Welding wire questions

[Danny1107]

Hi guys, I've been given a 15kg spool of 0.8mm MIG wire for mild steel, but my welding machine is only suited for the 5kg and smaller spools, can I take the wire from the 15kg spool and wind it onto a smaller spool or would it be best trying to swap the 15kg spool for some 5kg ones?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[mfletch]

It's hard to take the wire off the 15kg spool I've done it before and would not do it again had to use a lathe and even then it takes ages

 

[cumbriasteve]

You can but if it's not done correctly it can cause a 'jerky' wire feed as it comes off the spool, personally I would not do it.

Easier and better to sell/swap it if you can find someone.

 

[Danny1107]

I've got plenty left on my current spool so I'll put it in the for sale section

 

[gordon stephenson]

My Butters 215 mig takes 5kg rolls inside the casing but for 15kg rolls it has a rear mounted frame to hold the 15kg externaly. the wire then passes through a grommet in the rear casing to the feed rollers, Your roll drive motor would have to be strong enough to deal with the extra drag, My unit has a large motor and geared 4 roll drive system.

 

[Danny1107]

My Butters 215 mig takes 5kg rolls inside the casing but for 15kg rolls it has a rear mounted frame to hold the 15kg externaly. the wire then passes through a grommet in the rear casing to the feed rollers, Your roll drive motor would have to be strong enough to deal with the extra drag, My unit has a large motor and geared 4 roll drive system.

It's a Draper MIG Weld 120A I have (MWD121AT is the model number) maybe I could make a frame to mount the 15kg spool on and try it out?

 

[Bill Edwards]

For the cost of wire I personally wouldn't bother. If it isn't designed for the larger spools I wouldn't try your machine on it, I'm not saying it won't do it but the wire feed mechanism on your machine isn't likely to be particularly powerful and could struggle.

Aside from the time involved running the wire onto another reel by any manual process is at risk of not layering well.