Spool guns?

What's the question here?

Why do you need a spool gun? And while I'm back, what kind of amps do i need to MIG 3/8 mild steel ?

A standard MIG guns does not provide enough gas shielding before the wire hits so you will always get a weld barf at the start of a weld.

Spoolguns have a built in trigger valve for the gas so there is no delay.

I have a Readywelder spoolgun and love it.

Mine is the Model 10250 and I run it from lots of different welding power sources.

Sustained, around 150-180 amps output in a wirefeed, at least.

Thanks again. Will the Ready Welder take power from an AC-only stick machine like my old Century? (got it for $20). I looked over the site and downloaded the manual. It says plenty about hooking up to DC, but never says to NOT use AC. I might be better off getting a combo TIG/SMAW machine and instead of getting a spool gun, get the Readywelder and then i can take it on rock-crawling trips. Lots of different solutions.

I'm almost positive that all wire feed type welding (MIG or Flux core) is supposed to be done with DC. I remember a few months back a post and thread about an import welder that had NO filtering caps whatsoever in the machine and it was not giving the owner satisfacyory results as the "DC" being used was merely a rectified sine wave instead of a proper DC voltage

An AC feed would likely be even worse.

MIG/FCAW supplies are supposed to be c>Thanks again.

Thanks. I'm read this on the Ready Welder site, >"The Ready Welder can also be used as a Spool Gun, by connecting it to a Stick Welder or a conventional MIG machine. It operates from 115 AC volts while plugged into any welding device which might require such an addition, for example, when welding aluminum.". And wasnt sure if you use AC when MIG welding Aluminum or not. I just won the auction for a Ready Welder 2 on Ebay a few minutes ago for $223, so now my welder search will shift from a MIG to a TIG.

No you will need at least a DC stick welder.