THIN METAL WELDING RECOMMENDATIONS
When attempting to weld metal thinner than 1/8” with the RWII, we recommend the following guidelines.
POWER CONTROL GUIDELINES: 1.) Determine the Minimum Voltage You Can Use In The Given Situation: Some thin sheet metal can be welded with 12 volts DC from a single battery. Two 6 volt deep cycle batteries connected in series can yield up to approximate-ly 15 volts DC. The use of 18 volts DC, obtained by connecting a 6 volt battery in series with a 12 volt battery, will pro-vide enough arc current to weld all metals with a thickness of 1/8” or less but be aware it can get hot enough to cause melt through.
2.) Use the Smallest Diameter of Feed Wire Available of the Type Desired: The smaller the diameter of wire the less current it can conduct, therefore use the smallest diameter feed wire you can in any given application to cool down the bead to reduce melt-through. Solid steel, stainless and aluminum wires come in .023” diameter and will require the use of gas. Flux core wire comes in .030” diameter as a minimum.
3.) Use Increased Wire “Stick-Out” Length to Cool the Bead: The greater the distance from the end of the contact tip to the bead, the greater the resistance faced by the arc current. Increasing wire “stick-out” works best with flux cored wire since you will not be concerned about keeping any shielding gas focused on the bead area.
4.) “Stitch Welding” Mode: Use of the “Stitch” mode of welding should allow you to successfully weld thin sheet metal at a 24 volt power level without melt through problems. By producing a series of small, cooler beads, rather than a continuous bead, the stitch mode process prevents the bead area from getting hot enough to melt the surrounding metal. To use this process, turn the RWII’s wire feed speed control knob to the “off” position and then slowly advance it until the electrode wire just starts to feed slowly out of the contact tip. Release the trigger and cut off the excess wire which has been fed out. Aim the RWII at the thin metal you wish to weld and pull the trigger while allowing for the maximum acceptable amount of wire “stick-out”. Keep the RWII’s trigger pulled during the entire stitch mode welding process. When the feed wire makes contact and creates a small bead the feed wire will momentarily melt back to the point that the arc is broken. The feed wire will feed out to the point that another bead is started where the previous bead ended. Repeat this process of connecting small, sequential beads until the job is complete. By using the maximum wire “stick-out” you can reduce the likelihood of wire “burn-back” clogging the contact tip.
5.) Increased external resistance will lower the output and can be done in several different ways such as longer cable, longer smaller cable or by attaching a piece of chain to the work piece and adjusting the ground clamp up or down the chain, be aware that increased resistance causes greater heat!
WIRED SPOOL INSTALLATION
The Ready Welder system is shipped virtually ready-to-use as its name implies. The only preparation required is to load the RWII welding gun with a wire spool. Wire cutters, and a flat head screw driver are the only tools needed.
WIRE LOADING GUIDELINES
Before opening the RWII case halves to load a wire spool, be sure to disconnect the gun from any “live” power sources, including the AC/DC power supply if so equipped. The RWII comes equipped with quick disconnects in its power cord to make this process quick and easy without the need to disconnect the power leads at the batteries or welding machine. Failure to follow this rule can lead to personal injury and severe damage to the RWII gun which will not be covered under the warranty as this would constitute user negligence. Before loading any wire spool be sure that the wire selected is suitable for the task at hand. Please refer to the chart on page 17.
CONTROL FUNCTIONS
The RWII’s primary user controls consist of a trigger and a wire feed speed control knob. There are also LED indica-tor lights just ahead of the wire feed speed control knob which indicate arc current polarity with battery power hook-ups (and with machine hook-ups when no AC/DC power supply is being utilized). When using the RWII supplied AC/DC power supply to power the RWII circuit board and motor, the LED light will indicate only that the AC/DC power supply is powered and is properly connected to the RWII. Arc current polarity is NOT indicated by the LED’s when the AC/DC power supply is being utilized. The power supply must be connected in the same polarity as the power source.