Duty Cycle; Mig Welding Operation - Eastwood MIG 250 Assembly & Operating Instructions

DUTY CYCLE

The rated Duty Cycle refers to the amount of welding that can be done within an amount of time. It is easiest to look at your welding
time in blocks of 10 Minutes and the Duty Cycle being a percentage of that 10 Minutes. If welding at 250 Amps with a 60% Duty Cycle,
within a 10 Minute block of time you can weld for 6 Minutes with 4 Minutes of cooling for the welder. If the duty cycle is exceeded and
the breaker is tripped, allow the unit to cool for a minimum of 15 Minutes. To increase the Duty Cycle, you can turn down the Voltage
Output control.

MIG WELDING OPERATION

Your Eastwood MIG 250 can be used to form a large number of different joints and welds all of which will require practice and testing
before using on an actual project piece. The following welding process is a baseline to help get you started:
1. Refer to the 'Suggested Settings' chart which is located inside the side door of your Eastwood MIG 250, as well as below in the
instruction manual. From the chart select your baseline starting point for the recommended settings described in the chart.
2. Change the output polarity if necessary according to the welding wire's specifi cations. This welder comes set up to use solid
MIG wire, but if using Flux-cored wire, the polarity will need to be changed.
3. Connect your ground clamp to the work pieces that are to be welded. Make sure the ground clamp contacts are placed on a
clean piece of metal free of paint, grease, rust, oils, etc. It is recommended to place your ground clamp as close to the weld
area as possible.
4. Assess your weld area and make sure the welding area is also cleaned of any paint, grease, rust, oils, etc.
5. Plug in the welder and switch to the 'ON' position.
6. Open your gas valve on the bottle and adjust the fl ow rate if necessary.
7. Depress the torch trigger pointing the welding gun away from your body and then let go of the trigger and cut the wire back
to ~1/4" stick out length.
8. Wearing your welding helmet, gloves and long sleeve shirt and pants, put the end of the wire sticking out of the gun into the
joint to be welded.
9. Position the welding gun so that it is perpendicular to the base metal with ~20° tilt back.
10. Depress the trigger to start the wire feed which starts the arc. NOTE: A push, perpendicular or drag technique can be used
to weld the pieces together; the type used depends on the type of joint as well as other infl uential conditions.
11. Once you depress the trigger and the arc has started, you will notice a molten puddle will form; this puddle is the weld bead and will
follow the motion of the welding torch. Watching the size of the puddle dictates how fast you should be moving with the torch. If you
burn through the material, you are either moving to slow or you need to make some adjustments to the welder settings. If you're not
penetrating the base metal, you're either moving too fast or you need to make adjustments to the welder settings.
12. Release the trigger on the welding gun to stop the weld.
13. After fi nished welding, close the valve completely on the Shielding Gas Bottle.
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Eastwood Technical Assistance: 800.544.5118 >> techelp@eastwood.com