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INSTALL THE WIRE AND FEED THE GUN.
Once the wire spool has been installed, flip the tensioner lever down and
raise the top drive rolls to the upper position. See the illustration below.
Gently guide the wire from the spool over through the wire feeder and
into the front section of the gun at least 6 inches. Make sure the wire
lays neatly in the grooves of both drive rolls. Hold it with your finger if
necessary as you lower the upper drive roll arm down and raise the
Trim Wire Before Starting a Weld
Trim wire to 1/4"-3/8"
(6mm– 9mm)
tensioning lever into position with your other hand. After the tensioner
is raised back to the vertical position, confirm the wire is still in both
grooves and is not riding up on the shoulders of either drive roll. Next,
turn the welder on and set to a desired
Hint: The wire on the spool is usually bent and threaded through a small
Test Wire Tension Before Welding
3
4
Curl
hole in the side of the spool to lock it in place and prevent de-spooling
of the wire. Keep one hand on the wire spool to prevent despooling and
cut the wire loose with a pair of wire cutters. Trim the wire to make sure
Setup Guide
Getting Started
Wood Block
the end of the wire is straight and able to be threaded through the wire
feeder mechanism and gun.
TRIM THE WIRE AFTER INSTALLATION.
Trim the wire sticking out of the nozzle to 1/4" to 3/8" (6mm to 9mm) in
length with wire cutters. See the illustration below. The gun is now
ready for welding. Hint: Always make sure that you re-trim the wire
before beginning a new weld if the wire is not already trimmed to this
length. This will help to improve arc restarts.
PROPERLY TENSION THE WIRE FEEDER.
To feed properly, the wire needs to be tensioned before you begin weld-
ing. The tensioning levers have numbers on the dial. To increase ten-
sion, rotate the tension lever clock-wise. Different types of wires require
different tensions. There is no exact tension that works for all wire types.
However, for steel wire, you will generally tension to around 3 on the
dial. Wire diameter can affect the tension requirement slightly. Wire qual-
ity also plays a small part in the amount of required tension that is
needed. Lower quality wire may have slight variations in thickness,
causing slippage of the drive rolls at various points, while no slipping is
observed at others. For flux-cored wire, it will require a lighter amount of
tension. For Aluminum, try 1.0 to 2.0 on the dial. Regardless of the wire
type or wire diameters (and for best results), follow the process below
and refer to the following illustration. Turn the unit on and pull the trig-
ger so that the wire extends approximately 1" beyond the gas nozzle.
•
Find a small block of wood, such as a two by four, and secure it to
the welding table or other solid object. Do not test this on metal or
arcing may occur if the work clamp is connected!
•
Hold the gun approximately 2 inches off the wood. Aim the gun at
the block of wood so that the nozzle is at a 30 degree angle to the
wood.
•
Pull the trigger and allow the wire to contact the block.
•
Increase wire tension so that the wire contacts the block of wood
and is forced to curl up. Continue holding the trigger so that two or
three full spirals are made.
•
If the wire stops, or stutters during this process, let go of the trigger
immediately and increase tension.
•
Adjust the wire until the stuttering or jerking disappears.
•
Do not over-tighten the tensioner or use more tension than neces-
sary. When the wire begins to curl without any stoppage, the ten-
sion is enough.
21
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