Tony Jackson
New Member
- Messages
- 16
- Location
- North Devon, UK
Hi, I've lately taken on an MXE 180. It came with a blown circuit board (now repaired) and missing a torch (4 Metre Binzel 150 bought) and a mains lead (found the correct rubber-sheathed cable to match original, and wired it in with a 16A plug. Annoyingly, the little Camloc catches for the feed door were missing, but I've found the means to make new ones - the original type is no longer made by Camloc.
I want to use it chiefly to repair some metalwork on three Citroen DS cars, and so I bought a 5kg spool of .06 wire. I went for the 5kg because I thought I'd be liable to have rusty leftovers if I used the big spool. I tried to find G4Si1 wire, but had to settle for G3, as the G4 seems only to be available in 15 kg spools. I have a 10L Argon-mix cylinder from SGS, which seemed better value than Hobby gas.
I set about making an adapter for the 5 kg spool, but as I got stuck into this I found some surprises.
Seems that the wire feed spool is way adrift from being centred on the tube which feeds the wire to the drive wheel.
The spool carrier is made of plastic, and has a plastic spacer of 35 mm diameter and 30 mm axial length which fits into the far end on the spool carrier. This spacer is covered in what looks like MoS2 or graphite-filled grease.
It looks as though this spacer could usefully be around 35 mm longer, and that this would put the spool approximately centred in releation to the wire-feed mechanism (but still comfortably within hte caseing of the welder.
The spool carrier is kept in place by a self-locking nut, behind which there is a small spring. I presume that this is intended to press the carrier and its spacer against the steel pad on the inside wall of the welder. Of course, with a much longer specer this geometry would no longer work, so I guess that there must have been a reason for the spool being mounted off-set as it is.
And the spacer I've made, which puts a 5 kg spool nicely centred may thus be a foolish mistake!
Can any one put me right on this?
I want to use it chiefly to repair some metalwork on three Citroen DS cars, and so I bought a 5kg spool of .06 wire. I went for the 5kg because I thought I'd be liable to have rusty leftovers if I used the big spool. I tried to find G4Si1 wire, but had to settle for G3, as the G4 seems only to be available in 15 kg spools. I have a 10L Argon-mix cylinder from SGS, which seemed better value than Hobby gas.
I set about making an adapter for the 5 kg spool, but as I got stuck into this I found some surprises.
Seems that the wire feed spool is way adrift from being centred on the tube which feeds the wire to the drive wheel.
The spool carrier is made of plastic, and has a plastic spacer of 35 mm diameter and 30 mm axial length which fits into the far end on the spool carrier. This spacer is covered in what looks like MoS2 or graphite-filled grease.
It looks as though this spacer could usefully be around 35 mm longer, and that this would put the spool approximately centred in releation to the wire-feed mechanism (but still comfortably within hte caseing of the welder.
The spool carrier is kept in place by a self-locking nut, behind which there is a small spring. I presume that this is intended to press the carrier and its spacer against the steel pad on the inside wall of the welder. Of course, with a much longer specer this geometry would no longer work, so I guess that there must have been a reason for the spool being mounted off-set as it is.
And the spacer I've made, which puts a 5 kg spool nicely centred may thus be a foolish mistake!
Can any one put me right on this?