the trigger. Easy peezy, done. Now I've got 2 sets of black and red wires. And all of my wires inside my mig 175 are white. (Even though weldingdirect says everything's color coated) I own a multi meter and can figure out which is + and which is - if need be. Ok m assuming that all 4 wires both red and both black are all going to hook into that main harness on the control board? It's the wire gauges that are also confusing because I would think that I'm using the 2 drive motor wires, and 2 speed control knob wires for these 4 wires? Idk because the motor wires in the machine are thick just like the ones on the switch I bought but the 2 speed control wires are much thinner than the other 2 black and red wires on the switch I bought. I'll just shut up and see if you or anyone even replies before I keep typing stuff that makes no sense ... Please help!!