Readywelder

Yes they work very well.

The model you want is the 10250, which is intended to operate from a welding power source.

That is the model I run on my Miller Maxstar 200DX.

Here is one on eBay for $449

That is about what I paid for mine.

Ernie... Practically speaking... If I already have a CC stick/tig setup, what would this spool gun give me in terms of ability to weld more stuff, etc?

MIG process has several clear advantages: It generally gives a cleaner weld with much less spatter, it pours down a LOT more weld bead per hour (great for production situation), can be run by somewhat less skilled operators, dials down to lower heat than stick, and can run in "spray" mode for very high deposit rates. It is the method of choice for factory production (probably close to 99% of factory work is MIG) .

Downsides are a tendency to leave a cold weld, less selection in weld material than stick, short and cumbersome weld lead, and shielding gas problems when used outdoors.

For a hobbyist they key benefits of MIG are easier to learn than stick, less spatter, works better than stick on thin metal like body work. Downsides of hobbist MIG is that you need to spend some serious $$ to be able to weld heavy stock like trailer hitches, bumpers, and car haulers.

TIG weld> >

Faster welding on aluminum, and steel, and MIG Brazing using silicon bronze wire.

Thanks Roy. Looks like an advantage of MIG are relatively limited for "hobby use" such as my own.

Thanks Ernie... I appreciate your thoughts, as always. I think that I can live with welding slowly, it is not as though I have to do a lot of it.

Blink blink..most hobbiests I know..started out stick welding and moved to MIG then tig

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3

That's why they are called hobbyists, and not weldors.

Steve

Thanks for the replies ....Looks like my buddy is going to buy one so I'll test-drive his in a few days. I appreciate the commentary from the owners, it says allot about a tool if people are still happy after a couple of years.

Thanks again.

Andrew

Ernie,

How does this ready welder work on the 200DX? Specifically, does the 200DX have that VRD deal, and what mode do you put your 200DX in? TIG/ARC ? And I imagine that its flux core only, no gas, right?

So at $500, why would this be better than one of them Lincoln 135SP/ST type 110Volt MIG jober do's ?

Thanks in advance.

Very well, indeed.

I run it in Stick mode, and use the DIG control to adjust to voltage. With DIG maxed out (open circuit voltage at it's lowest) I can run

Why no gas? The gas works fine. The Readywelder has it's own gas feed that connects directly to the gas bottle. The trigger is also the gas valve.

I have also used it to run 0.035" dual shield, with no problems.

I have run aluminum and bronze wire in it while running it from my Betamig 250.

The Readywelder is just a gun, it has no power supply. You need at least a basic stick welder, or a stack of batteries to run it from.

A nice portable rig is a set of 3 deep cycle batteries and a charger. One 12 volt battery and two 6 volt batteries allows you to get 6, 12, 18 or 24 volts.

Yeah, I ment, I didn't think the R.W. was able to use gas. But since then I see that it does.

So what is this "dig mode" on the 200DX? - I don't think my TS 185 STW has this (or a way to adjust open terminal voltage). So I assume that you have to use the little power supply pack that come with it ?

"DIG" is what Miller calls adjusting the Open Circuit Voltage.

By adjusting the DIG you can drop the voltage down to allow MIG welding on thin sheet metal with the Readywelder.