MM252 spoolgun rack

[BukitCase]

Started setting up the spoolgun (first time) on my 252, got really frustrated trying to make less of a mess out of power, ground, mig gun and 30 feet of spoolgun cabling, not to mention the complete lack of provisions for the second gas hose to stay out of the way

So I started with a fairly heavy duty welded garden hose hanger from Lowes, a cutoff of 1-1/4" square tubing, another cutoff of 1-1/2" square tubing, a short piece of 1" angle and some self-drilling screws - and some 1/8 x 3/4 flat bar to make a couple of angle brackets.

 

[BukitCase]

A few more pix - also, the orange thingies are cable clamps from Homeless Despot.

Now, things are much neater - I'll use the "itty bitty bottle" up, then probably trade it and another that size for another 200 - at that time, I may run into a slight bit of interference between the taller, fatter tank and the spool gun rack.

If so, I will just cut the vertical square tubing just above the bottle rack, rotate the top half a bit, and weld it back together so it clears the tank.

Speaking of clearance, if you do this mod DOUBLE CHECK the clearance between your new stuff and the side door to the wirefeed compartment - mine, as built, clears that door by about 1/4" - that's also the reason I kept the "stickout" minimal on the square tube that holds the gun... Steve

So far, the only welds on this were the two holding the gun holder to the upright - (boo, hiss) - I'll paint all of it satin black to match the rest of the running gear, after I'm sure it's a "keeper"...

 

[Big Barn]

Nice job, Steve!

Terry

 

[BukitCase]

Thanks, Terry - I forgot to mention that I STARTED with the "double running gear" version of the 252 - the only pix I saw of "cable mis-management" didn't impress me much.

Bein' a bit "SOCD" (Semi OCD) I try to keep things as "minimally dys-functional" as I can (Probably why most of my projects take so long :=) ...Steve

 

[kennyd]

Nice! On my MM212, since I rarely use the spoolgun I just added a quick connect and a short pigtail of wire so I could remove it easily and not have it in the way when not needed.

 

[BukitCase]

Kenny, thanks - if you ever start using your spoolgun more, I'm pretty sure the double running gear for the 212 is the same - in my case, I'm setting the spoolgun up for smaller S6 wire/C25 and the main gun up for .045 Outershield cored wire/CO2, no aluminum - I've been, and will continue to be for a while, fabbing up a lot of stuff for my hoe and tractors, and plan to use the spoolgun for tacking/sheetmetal/thinner wall tubing and the main gun (just ordered a 300 amp Roughneck) for heavier fab/all position stuff.

The way I placed the second rack, it only adds about 2" to the width, and 3 screws takes it off if necessary... Steve

 

[kennyd]

I use the smaller bottles, and made my own "dual" cylinder holder, here is a Picasa album: https://plus.google.com/photos/113966569709555812037/albums/5523621458564392689?banner=pwa

I looked at the Miller running gear, but I didn't like the extra real estate it needed.


Sorry if I have derailed your thread, I was just trying to show an easy way to remove the spoolgun without tools.

 

[BukitCase]

No apologies necessary, it's all good - I found my 252 4 years old with about 5 pounds of .035 wire run thru it, had the miller running gear and a NEVER used 30A gun, 2 200cf tanks (one was full), for $2600. Best NEW price I could find for all that at the time was around $4200. Not including the 33 lb. spool with only 5 pounds used :=)

Considering that I almost NEVER do things the "regular way", I'll bet more people get more use out of your QD mod than they will mine; but choices are usually a GOOD thing :=)