I am resurrecting an old MIG I made by Chicago Electric, I got it free.
The voltage selector switch is no longer available. The switch was labeled from
left to right 2 , 1, OFF, 3 , 4. There is a diagram on the front of the machine
showing thin to thick materials showing switch position 1 as the thinnest and
finally position 4 as the thickest.
I am using a SPST and two SPDT 20 amp toggle switches to replace the old cam
type selector, this way I get an actual off switch. The original cam switch is
badly burned and would not operate correctly nor could I figure out its
operation because somebody else had been inside befor me.
Now to the question. I need to know if the output voltage of the MIG gets higher
as the material to be welded gets thicker? OCV readings go from 27.3 to 46.6
depending on the switches. I am thinking the lower OCV should be labeled 1 or
Low and the higher OCV should be 4 or High, does this sound correct? Maybe use
A, B, C and D with A being lowest. This is one of those "hard to get it right in
your head" things.
Anyone know how to make a "HOT" mig gun cold? I know I could use a contactor in
the ground circuit but I am not sure of the contact amperage with the D.C.
voltage levels. The specs say this thing outputs 28 to 84 amps, but the specs
also say the OCV is 22 to 34 volts, I would think these are "typical".
Finally, anyone know what brand the mig gun is on these old Chicago Electric
machines?
Thanks for any help.
Thor
- posted
17 years ago