Weldclass WeldForce WF-200MST, Operating Instructions Manual

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3. Gasless Welding Operation
3.1 Connect the earth cable quick connector to
the positive welding power output socket
(12). Connect the earth clamp to the work
piece. Contact with the work piece must be
firm contact with clean, bare metal, with no
corrosion, paint or scale at the contact point.
3.2 Connect the MIG power connection lead (14)
to the negative welding power output socket
(13). Note if this connection is not made,
there will be no electrical connection to the
welding torch!
3.3 Set the welding voltage adjustment
knob (8), wire speed control knob (9) and
inductance control knob (10) to the desired
positions. You are now ready to weld!
4. Gas MIG Welding Operation
NOTE
: Gas MIG welding will require a gas cylinder.
(Argon mix or CO2)
4.1 Connect the earth cable quick connector to
the negative welding power output socket
(13). Connect the earth clamp to the work
piece. Contact with the work piece must be
firm contact with clean, bare metal, with no
corrosion, paint or scale at the contact point.
4.2 Connect the MIG power connection lead (14)
to the positive welding power output socket
(12). Note if this connection is not made,
there will be no electrical connection to the
welding torch!
4.3 Connect the gas regulator to a gas cylinder
(not included with machine) and connect the
gas hose from the regulator to the gas inlet on
the rear of the machine (12). Ensure all hose
connections are tight. Open gas cylinder valve
and adjust regulator, flow should be between
10-25L/min depending on application. Re-
check regulator flow pressure with torch
triggered as static gas flow setting may drop
once gas is flowing.
4.4 Set the welding voltage adjustment
knob (8), wire speed control knob (9) and
inductance control knob (10) to the desired
positions. You are now ready to weld!
MIG welding with aluminium provides a
unique challenge, due to the low column
strength and surface friction of the wire.
This causes the wire to deform more as it is
pushed through the feed mechanism and the
torch wire delivery liner, greatly increasing
friction. Because good MIG welding results
are dependent on a smooth wire feed, certain
changes must be made to the wire feed
system to minimise friction caused issues.
For a standard ‘push’ fed torch, a length of
no longer than 3m cable should be used, as
well as the torch feed liner must be changed
to a special Teflon/PVC liner, rather than the
conventional steel liner. Also the correct
style drive roller must be used and specific
Aluminium rated torch contact tip (or a
standard tip in one size oversize, e.g 0.8mm
aluminium wire, use standard 1.0mm contact
tip). For this reason, it is quite common
for operators to have an extra MIG torch
specifically set up for aluminium use, if the
machine is used for welding steel as well.
Another option to overcome the friction
issues is using a spool gun, which will give
better results than a 3m push torch when
welding aluminium. The WF-200MST is spool
gun capable, refer following section for use
with a spool gun on the WF-200MST.
5. Spool Gun Operation
NOTE
: Spool Gun is an optional extra for the WF-
200MST.
The spool gun is a very useful addition to a
MIG welder. It can be used for all types of MIG
welding, but it has two primary advantages over
a conventional ‘push’ wire feeder. The main
advantage is that distance that the wire has to
travel from the spool to the welding tip is very short,
compared with a conventional torch. This greatly
2.8 You are now ready to feed the wire through
the torch. With the wire feeder cover open,
pull the trigger of the MIG torch to check that
the wire is feeding smoothly through the
feeder and into the torch.
2.9 Set the wire feeding speed knob (9) to
maximum. With the torch tip removed from
the torch and the torch laid out as straight as
possible, depress MIG torch trigger until the
wire feeds out through the end of the MIG
torch. Replace the tip on the MIG torch and
trim off any excess wire.