XMT and a spool gun?

[greywynd]

Looking at maybe getting a Miller XMT 350 in the near future, and curious, has anyone here used a spool gun with one?

Looks like the Miller 30A gun would be the one of choice for the machine, just looking at options.

I’m also looking at using it with a suitcase feeder for other applications.


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[mccutter]

We used an XMT300 w/30A on an alum power yacht refurb. This was over 20yrs ago. It worked OK and was a little easier to transport in and out of the boat than a MM251. I don't know how that info would relate to a 350 today...

[greywynd]

A 350 is basically a bigger brother to a 300, and in the newer 350’s it becomes the largest of the series that can run off single phase or three phase I believe.


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[bunkclimber]

If you are buying a Miller XMT new, kudos to you, you'll like it..I had a XMT300CC/CV back in the early 90's when they first came out,it was an awesome machine and very transportable,easy single/three phase 208 or 480V autolink power and built rugged..my word of caution is in buying one used,many are available on the used market to include eBay,they are usually HIGH hour machines removed from production environments and are close to MTBF of the machines,in other words,at the end of their life and take your chances..I had a good run with my XMT300(29yrs) and it was repaired twice..so after it exploded the third time I went to replace it with a XMT350CC/CV and bought one used,only to have it fail within 2months..the repair parts were unavailable initially,and after talking with Miller tech line personnel,the only fix was a complete reengineered IGBT(power transistor module/driver board kit) for the tune of $1,700 and that was with me doing the work,even after diagnostics with no guarantees that it was the fix or if the repair would last..Miller does a great job of providing support on their equipment and had upgraded the power transistor module due to obsolete parts then being reengineered with newer versions.For my money I bought an CP300TS transformer based CV MIG power source and used my feeder with it,itl outlast me..so my recommendation is buy one new if you choose an XMT..FWIW

[greywynd]

Originally Posted by bunkclimber

If you are buying a Miller XMT new, kudos to you, you'll like it..I had a XMT300CC/CV back in the early 90's when they first came out,it was an awesome machine and very transportable,easy single/three phase 208 or 480V autolink power and built rugged..my word of caution is in buying one used,many are available on the used market to include eBay,they are usually HIGH hour machines removed from production environments and are close to MTBF of the machines,in other words,at the end of their life and take your chances..I had a good run with my XMT300(29yrs) and it was repaired twice..so after it exploded the third time I went to replace it with a XMT350CC/CV and bought one used,only to have it fail within 2months..the repair parts were unavailable initially,and after talking with Miller tech line personnel,the only fix was a complete reengineered IGBT(power transistor module/driver board kit) for the tune of $1,700 and that was with me doing the work,even after diagnostics with no guarantees that it was the fix or if the repair would last..Miller does a great job of providing support on their equipment and had upgraded the power transistor module due to obsolete parts then being reengineered with newer versions.For my money I bought an CP300TS transformer based CV MIG power source and used my feeder with it,itl outlast me..so my recommendation is buy one new if you choose an XMT..FWIW

Good to know. There are some used ones around here for 2-3000 Can, so have been debating. It looks like there are ways to roughly date them by serial number.


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[bunkclimber]

yes to answer your question they do autoswitch single/three phase and autostrap voltage match too(Auto-Link is what they call it)..last I checked they were around $5KUSD new..very nice and transportable with tons of power. Make sure you get the CC/CV version if you need to run a spoolgun with CV. Yes it has the Miller 14pin remote on the front panel.

[greywynd]

Originally Posted by bunkclimber

yes to answer your question they do autoswitch single/three phase and autostrap voltage match too(Auto-Link is what they call it)..last I checked they were around $5KUSD new..very nice and transportable with tons of power. Make sure you get the CC/CV version if you need to run a spoolgun with CV. Yes it has the Miller 14pin remote on the front panel.

That is part of the appeal, the high duty cycle.

‘Automatic’ bore welders commonly run .035/.045 solid wire, and depending on the power source they can at or very close to 100% duty cycle from what I’m seeing.

That would eventually be the main application if things pan out, just hoping to be able to make it as versatile as I can too.


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[mccutter]

Originally Posted by greywynd

‘Automatic’ bore welders commonly run .035/.045 solid wire, and depending on the power source they can at or very close to 100% duty cycle from what I’m seeing.

Are the bores steel? I could maybe see a better solution than a 30A like a S-52 or suitcase. And a 3ph CV-300 or similar with long leads.

The 30A is rated at 200A/100%. If you water-cool it it is 250A/100%. I use .047" (3/64) with 4043 Al with "Fastips" in my 30A.

[greywynd]

Originally Posted by mccutter

Are the bores steel? I could maybe see a better solution than a 30A like a S-52 or suitcase. And a 3ph CV-300 or similar with long leads.

The 30A is rated at 200A/100%. If you water-cool it it is 250A/100%. I use .047" (3/64) with 4043 Al with "Fastips" in my 30A.

The 30A would be for aluminum for other uses. The bore welder runs steel, and is a totally self contained setup other than the power supply. (Which for me would be the XMT.)

The suitcase is the same idea, more portable and robust than a shop feeder, and since there are plenty of them in this area, used can often be had for $2K, sometimes less, I’ve seen them for just over a grand now and then.


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[mccutter]

Originally Posted by greywynd

The 30A would be for aluminum for other uses...The suitcase is the same idea, more portable and robust than a shop feeder...

I guess I confused myself. While you COULD use a 4" spool of steel in the 30A (about 2lbs vs 1lb Al), it would be far more economical using a suitcase with a bigger spool. But you knew that already...