Convert A Wire Feed Welder To A Stick Welder

Disclaimer! This is a potentially hazardous project to undertake. Electrical currents inside a welder can be deadly! If you choose to undertake this project you are doing so at your own risk. Every effort should be made to protect yourself from electrocution. Welders can hold onto an electrical charge even after they have been switched off. Do not assume the welder is discharged just because it is turned off. It is also possible to damage your welder if this is done improperly. I am not responsible for any injury or damage incurred if this instructable is followed. All instructions are at your own risk!

Converting a wire feed welder to a stick welder is not very difficult to do if you are able to identify a few wires and drill a few holes. Only a few materials are needed. My setup can now use wire or sticks. This is good for me because I have a giant stick welder that I use for heavy work and therefore have rods for when I run out of wire or if I want to weld alloys etc for my portable welder.

There are many different models of wire feed welder so this is not a specific step by step process. The specifics of what I did may not apply to your welder and I tired to write this with that in mind. I did try to give the thought process that I went through while trying this so that it could be translated into most kinds of welder. You milage may vary.

Benefits
It's easier to find sticks for welding different material than it is to find flux core wire for the same alloys.
Sticks are a little easier to build up large welds.

Drawbacks
Wire feed welders are designed to use a very thin electrode (wire thin) and can't handle thicker electrodes.
Makes the welder a little harder to move around because of the added cable.

This is my first instructable, any positive suggestions are welcome.

Step 1 Materials

To complete this conversion you will need the following items.

Wire feed welder with a variable wire speed. Preferably one that can be turned down to 0.
Electrode holder. A 200 amp rated holder is plenty. $10-15
Approximately 6 ft of 04 sized welding cable $4
A low voltage switch. I scavenged one off equipment I had but they usually cost $2.
Low voltage wire (about a foot max.)

Tools
Alligator clip jumper wire.
Screwdriver to take the case of the welder off.
Wrenches or pliers
A sharp knife or utility knife.
A drill and drill bits for metal.

Helpful items to have

Small crush on battery terminal $1
Soldier and soldering iron. This instructable can be completed without soldiering but will require electrical tape or some other mechanical connection method.
Screwgun to make assembly and disassembly faster.

Comments

[sgtrockrules]

(removed by author or community request)

[mstar]

You are absolutely correct about the different design between machines designed for stick and machines designed to work with wire feed units. However, while I agree with what you stated, I am not sure that it applies to the cheap buzz box type imports sold for $150 or less at discount hardware stores. I suspect that those machines are all pretty much the same internally and the only difference is the knobs and switches on the front. Some reputable welding machine manufacturers have developed a line of inverter units that have the capacity to switch between CV and CC operation as well as AC and DC for TIG applications providing you've purchased the correct accessories. I would be pretty reluctant to experiment with the internal design of a high quality CV machine. It might work fine for a while, but forcing it to do something it is not designed to do could eventually cost you a bundle for repairs. If the total cost of the machine is less than a couple of hundred dollars it wouldn't make much difference. You shove it off to the side and go buy another one. But if you've shelled out five grand for a 600 amp sub-arc power source it could be very painful, expensive and time consuming, to say nothing of the humiliation commonly associated with demonstrations of your own stupidity. By the way, the amperage control on a wire feeder is adjusted by the wire speed knob. If you turn up the wire speed while the machine is running you will see the voltage readout drop as the amperage increases, when you turn the wire speed down the voltage goes up and the amperage goes down. The machines are designed this way so that you can achieve the proper balance between amperage and voltage dependent on the diameter of the wire you're using.

[EmmettO]

And if I had that kind of money I wouldn't need to do this. I'd have a mig or a tig and wouldn't worry about it.

[EmmettO]

 Interesting perspective seeing as I have already used this setup to fix my truck and a shovel. And made a grill top for my campfire. You can argue principle all you want but it works.

[2 stroke]

sorry i neva thought about that ppl at school are always saying stick welders suck and wire wellders rule but i like stick welders for the reason you can weld a variety of metals no wire to mess with and you can expect your machine to last forever rather than dealin with messed up feed motors drive rollers and fine elecronics

[EmmettO]

Both definitely have their place. If I'm welding mild steel I'll use the wire feed all day. The wires can also weld thinner metal than the sticks. I just like the option. I also like 6011 rod because it has really good penetration and you can weld straight through rust with it. If I could find a flux core wire that did that I'd be really happy.

[2 stroke]

why when you have a perfect working wirefeed welder why would you convert it into s stick welder the only reason i own a 70 amp stick welder because i cheaped on it and i never used a wire unit in my life before

[EmmettO]

Because a stick welder can weld stainless and high carbon rods. I've ran out of coil before and only had sticks for my big welder which I can't move to the project I'm working on. Also I didn't disable the wire feed in any way and still use it. I can do more now than I could before.