Miller Spool Gun - China Replica

[StandupWI]

I have been looking for getting a spool gun for my Millermatic 211. I don't weld Aluminum very often but thought it would be nice to have for when it arises. I never really looked at the cost of a spool gun, but was shocked at how much they are! At the cost of a new miller spool gun, I think I'm better off buying a used AC tig.

Anyways, I stumbled across this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminum-S...092561?hash=item2ac6edb111:g:TnwAAOSwRaFchyXM

Has anyone tried one? Risks? Looks identical to the Miller Spoolmate 150

 

[rsanter]

I was told by the welding shop that they work just as well.
They are available under more than one brand name, not sure if there is a difference or not bit they had told be a brand that they have tried

 

[sberry]

I don't see why not. A small spool gun isn't much past a kids toy these days.
Doesn't weigh much more than a pound, some plastic, little alum and a small drive motor from a Tonka toy. I got one for the Hobart and its got a long lead, 20 or 25 ft. Its handy, have it on top of the big tig and don't have to move anything to use it.

I have been looking for getting a spool gun for my Millermatic 211. I don't weld Aluminum very often but thought it would be nice to have for when it arises.

I am in this camp. Its a great *** saver when you need it. I aint fixing exotic furniture or race parts and so far its retired my tig. You got to be a little disciplined but its super fast for fixes.
About a minute arc time to weld up these 4 inch hydrants. A trick with it same as tig is to melt lots of it away from the flange of the casting to make up the filler.
When I first started it took a lot of rod or wire. Now 90% is simple fusion.

 

[nsula_country]

sberry, nice beads.

CT

 

[sberry]

Hobart 210, tapped machine. Super simple and very fast on material this thin. Its rated for 14 but can do 16 especially if you are willing to be zippy and put stringer bead and tack, brush it and come back over.

 

[zkling]

You do realize that the one you linked to is a copy of the older 3035 gun, which has a different (lug style power) connection to the machine than the spoolmate 150?

The 3035 is designed for gun on demand operation, where as the spoolmate 150 is designed for mig gun replacement.

Agree with sberry, the smaller spool guns feel pretty chintzy for what they cost (in my opinion). I have a real miller 3035. If you get one, I'd recommend converting the tips to standard mig gun tips. Easy if you have access to a small lathe.

This is the one you would want for your 211

https://www.ebay.com/itm/150A-Alumi...=1835119143566e0c042e58574691a2fc7f9905524b82

Edit: Without gun on demand, I would probably go with a separate ac/dc tig machine. Unless you have another mig you can keep setup for steel.

 

[Jack Olsen]

There we go. More money for me to spend.

 

[cspcrx]

I have the Hobart MVP210, probably same as sberry, and have thought of getting a spool gun for aluminum. I presume the one listed by zkling would work for the 210?

 

[zkling]

Another thought, I believe you can run the 3035 on the modern compact units such as the 211, but with the adapter box SPG 100, something like that. Those boxes are a few hundred dollars, but would allow you to keep the mig gun connected. If that is something desirable to you.

cspcrx, I don't know for certain, I believe there are some differences that will not allow swapping of the small spool guns between miller and hobart. Not only on the physical connection but also with the drive motor control.

 

[cspcrx]

found a video on Youtube the Spoolrunner 100 for Miller has a larger connection than the Hobart.

 

[sreeb]

One note, they come in two spool styles.

White with exposed spool. These take a spool that doesn't seem to be available in the US.

Black with enclosed spool. I believe these will take a 1# spool. These cost about $6 more.

 

[mike1956]

Am I missing something here. The pricing on these are under 10 bucks?

 

[sreeb]

Am I missing something here. The pricing on these are under 10 bucks?

You need to pick a model. The $10 "model" is for consumable tips.

 

[koditten]

I use a Miller 30A aliminum spool gun. I've never been impressed with the build quality.

It does the job well, but I am fearful about dropping it off the bench.

 

[zkling]

I use a Miller 30A aliminum spool gun. I've never been impressed with the build quality.

It does the job well, but I am fearful about dropping it off the bench.

Man, the 30A is much more "industrial" than the 3035 and 100/150 series. You would hate those.

 

[dr_clyde]

I've never cared for spool guns. They always feel like a band-aid for a job that either needs a push pull or a tig welder.

I ran a 30A off a Deltaweld 450 for a LOT of hours building some docks at a customer's shop a few years back. Even brand new, that thing was finicky, fussy and was generally a pain in the ****. As soon as I got it running good, I'd run out of wire, burn up a tip and have to start all over again.

Yes, they have their place. They fill a portability need and price point, and I realize that. But I still hate using them.

 

[like2wheel]

One note, they come in two spool styles.

White with exposed spool. These take a spool that doesn't seem to be available in the US.

Black with enclosed spool. I believe these will take a 1# spool. These cost about $6 more.

Thanks for posting this.

 

[sreeb]

Thanks for posting this.

I figured this out the hard way. I have a second head (no cables) on order to get the other spool type. The bare head is cheap and should be useful for spare parts so I decided it wasn't worth my time to try and adapt it.

