How exactly do wire feeders work.

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So i'm in the market for a new mig machine. I recently sold my old lincoln 110v machine and am looking to upgrade to a 220v machine. I have my eye on a Millermatic 211, but now i'm looking into wire feeders. I have a Miller Econotwin HF tig/stick machine, its a CC machine and goes to 150 amps. Max OCV is 80 on ac and 75 on dc.Can i run a wire feeder off this? and if I can will i be limited to 150 amps on the wire feeder? or does it just get power from my CC machine and I can adjust amperage separately on the wire feeder. This is a old power source so i'm not TO hopeful i can do this, seeing as most wire feeders seem ot only take 24-44ish volts to run, and most require some fancy connector where as I only have dinse style connectors and no remote outputsThanks in advance guys, i'm not new to welding but i'm new to using a wire feeder on a power source.
Reply:you'll be way ahead by purchasing the MM211Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:You don't want to try to MIG with your CC machine, you'll want a CV machine for that. So, you can go with a MIG machine, or you'll need to get a CV power source and a wire feeder. The wire feeder does just that, feed wire. The power source provides the amps for the arc. There are 2 basic types of wire feeders. One has a control cable that mates to the power source and controls an output contactor in the power source. The other is a voltage sensing feeder that only needs to connect to the welding lead. It has it's own contactor built in and powers itself off of the welding circuit.
Reply:Thanks guys, thats pretty much what i needed to know. I'll pick up the 211.
Reply:Not exactly correct,  You need what is called a Voltage Sensing Wire Feeder. Most suitcase style mobile wire feeders do this,   I have an ESAB 300 AVS and also had a LN-25 lincoln suitcase feeder both specifically designed to run either of a CC or CV machine.   they really were for running of DC engine driven welders.  They do work excellent and are usually well built and durable.   your will be limited by the amperage of your stick welder.   that is the source for the current.   the wire feeder just handles the wire and gas control side of things with various electronics for the Voltage Sensing and current regulation,   I use the 300AVS with my Powcon  machines and can use them in either Stick or MIG setting.   My 300 AVS also has a 4 roll gear driven wire feeding assembly and is very heavy duty.    miller makes the 12VS  suitcase.   A benefit to these are portability and the fact you can change or swap to just about any power source.   Powcon being a favorite of mine of course,    At some point I would like to add an on board welder to my truck like the Xena welder   I could then easily hook the suitcase to that and have a fully mobile mig welding system that will do 100% duty cycle up to the ability of the power source,   Actually planning on selling my MigMaster  (maybe) also selling my Vintage cuz I can be more flexible with just suitcase and anyone of my other transformer or inverter power sources....   If you are strictly using in one location then the MM211 etc may add more convenience...the VS in miller and ESAB product names stand for Voltage Sensing,  I also have a Voltage Sensing control for my Profax spool gun which will do the exact same thing and let me run my spool gun of a CC stick power sourceLast edited by soutthpaw; 07-19-2011 at 02:03 AM.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250