MK Products Weld Control - Manual (Page 39)

Weld Control Selector Guide - Page 32
There are many other welders made by companies like CK Systematics, Century
Manufacturing, and some foreign manufactured machines that are capable of
welding aluminum, utilizing the Cobramatic system or Prince XL Spool Guns.
These units can usually be broken down into two categories.
1. A utility MIG welder with the wire feeder built into the unit.
These units need to be in 200 to 275 amp range and operate
from 208/230/460 Volts
2. A CC/CV Power supply capable of accepting a wire feeder.
(These units are usually 3-Phase).
Units in the second category usually have some sort of connector for the wire
feeder that needs to be identified by model and pin configuration. Then an
adapter pigtail may be made that will interconnect with these units.
Units in the first category are a little more difficult. There’s usually no internal
or external hookup for a secondary wire feed system; 115VAC must be derived
from a secondary source (i.e. extension cord from a wall outlet) to run the
Cobramatic system or a Prince XL Spool Gun with a WC-1 Control Box. What
becomes difficult is “How to trigger the contactor?”
If the trigger leads from the units are accessible, then the contactor leads from
the Cobra Cabinet or the WC-1 Control Box may be spliced to these leads
(Cobra or WC-1 must be in “Closing Contacts” mode). However, this will also
trigger the units internal welder, so care must be taken to loosen the idler roll
on the unit’s internal wire feeder so that it does not feed wire while welding with
the Cobramatic Cabinet or Spool Gun.
Sometimes the most difficult thing to locate is the source of welding current.
There has to be a cable going to the unit’s internal wire feeder. A connection
can usually be made to one of the ends of this cable to the Spool Gun.
A Cobramatic Cabinet or a WC-1 Control for the Prince XL Spool Gun may be
hooked up to many other MIG welders beside those listed on the previous pages.
In some cases, the size and output of many of the smaller units, especially
those that operate on 115VAC only, do not lend themselves to an efficient arc.
Examples of these are the Lincoln SP125, the Millermatic 130XP, and the Hobart
Handler. These units only deliver 18-19 Open Circuit Volts (max). Since welding
on 1/8" thick aluminum requires 100 to 120 amps at 20 to 21 volts, the welds
are marginal at best.
UtiLity StyLE WELdERS