 

[Jason280]

There we go. More money for me to spend.

No kidding!

I have a Lincoln Power MIG 255, and the only reason I haven't bought a spool gun has been the price...hmmmm, do they offer one for a Lincoln?

I've almost bought one a couple of times for my Miller Multimatic 215, but have spent the time trying to perfect my TIG abilities on aluminum instead.

 

[bczygan]

In school I got to run the Miller 25' XR-Aluma Pro Lite Gun on an XMT 304 with a feeder.
https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/miller-25-xr-aluma-pro-lite-gun-300948?scid=scbplpIMIL20150239&sc_intid=IMIL20150239&msclkid=f7f3b5f6900110077d79e924275d882d&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SC%20Shopping%20-%20Brand&utm_term=4583451663423946&utm_content=All%20Products

Smooth and nice (gooseneck style) gun (Not a spool gun). Expensive though.

Bill

 

[kkroger]

For bout $200 you can get the Hobart spoolgun from Tractor Supply and it fits the miller... https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ner-100-direct-plug-in-spool-gun?cm_vc=-10005

 

[koditten]

In school I got to run the Miller 25' XR-Aluma Pro Lite Gun on an XMT 304 with a feeder.
https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/miller-25-xr-aluma-pro-lite-gun-300948?scid=scbplpIMIL20150239&sc_intid=IMIL20150239&msclkid=f7f3b5f6900110077d79e924275d882d&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SC%20Shopping%20-%20Brand&utm_term=4583451663423946&utm_content=All%20Products

Smooth and nice (gooseneck style) gun (Not a spool gun). Expensive though.

Bill

It's a shame. That thing cost what I paid for my 30A 20 years ago.

I actually checked them out, but passed. My spool gun has 50 foot of lead. It reaches anywhere in the shop.

As for going thru tips and general difficulties, I found mine had a bad drive motor. I changed that and can go forever on a tip. I can haul *** using that gun! Gotta love the 100 percent duty cycle!

 

[sberry]

I have 25 ft and it's handy. Not using it all the time. Probably been a year. For me it's there when I need it.

 

[dr_clyde]

It's a shame. That thing cost what I paid for my 30A 20 years ago.

I actually checked them out, but passed. My spool gun has 50 foot of lead. It reaches anywhere in the shop.

As for going thru tips and general difficulties, I found mine had a bad drive motor. I changed that and can go forever on a tip. I can haul *** using that gun! Gotta love the 100 percent duty cycle!

50 foot of lead is nice, especially if you're building stuff like boats, which is what you're doing, right?.

If you're gonna spool gun it, I find the 30A is the way to go. I have one of the cheaper ones from Miller, the Spoolmate 100, and it is a fraction of the quality of the 30A, but also a fraction of the price. Only $400.

Sad part is, the 30A cost about the same now as they did then. Just looked at the website, the MSRP is still $1669.00 for the 30A pro. If you have the need and the machine to run it, the push -pull makes more sense, as you can run the 12" spools of wire. The Aluma-pro Lite would be worth the extra few bucks to not be constantly changing out wire.

I have a regular XR Aluma-Pro which retails for $2347.00, which is damn near the cost of a Millermatic 255 to run it. I was able to get one of the factory demo units which saved me almost a grand all said and done, or I wouldn't have gotten that one.

I'd rather TIG aluminum any day. Way less mess and hassle.

 

[sberry]

I keep mine on top of the cart,,,, er the Synch. I agree if I was running around the shop with it would have 50 like I do with the plasma. In my case its so part time that I can pull up next to it, the thing also reaches the bench.

 

[zkling]

For bout $200 you can get the Hobart spoolgun from Tractor Supply and it fits the miller... https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ner-100-direct-plug-in-spool-gun?cm_vc=-10005

Are you certain on that? As I believe they use a different sized power pin.

 

[cspcrx]

Miller is larger. There are a few YouTube videos showing this. Seems like other than that they are the same.

 

[silverdot1211]

The only thing the SpoolRunner 100 and the Spoolmate 100 share is the plastic molded handle and barrel. The motor, gear box, and power pin are different.

 

[sberry]

When you pick it up the first thing a guy notices is how light and cheap it is. Putting wire in it helps. Its something you get over. I had a Bud stop by when I was testing it, he has miles of spool gun experience, said,,, it works good.
There might be and are better ways of doing it but cheap can be a huge asset especially for the part timer. An affordable one that works is better than the best a guy cant afford.
I tried it out on a couple big heavy pieces. For the limited job it worked and worked a little better if it was warmed first.
I don't weld al regular and when I do am a speed demon. I had some line T's and needed end, some 5 to 4 reducers I made up from scrap.
First one was some 90 degree that someone wanted changed, simply cut a section out.
Its such a minor and occasional deal for me I think I bought couple rolls of wire from Home Depot. The welding store had some cheaper but didn't run as good as the Lincoln. I really don't know anything about it which probably doesn't help.
I am not demanding of this, doesn't have to be perfect. Its got to work and not be an eye catching mess.